Philosophy
How we consider a legal matter.
Every engagement begins with the documents, the parties and the question to be answered. Our approach is to establish those facts, assess the legal position and set out the options that follow from them.
01
Method
Three stages of a professional engagement.
We work in a defined sequence so that the relevant facts are established, the legal position is assessed and a practical next step can be identified.
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01
Understanding Your Matter
We begin with the question, the parties as they appear in the documents, the facts that are known and the facts that remain open. If another country’s rules may matter, we raise that in our opening discussion.
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02
Assessing the Legal Position
We read the papers against the applicable Swedish, European or international rules, separating what the documents provide from what a party hopes they provide. We then name the legal issues, the commercial risks and the gaps.
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03
Identifying the Way Forward
We explain the realistic options, which may include further investigation, a letter, negotiation, formal proceedings or a decision not to act immediately, so that our client can choose the next step on an informed basis.
02
Review
What we need for a first legal review.
Our first reading has a defined purpose: to establish the facts, the documents and the issues that will decide the next step.
A question that can be stated
Precision at the outset saves time later. “A difficulty with Sweden” is not yet a question. “Does this share-purchase agreement bind the Swedish company named on page 1?” is one we can assess.
Our client’s objective
What a party wants and what a document already says are often different. Unwinding a sale, recovering a payment and continuing a relationship are different aims. We listen carefully to the objective, and we do not allow it to rewrite the text.
The legal issues, named separately
A commercial file usually contains more than one issue: capacity to contract, the meaning of a clause, a limitation period, a choice of law and a forum. We name them separately so that a single label does not hide the rest.
The documents as they stand
We read the parties as they are printed. A group name is not a substitute for the company that contracted. Annexes, side letters and later correspondence sit beside the signed text, not instead of it.
The applicable rules
Swedish company questions are often read against the Companies Act. Contract questions may also involve the Contracts Act and, for many sales of goods, the Sale of Goods Act. Where a court or a governing law is chosen, European instruments may sit beside those statutes, and we consider them together.
Risk, options and time
Risk is a fact that can change a right or a duty: an unsigned page, an incomplete party, a clause narrower than the hope attached to it, a time limit, or a forum that will not hear the claim. Our review usually produces more than one option, including the option of waiting.
Cross-border facts
If a document names another country, our early questions are which legal person is acting, which law has been chosen and which forum has been named. Those facts decide whether we can organise the file from Sweden and whether locally qualified counsel should also be involved.
Continuing work
Some questions are answered once. Others continue: a negotiation, a corporate change or a dispute that lasts. We decide with our client whether further work is appropriate once the first reading is complete.
Our first reading of the documents tells us more than any general description of method. We choose the next step with our client once those documents have been understood.
The information provided here is general in nature and is not legal advice. It does not consider any particular document or circumstance. Swedish and EU rules change, and official texts should be read in the version in force.
Counsel
Discuss Your Legal Matter
Write to us with a short statement of your question and the names as they appear in the documents.