Employment Contract Review Solicitor London: Get Advice First
A new contract or service agreement is easiest to change before you sign it. Once you have accepted, restrictive clauses, notice terms and bonus conditions that looked like boilerplate become binding, and your leverage to renegotiate mostly disappears. There are often changes worth asking for that cost your new employer nothing to grant, but the window to ask closes the moment you sign. Take advice before you do.
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BEFORE YOU SIGN...
The Moment You're Offered a New Contract, Terms Get Harder to Change
A new employment contract or service agreement is rarely just a formality. Clauses on notice, bonus, restrictive covenants and confidentiality are drafted to protect the employer, and many candidates sign without querying terms they would never accept once they understood what they meant in practice.
But there is a window to negotiate before you accept. An employer who has already offered you the role has already decided they want you, and reasonable requests to amend one-sided terms are rarely a dealbreaker at that stage. That leverage narrows sharply the moment you sign and disappears almost entirely once you have started.
David will tell you quickly which terms in your contract are standard, which are unusually one-sided, and which are worth pushing back on before you accept.
36 Years Reviewing and Negotiating Employment Contracts and Service Agreements
David Greenhalgh has reviewed and negotiated employment contracts and service agreements for employees and senior executives for 36 years. He understands that a new contract is signed at the most optimistic moment in a working relationship, which is exactly when the less favourable terms are easiest to overlook.
His advice is practical, not just a clause-by-clause commentary. David knows which terms employers expect to be challenged and will move on, and which are genuinely non-negotiable, so you are not wasting goodwill pushing on the wrong points. That experience shapes every recommendation he makes, including what to raise before you sign and what to simply note and revisit later. Where you cannot attend the London office in person, contract reviews are run just as effectively by video call or secure email exchange.
The terms that cause the most damage are rarely the ones people ask about. They're the ones buried in a schedule nobody reads before signing.
Hear how David approaches a settlement agreement.
A short introduction in plain English on what to expect from the process.
The Contract Terms Most Often Negotiated Before You Sign
Salary and bonus structures
David checks whether your bonus is contractual or discretionary, how it is calculated, and whether the wording leaves room for your employer to reduce or withhold it later.
Notice period and termination
David checks whether the notice provisions work fairly in both directions, what your employer can pay in lieu of notice, and what happens if your employment ends early. For senior executives, the detail around notice, garden leave and termination payments can materially affect the value and timing of an exit.
Share options and incentives
Vesting schedules, good leaver and bad leaver definitions, and what happens to unvested awards on exit can matter more than the headline value of the award. David reviews these before you rely on them.
Confidentiality obligations
Confidentiality clauses can be drafted very widely, sometimes extending well beyond genuinely confidential business information. David identifies where the wording is unusually broad and explains what it could restrict in practice.
Bonus withheld on notice, dismissal or exit
Many contracts state a bonus will not be paid if you are serving notice or no longer employed on the payment date. David advises on how enforceable that condition is and whether it can be negotiated out.
Restrictive clauses
Non-compete, non-solicitation and non-dealing clauses can significantly restrict what you do after leaving. To be enforceable, they generally need to protect a legitimate business interest and go no further than reasonably necessary in their scope and duration. David flags where the drafting appears to overreach and what a more reasonable restriction might look like.
Hidden contract risks
Entire agreement clauses, variation clauses, and terms incorporated by reference to a separate handbook can each carry consequences that are not obvious from a first read. David reviews the whole document, not just the headline terms.
Negotiation leverage
Where terms need to change, David advises on which points to raise, how to raise them without undermining the offer, and what a new employer will and will not move on.
Recent Contract Review Outcomes
Case studies are anonymised. Past outcomes are not a guarantee of future results.
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From First Call to Resolution
Initial call
David finds out what has been offered, what matters most to you, and how much time you have before you need to respond.
Response within hoursReview and advice
David reviews the contract clause by clause, flags what is standard, what is one-sided, and what to prioritise.
Same dayNegotiation points
David advises on the specific changes worth requesting and how to raise them with your new employer.
DaysSign-off
David explains the final terms, any remaining risks and the points you have chosen to accept, so you can decide whether to sign with a clear understanding of what the contract means in practice.
ResolvedWhat Clients Say About Working With David
David is the best employment lawyer for senior executives. I have referred a number of senior executive clients to David, all of whom have been incredibly impressed with the results he has achieved on their employment issues. He combines top-tier legal strategy with genuine care and dedication.
Clear, confident and actionable advice - David is absolutely the 'go-to' employment lawyer in the City.
I rate David highly as an employment lawyer and I would not hesitate to recommend him to other senior executives.
He very quickly understands the employment issues and addresses them in a very friendly manner. His insights are clear and concise, always to the point and helpful, and his advice is practical and useful.
Employment Contract Review, Answered
The questions David is asked most often before clients pick up the phone.
View full FAQ →Start with the parts of the package that matter most if the relationship later ends: salary and bonus terms, share incentives, notice, termination rights and restrictive covenants. Confidentiality obligations, garden leave and the way performance expectations are documented can also become important.
For a senior executive, the question is not simply whether the contract is legally valid. David looks at whether the terms properly reflect the role, the remuneration package and the restrictions you are being asked to accept.
Yes. The period before you accept is usually the best time to raise terms you are uncomfortable with. Depending on the role and your negotiating position, that may include notice periods, bonus provisions, restrictive covenants, termination rights and incentive arrangements.
The aim is not to challenge every clause. David identifies the points that genuinely matter, explains where there is likely to be room to negotiate, and helps you decide what is worth raising before you sign.
Restrictive covenants that limit your next move, unclear bonus provisions, lengthy notice periods, garden leave and termination clauses can all become significant when employment ends.
Problems also arise where promises made during recruitment or in an offer letter are not properly reflected in the final contract. Reviewing those points before signing puts you in a much stronger position than trying to resolve the wording after a dispute has started.