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Legal Mistakes That Make Tech Startups Harder to Fund | Lawyerly

patricia@lawyerly.co (Patricia Tinn) — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 13:57:52 GMT

Raising investment is not only about the pitch deck. The commercial story matters: what you are building, who needs it, and whether the team can turn that opportunity into a real business. But once an investor is seriously interested, they will start looking more closely at the company behind the story.

Why Contractor Agreements Matter for Tech Startups | Lawyerly

ashrelle@lawyerly.co (Ashrelle Parker-Belgrave) — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 13:56:03 GMT

Contractors are often part of a tech business’s founding story. Before there is a full internal team, founders may rely on outside specialists to help build, design, test or improve the product. It is a smart way to access the skills the business needs while keeping the company flexible in its early stages.

AI Tools in Your Business: Is Your Legal Setup Keeping Up? | Lawyerly

jackie@lawyerly.co (Dr Jackie Nagtegaal) — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 13:53:26 GMT

AI has moved quickly from experimentation into everyday work. In many tech businesses, it is already helping teams write, research, code, take meeting notes, respond to customers and improve internal workflows. In others, it is starting to shape the product itself.

AI Founder Legal Checklist for Enterprise Sales | Lawyerly

James Conning — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 13:51:16 GMT

Winning interest from an enterprise customer can feel like a turning point for an artificial intelligence (AI) business. It is often the moment the product starts being taken seriously by bigger buyers, with bigger budgets and more meaningful commercial opportunities.

SEIS, EIS and EMI Explained for Tech Founders | Lawyerly

david@lawyerly.co (David Silvey) — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 13:47:57 GMT

If you’re building a tech business in the United Kingdom (UK), two questions tend to come up early: how do you raise the money to keep building, and how do you keep talented people on board when you cannot yet pay what larger employers can?

Who owns your code? The #1 IP question tech founders ask us

patricia@lawyerly.co (Patricia Tinn) — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 13:44:36 GMT

When you are building a tech or AI company, ownership can feel obvious. The product started with the founders’ idea, was shaped by developers and designers, and is now being used by customers. From the outside, it may look clear that the business owns what has been created. Legally, it is not always that simple.

Legal Due Diligence for Tech Companies | Lawyerly

patricia@lawyerly.co (Patricia Tinn) — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 13:40:11 GMT

By the time legal due diligence starts, the deal has usually moved from interest to intent. An investor leans in, or a buyer starts to ask serious questions. The company has already sold the opportunity: the product, the traction, the market and the growth story. Then the focus shifts. The conversation moves from what the business could become to how carefully it has been built.

What Should Be in a SaaS Agreement? | Lawyerly

ashrelle@lawyerly.co (Ashrelle Parker-Belgrave) — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 13:36:30 GMT

Closing a SaaS deal often gets harder just when the customer seems ready to sign. The contract goes out for review, procurement and legal weigh in, and a deal that felt close starts being tested by people who were not part of the original sales conversation.

Founder Agreements for Tech Startups | Lawyerly

James Conning — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 13:29:05 GMT

Founder agreements rarely sit at the top of the priority list when starting a tech business. The product needs building, customers need to be found, the next round needs lining up, and the founders trust each other. So the formal document feels like something that can wait. That can feel harmless while everyone is aligned. Until it isn’t.

The King's speech 2026: what it means for SME businesses | Lawyerly

Lawyerly Legal Team — Wed, 13 May 2026 13:35:40 GMT

The King's Speech landed today, and if you run a small or growing business, there is more in it for you than you might expect. Buried beneath the ceremony and constitutional fanfare are three changes that speak directly to issues clients raise with us regularly - getting paid on time, cutting through regulatory red tape, and trading with mainland Europe. There are a few other measures worth flagging too.

Here's what you need to know.