General
How do I get started and what's your process?
Just click the ‘Get Started’ button on our website and submit an enquiry. After you’ve submitted an enquiry, one of our legal project managers will review your enquiry within 1 business day and get in touch to get a better idea of exactly what you are looking for.
Then your legal project manager will send through an email with a bit more information about the services you need, along with a fixed-fee quote setting out costs, scope of the service and timing. Have a read through it, and if you’re happy with the scope, you can accept and sign our engagement letter online – easy!
Once you’ve formally accepted, we’ll connect you with one of our lawyers and they will work with you to complete your project. They will contact you by email or phone if they need to get in touch.
What areas do you specialise in?
Sprintlaw is a full-service commercial legal provider for SMEs and startups. We have lawyers with expertise in pretty much every area of business law, including corporate law, technology law, data & privacy, commercial contracts, employment law, leases, financing and capital raising and more.
There are a few limited areas we do not advise on including contentious or litigious matters, conveyancing, debt collection, taxation, or personal legal matters (such as wills, estates or personal injury). We have partners we can refer you to if you require assistance with these kinds of matters.
If you’re not sure whether we can help with your legal task or question, feel free to get in touch and our team can assess it and let you know.
What is a legal consultancy? Are you a regulated law firm?
Sprintlaw operates in Australia and the UK. In Australia, Sprintlaw is a regulated law firm and is an incorporated legal practice with number 32845 regulated by the Law Society of New South Wales. In England and Wales, Sprintlaw instead operates as a legal consultancy and is not a traditionally regulated law firm under the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).
So what is a legal consultancy? A ‘legal consultancy’ is a new, innovative model of legal practice which has been available in the UK since 25 November 2019 stemming from changes introduced under the SRA Standards and Regulations 2019. The SRA’s stated intention in introducing this model was to “expand the ways in which solicitors can work in unregulated entities to promote increased opportunities for innovation, greater competition and a raising of standards and protections in the unregulated sector“.
As part of our legal consultancy model, Sprintlaw UK employs a mix of UK-qualified solicitors and Australian lawyers who provide legal services to our SME clients in the UK.
Because we’re not SRA-regulated, it means we have a lower compliance burden and we’re able to significantly reduce our overhead costs when performing legal work. We are then able to pass on these cost savings to our clients, allowing us to provide high quality legal services to clients at a fraction of the cost of traditional firms.
It is important to note that there are a few limitations of the legal consultancy model. We’ve set out the key differences below. In our view, the benefits of engaging a legal consultancy outweigh these limitations for smaller growth companies which is why we’ve elected to operate this way in the UK. If you have any questions about any of these our team would be more than happy to discuss.
Key Differences
Reserved Services: Firstly, as a legal consultancy Sprintlaw is not allowed to offer legal services in certain ‘reserved areas‘, which would require us to be an SRA-regulated firm. These reserved areas include appearing in court, conducting litigation, lodging certain property documents, conducting probate, administering oaths and notarial activities. As such, Sprintlaw does not operate in these areas. We find these areas are rarely applicable to our business clients seeking commercial advisory services.
Privilege: Secondly, when working with traditional law firms, advice provided is considered “privileged”. This means that correspondence between a client and solicitor can, if made confidentially and for the purposes of legal advice, be withheld from a court or third party in connection with litigation proceedings. As Sprintlaw operates as a legal consultancy, it means that certain advice we provide may not be “privileged” but rather will be treated in the same manner as advice from your accountants or anyone else who is not a regulated advisor such as a solicitor or barrister. This does not affect our confidentiality obligations to you, and our engagement letter confirms that any advice or discussions we have will be kept confidential. Given that Sprintlaw do not operate in court-related or litigious matters, we find that privilege is rarely an issue relevant to our kind of legal work.
Insurance: Thirdly, Sprintlaw is not required to have professional indemnity insurance that meets the SRA’s minimum terms and conditions (MTCs) set out here. Regardless, Sprintlaw has chosen to maintain professional indemnity cover of £2,000,000 per claim so our clients still benefit from insurance protection.
