Commercial agency law – we are the specialists

When it comes to commercial agency law, Blake Morgan is one of the leading law firms in the UK. We advise sales agents and principals on all aspects of commercial agency law, from negotiating and drafting contracts to rights and remedies when things go wrong and disputes arise.

Our highly experienced team has a proven track record in this specialist area of law and we have acted in several of the leading cases in this field, as well as taking scores of disputes to successful negotiated conclusions.

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Main Areas Of Practice


Our Commercial Agency team advises both sales agents and principals on all aspects of commercial agency law, including the impact of the Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993. Some common themes on which our advice is needed are:

Putting an agency contract in place

Our commercial agency lawyers can assist with negotiations over the terms of the agency contract and the drafting of an agency contract which meets your specific needs.

Negotiating variations to the agency contract when circumstances change

Where the principal and agent are in agreement that the terms of the agency contract need to be varied (e.g. changes to the territory covered by the agent, commission rates or the products to be covered), we can help you to comply with the legal formalities to give effect to those changes.

Advising on specific rights and obligations under the agency contract

Where there is a written contract, our commercial agency lawyers can review it. Where there is not, we can consider how the agency operates in practice. In all cases we consider the effect of the Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993 on the agency contract.

Representing clients involved in disputes

Our commercial agency lawyers can assist at a very early stage of the dispute, through to the issue of Court proceedings and all the way to trial if needed. Many disputes can be resolved without needing to go through the Court process or at an early stage of the Court process.

Issues arising from termination of the agency contract

These issues often depend on whether the Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993 governed the agency contract, which party terminated the agency contract and whether they were entitled to do so, and what claims arise as a result. These claims usually relate to unpaid or pipeline commission, whether compensation or indemnity is payable to the sales agent under Regulation 17 and whether sufficient notice of termination has been given by the principal.

Our Clients


Our clients range from multinational corporations and firms with household names to self-employed individuals and small businesses.

Highlights


In Lonsdale v Howard & Hallam, we represented the commercial agent in what became the leading House of Lords decision on how compensation claims under Regulation 17 should be quantified.


In Crocs Europe BV v Anderson & Albrecht, we successfully acted for the commercial agents in this key Court of Appeal case which turned on whether and when an agent's allegedly poor conduct was serious enough to justify a principal in terminating the agency. This was critical because if termination was justified then the principal would have avoided liability for compensation under Regulation 17.


Our commercial agency lawyers advised a furniture manufacturer on the key terms to be included in their agency contract with sales agents, including commission rates and other payments, territory, products, sales targets, advertising and reporting obligations. Drafted and finalised the contract following input from the sales agents.


Our Experts


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