If you keep renegotiating the same terms with the same counterparty, you need a master agreement.
An MSA settles the legal framework once, so each new project only needs a short work order covering scope, timescales and price.
It shortens deal cycles, keeps the terms consistent across projects, and stops the position drifting every time a different person signs a different document.
The risk is the reverse; a badly drafted MSA locks a poor position in across every project that follows.
An MSA sets standing terms for a relationship, with individual projects called off underneath it.
We help with:
- drafting MSAs and the work order or statement of work template beneath them;
- reviewing an MSA a customer or supplier has asked you to sign;
- converting a series of one-off contracts into a single framework; and
- multi-entity and group arrangements, including who can call off and who pays.
The critical points are the split between framework and work order, the order of precedence when they conflict, whether liability caps apply per work order or across the whole relationship, change control, and termination of a single project as against the whole agreement.
We also check the framework covers what later projects will need, including data protection and IP, so each work order stays short.
Our Approach
Legal advice that makes running and growing your business easier.
We start with your business, not the law.
Before we open a document, we want to understand what you are trying to do commercially. The legal answer is only useful if it serves that.
We get to the point.
You get a clear view of what matters and what does not, in plain English, with the real risks separated from the noise.
We give you an answer.
Not a menu of options and a shrug. We tell you what we would do, why, and where there is a genuine judgment call for you to make.
We stay available.
Whether you work with us on a single project or on a subscription, we are here for the follow-up question. We would always rather you asked.
Ways of working together
Fixed-fee projects
A single, defined piece of work for an agreed fixed fee, communicated before we engage. Reviewing a contract, drafting your terms, handling a negotiation.
No surprises and no hidden fees
Flagship Subscription
Ares Access
Ongoing support on a fixed monthly subscription, for businesses that need commercial legal input regularly rather than as the occasional one-off.
- Dedicated lawyer
- Fixed monthly fees
- Commercial advice on demand
From £500 plus VAT per month
Legal Health Check
Fixed fee of £2,000 plus VAT
Any questions?
Phone: 02382 420035