SRA CF: Fourthly, Sprintlaw clients will not be eligible to make a claim under the SRA Compensation Fund, which is available to clients of regulated firms where their money has been stolen, misappropriated, or otherwise not properly accounted for; or in certain other limited circumstances. Considering we do not hold funds in escrow for clients in any transactional matters, this is not a pertinent risk to our clients. You can read more about the Fund here.
Who are your lawyers?
Our team is made up of experienced solicitors and lawyers from the UK and Australia, who are specialists in various areas of law. Many of our lawyers were trained at leading firms and left the traditional corporate law world to join us on our mission to create a new and better way of delivering legal services. If you’d like more detail about our lawyers and their expertise, check out our ‘Meet the Team page here.
Do you have an office?
Sprintlaw is a fully online law firm, which means our team members to work remotely from their home offices or co-working spaces that we sponsor. We have a head office in Sydney, Australia and our UK team works from co-working spaces in central London.
How does payment work?
Unlike traditional law firms, everything we do is on a fixed-fee basis. This means you will always know the total cost of your legal bill from the start.
Once you’ve accepted and signed our engagement letter, we will send through the payment details. Please note that we take full payment upfront.
How do I contact my lawyer once I've paid?
Once you’ve accepted our engagement and paid the fees, we will allocate you a lawyer who will take care of your project. Your allocated specialist will contact you via email and let you know if there’s anything they need.
Once your lawyer gets started with your project, they will keep you updated as to the estimated delivery time and will let you know if they require any information from you.
Please also note that our lawyers generally don’t take unscheduled calls as it helps keep things running efficiently. If a call is necessary to complete your job, your lawyer will provide you with an link to our call booking system. Please book in a time using this link whenever you need to chat to your lawyer.
If you have urgent queries or would like to follow up with your lawyer, you can email us at team@sprintlaw.co.uk and we’ll provide an update as soon as we can.
How long does it take?
Generally, it takes us 1 – 2 weeks to complete a legal project. However this can vary depending on how busy we are, unforeseen complexities with your project and your availability for calls or your response to provide us with the information we require.
We will provide you with an estimated delivery time for your project once we get started, and we’ll keep you updated during your project if there is likely to be any change to this delivery time.
Do you have professional indemnity insurance?
Yes, Sprintlaw has professional indemnity cover of £2,000,000 per claim.
I want to access one-off legal services – do I have to sign up as a member?
Not at all! You can access one-off legal services at any time regardless of whether you’re an existing member or not. However, if you need regular legal help for your business, it’s worth considering signing up to a Membership. As a Member, you’ll enjoy a range of benefits, including credits for fixed-fee services, free quick lawyer consults, access to legal templates, and more – all designed to provide ongoing support for your business’ legal needs.
You can learn more about our Membership here.
Do you work with larger enterprises?
Yes, Sprintlaw Counsel is our service tailored for enterprise businesses that need ongoing legal support. This service is designed to provide enterprise businesses with a dedicated legal team to handle all their legal needs, from day-to-day advice to complex projects. If you’d like to learn more about Sprintlaw Counsel or receive a tailored quote, please reach out to our team at team@sprintlaw.co.uk
Membership
What’s included in my Plus membership?
The Sprintlaw Plus Membership is designed for growing and established small businesses and startups. It includes:
- Legal Services: Unlimited free lawyer consultations, credits for savings on legal services, fixed-fee quotes, and self-service quotes.
- Free Templates: Unlimited access to lawyer-vetted document templates.
- Contract Management: Secure document sharing, proactive reminders, and team collaboration features.
- Sprintlaw AI: AI-powered legal FAQs, health checks, and document support.
- eSignatures: Integrated e-signature tool for easy document management.
- Small Business Resources: Access to educational webinars, resources, and exclusive partner offers.
What’s included in my Free membership?
The Sprintlaw Free Membership is perfect for businesses just starting out or exploring the benefits of a Sprintlaw Membership. It offers:
- Legal Services: One free lawyer consultation, fixed-fee quotes, and self-service quotes.
