Codified Legal

The firm: Codified Legal was founded in January 2003 (originally under the name Technology Law Alliance), with the aim of providing high-quality, cost-effective legal advice in its core areas of IT contracts, outsourcing, data protection and e-commerce. As a true niche practice, clients appreciate the level of direct partner involvement, and the firm is now ranked as one of the leading specialist law firms by both The Legal 500 and Chambers.

The firm’s client list encompasses both service providers and customer organisations. On the service provider side, it advises the entire spectrum of business from start-ups to ‘Tier 1’ global suppliers, and works on some of the biggest outsourcing deals in the United Kingdom. On the customer side, the firm provides advice on IT and outsourcing contracts to organisations in a wide range of sectors, including asset management and financial services, automotive, insurance, entertainment, retail, pharmaceuticals, energy and logistics.

The firm has a reputation for giving practical advice, and maintaining a friendly and collaborative negotiating style. Most of its people have worked either as in-house lawyers or on long-term secondments with in-house legal teams, so it understands the importance of concentrating on the goal of getting contracts to signature, as opposed to focusing on legal minutiae and point-scoring.

Types of work undertaken
IT contracts: Codified Legal advises on the full range of IT contracts, from simple software licences through to major IT systems procurements. The firm is at the forefront of innovations in the technology sector, such as the movement to Software as a Service contracts, cloud computing and contracts for the development of mobile apps.

Outsourcing: Codified Legal has advised service providers and customers on hundreds of outsourcing projects, from traditional IT outsourcing deals (eg for data centres, storage, support or development services) through to broader business process outsourcing (BPO) contracts for functions like finance and administration, HR and payroll, often with an offshore or international dimension.

Data protection: privacy and data protection issues are increasingly high on the corporate agenda, and the firm has extensive experience of helping companies negotiate the pitfalls of data protection law, both in the context of outsourcing and offshoring negotiations, and more generally in their day-to-day operations.

E-commerce: Codified Legal helps a range of companies with the legal issues associated with their e-commerce activities, from household names looking to augment traditional business with online activities to innovative pure-play e-commerce start-ups. It has particular expertise in online terms and conditions, website compliance and data protection issues.

Start-ups and company law: the firm offers a tailored service for start-up businesses, called the Codified Tech Hub, to support entrepreneurs and innovative new businesses. The service uses senior business lawyers with demonstrable experience at partner and board level, who can advise on the initial set-up of your business, provide cost-effective support as it matures through organic growth or acquisition, and deal with the legal aspects of a disposal or other exit. We also advise mature IT businesses on company law matters and corporate transactions, including company formations, general company law compliance and corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, management buy-outs and buy-ins, restructuring, joint ventures and shareholders’ agreements.

Other offices: Birmingham