How to manage legal risk

Produced in partnership with Elizabeth Bourlet
Practice notes

How to manage legal risk

Produced in partnership with Elizabeth Bourlet

Practice notes
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It is often said that running a business means taking risks and that the biggest risk an entrepreneur can take is not to think about risk at all. A prudent organisation identifies the risks to which it is exposed and controls those risks where possible.

This Practice Note aims to help you to understand what is meant by legal risk and provides practical guidance on how to manage legal risk. It is intended for in-house lawyers of commercial organisations based in the UK.

Most of the best practice steps in basic legal risk management will be second nature to seasoned in-house lawyers. These are probably things that you do all the time, as part of your day-to-day job. However, the growth of risk management as a strategic business tool, combined with the increasing expectation that the in-house lawyer will be actively involved in formal risk management processes, require you to step back from approaching legal risk management as a reactive day-to-day activity.

Proactive and strategic legal risk management necessitates consideration of wider legal issues, such as those impacting

Elizabeth Bourlet
Elizabeth Bourlet


Elizabeth is an experienced, commercially-minded solicitor with a combination of professional and business qualifications. Elizabeth has a breadth and depth of experience gained from holding senior positions both in private practice and in significant corporate entities in a wide range of industries and sectors, including: retail ' a national garden centre group and a major national DIY group, luxury brands, manufacturing, the water industry, IT and the public sector. Elizabeth has a particular interest in drafting, negotiating and managing commercial contracts of all kinds: general terms and conditions of purchase and supply, supply of services, IT and major systems implementation, marketing, utility supplies, telecoms, supporting the rationalisation of suppliers and the establishment of cost effective group-wide initiatives, including outsourcing and insourcing. Preparation for GDPR has also been a key part of her recent assignments, as has Corporate Social Responsibility. Preparing businesses for sale by private equity owners, is a further specialisation of her, including advising on asset value maximisation, ensuring key contracts are in place, drafting policies and procedures to regularise corporate governance, preparing for due diligence, organising and populating data rooms and playing a key role in associated financial restructuring. Elizabeth has considerable experience of supporting the exploitation of brands worldwide, involving: preparing complex co-development arrangements, cross-licensing and distribution provisions; preparing detailed licensing, distribution and agency agreements; managing (and rationalising) a vast world-wide trade mark portfolio and dealing with infringement issues and new registrations. She is fully accustomed to working on long, medium and short-term contracts through her own company, Elizabeth Murray Solutions Limited.

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