- Free Templates: Download up to 5 free, lawyer-vetted document templates.
- Contract Management: Secure document sharing for storing and sharing legal documents.
- Sprintlaw AI: Access to AI-powered legal FAQs and legal health checks.
- Small Business Resources: Educational webinars and resources to support your business growth.
How do the phone consultations work?
Once you’ve accepted our engagement and made payment, we will allocate you a lawyer as your main point of contact and send you a link to their calendar booking system.
To book a call, all you need to do is select a 30 minute time slot on the lawyer’s calendar and they’ll call you at the appointment time.
If you have urgent queries or would like to follow up with your lawyer, you can call us on 1800 730 617 or email our membership email address, and we will be able to provide you with an update and pass on a message to your lawyer if it’s required.
There is no strict limit on the number of phone consultations you can book. However, we do have a fair use policy in place. In addition, member calls are intended to answer ad-hoc legal questions and do not include reviewing documents, emails or providing advice that requires time beyond the time of our lawyers on the phone. They are limited to a maximum of 30 minutes and if additional time is required, your lawyer will provide a fixed-fee quote for this service.
There are also some complex legal issues and regulations that we can advise on, but fall outside the scope of our general membership. If you would like advice around a legal issue that is outside the scope of our general membership, we may provide you a quote for a one-off consultation fee with one of our specialist lawyers.
What areas of law can you give me advice on?
As part of your consultations, we can provide you with general advice on any of the areas of law that we service. This includes technology law, intellectual property, contract drafting, privacy, corporate and commercial law. There are certain areas we can’t advise on, including dispute, debt collection, or personal legal matters (such as wills, estates, personal injury, conveyancing or criminal law), regulatory advice or employee issues. If we can’t advise on your situation, we can help refer you to another provider who can.
There are some complex legal issues and regulations that we can advise on, but fall outside the scope of our general membership. If you would like advice around a legal issue that is outside the scope of our general membership, we may provide you a quote for a one-off consultation fee with one of our specialist lawyers.
What happens if I need documents or written advice?
In addition to your phone consultations with a specialist business lawyer, your membership also includes a 10% discount on any of our fixed-fee legal services. This means if you need help with any contracts, written advice or other legal services as part of your membership, we can do it for you at a discounted rate.
How does payment work?
At Sprintlaw, we always keep our fees transparent so you know the total cost of your legal bill from the start.
Your membership is billed annually upfront. The price and scope are set out in our Engagement Letter. This subscription is considered a general retainer and is not refundable.
For our fixed-fee services, we will provide you with the quote for your service first. Once you’ve accepted the quote and signed our engagement letter, we will send through the payment details. Please note that we take full payment upfront into our trust account.
You’ll see in our engagement letter that your money will be held in our trust account until we’ve completed the scope of your project. To make sure that your money is handled properly, we follow the rules and guidelines set by the Law Society of NSW to handle your trust money. More information about trust accounts can be found here.
We accept all major credit cards as well as electronic fund transfers.
How does cancellation work?
Your Sprintlaw Membership is billed annually upfront and is not refundable. It will auto-renew, but we will send you a clear reminder before we re-bill you next year.
You can cancel at any time during the term by following this guide. Note that if you cancel more than 30 days before the anniversary of your sign-up, your access to the portal will be disabled immediately, and you will lose your member benefits from the cancellation date. If you cancel within 30 days of renewal, you will maintain access until the end of the term.
Cancelling your Membership
To cancel your Sprintlaw Membership subscription, follow these steps:
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Log into Your Account: Start by logging into your account.
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View Profile: Click ‘View Profile’ on the bottom-left hand panel.
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Click Billing: Navigate to the ‘Billing’ section.
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Cancel Subscription: Under ‘Subscription and Billing Info’, click ‘Cancel Subscription’.
If you downgrade or cancel your membership, any unused credits you have will still be available for use until they expire.
Please note that if you are on a Sprintlaw Plus Membership, you also have the option to downgrade to a Free Membership account (see guide here).