Commercial agreements
Drafting and reviewing supply, service and shareholder agreements, with a plain summary of where the risk actually sits before you sign.
Independent legal practice
Clear counsel for the decisions that carry weight.
Prism Keel is a small practice built for people who want to understand their position before they act. We read the detail, set out the options in plain language, and stay with the matter to the end.
- Commercial agreements
- Property & leasehold
- Employment matters
- Private disputes
Practice areas
The work we take on
Instructions are accepted selectively so that each matter gets proper attention. If yours sits outside these areas, say so in your enquiry and we will point you toward someone better placed.
Property & leasehold
Purchases, sales and commercial leases — including break clauses, dilapidations and the covenants that tend to be discovered too late.
Employment matters
Contracts, restrictive covenants, grievance and exit negotiations, advised from either side of the table with equal candour.
Business formation
Structuring a new venture, founder arrangements and the governance documents that keep a partnership workable as it grows.
Private disputes
Contractual and neighbour disputes handled proportionately — negotiation and mediation first, formal proceedings only where they serve you.
Wills & estates
Wills, powers of attorney and estate administration, prepared carefully and explained to the people who will one day rely on them.
How an engagement works
Three steps, no surprises
Most people hesitate to contact a firm because they cannot picture what happens next. Here is the whole shape of it.
1
A first conversation
You tell us what has happened and what you would like to achieve. We listen, ask the questions that matter, and tell you honestly whether you need a lawyer at all.
2
A written scope
If we take the matter on, you receive the work to be done, who will do it and how fees are calculated — in writing, before anything begins.
3
The matter, carried through
One point of contact throughout, updates at each real development rather than for their own sake, and a clear note of your options at every decision point.
Practice notes
A deliberately small practice
Prism Keel was founded on a simple preference: fewer matters, handled properly, by the person you actually spoke to. There is no file handed down a chain here, and no advice that arrives too dense to use.
- Plain language first. Every piece of advice comes with a short summary you could repeat to someone else accurately.
- Fees agreed in advance. Fixed where the work can be scoped, and never increased without discussing it with you first.
- Proportion over posture. We will tell you when a dispute is not worth pursuing, even when pursuing it would suit us.
- One point of contact. The solicitor who takes your first call stays responsible for the matter throughout.
Questions
Before you get in touch
The four things people most often want to know before sending an enquiry.
How are your fees structured?
Wherever the work can be scoped in advance — an agreement review, a will, a lease — we quote a fixed fee. Matters that genuinely cannot be scoped, such as a live dispute, are charged by time against an agreed estimate, and we tell you before that estimate is reached rather than afterwards.
Is a first conversation confidential?
Yes. Anything you tell us while exploring whether to instruct us is treated as confidential, whether or not you go on to become a client. We will carry out the usual conflict check before advising on the substance of a matter.
What should I bring to the first conversation?
Whatever you already have — the contract, the letter, the dates in rough order. Nothing needs to be organised first. If documents are missing, that is often part of what we help you establish.
Can the matter be handled remotely?
Most of it, yes. Conversations, document review and signing arrangements are routinely handled at a distance, and we will say plainly if a particular step needs you to attend in person.
Request a consultation
Tell us about the matter
A short outline is enough to begin. We read every enquiry ourselves and reply with either an initial view or a straightforward note that this is not our field.