Tools we recommend

The contracts you keep meaning to sort out

Most small businesses trade for years on a handshake, a template found online, and a privacy policy copied from someone else's website. Legal Buddy is a membership that closes that gap without hourly rates.

This page contains an affiliate link. If you join through it, ChangeFluent earns a commission at no extra cost to you. We recommend Legal Buddy because we use it ourselves, and the commission does not change what we would tell you.

See Legal Buddy pricing Is it right for you?

The honest version

A template library is not a solicitor, and it is not trying to be

There is a real gap between doing nothing and instructing a solicitor at a few hundred pounds an hour. Most small businesses sit in that gap permanently, which is how people end up with no written client contract and a privacy policy naming a company that is not theirs. A membership fills the gap. It does not replace the top of the range.

YES
You have no paperwork at all. No client contract, no terms, no privacy policy. Anything credible beats nothing, and this is the fastest route to having something credible.
YES
Your needs are ordinary. Client agreements, contractor terms, website policies, an NDA. These are well trodden documents and a good template covers them properly.
YES
You want to ask before you sign. Membership includes training and sessions where you can raise a question, which for most owners is the actual blocker rather than the document itself.
NO
You are doing something structural. Shareholder agreements, joint ventures, an acquisition, an equity split between founders. Get a solicitor. We use one for exactly this, alongside the membership.
NO
You are already in a dispute. A template will not help you now. You need advice on your specific facts, and you need it quickly.
NO
You are in a regulated corner. Financial services, healthcare, anything touching children or special category data. Templates will not carry the specifics, and the specifics are the whole risk.

Why we mention it at all

We recommend it because we are members

ChangeFluent uses Legal Buddy for the routine end of its own paperwork, and a solicitor for the rest. That split is deliberate, and it is the same split we would suggest to any small business asking us where to start.

The terms of use on this website came from our solicitor, not from a template, because the site involves portals and client data and we wanted it looked at properly. Most of what a small business needs is not like that.

Use a membership for the documents everybody needs. Use a solicitor for the ones only you need.

How we decide which is which

Founded by a UK business solicitorLegal Buddy was set up by Suzanne Dibble, who specialises in small business law. The templates are drafted for UK businesses and English law.

Templates, not just documentsClient contracts, website terms, privacy and cookie policies, NDAs, contractor and associate agreements, and checklists for setting a business up.

Training and questionsMembership includes guidance and sessions where members can raise questions, which is usually what stops people finishing the paperwork.

A community of ownersOther small business owners working through the same problems, which is more useful than it sounds when you are doing this alone.

Where it helped us

Four documents worth having before you need them

Not an exhaustive list of what is included. These are the ones we think most small businesses are missing.

A written client contract

What you will deliver, what it costs, when you get paid and what happens if the client goes quiet. The single most useful document a service business can have, and the one most often missing.

Privacy and cookie policies

Required if you hold customer data, which you do the moment someone fills in your contact form. Copying another business's policy is both a copyright problem and usually inaccurate about your own processing.

Contractor and associate agreements

If you bring in a freelancer, agree in writing who owns the work. Intellectual property does not transfer automatically just because you paid for it, which surprises people at the worst moment.

Website terms and acceptable use

Terms of use, a disclaimer and an acceptable use policy if people can upload anything or comment. Cheap to put in place beforehand, awkward to sort out once there is a problem.

See what is included

Before you join

Read the commitment, not just the monthly figure

We would rather tell you this than have you find out on the second invoice.

It is an annual commitment

Membership is taken annually. You can pay monthly to spread it or pay in full for a discount, but the commitment is for the year either way. Check the term on the order form before you confirm.

Trial offers convert automatically

Where a low cost trial is offered, it rolls into paid membership unless you cancel within the notice period stated in their terms. Diarise the date the day you sign up.

Prices exclude VAT

Prices are quoted exclusive of VAT. If you are not VAT registered that is a real addition to the figure you see, so work out the gross cost before deciding.

Terms change. Everything above is our reading of Legal Buddy's published terms at the time of writing, not a summary you should rely on. Read their terms and cancellation policy yourself before you commit.

Common questions

Including the one about our commission

Ask us anything else on a call. We have no incentive to talk you into something that does not fit.

What do you earn from this?

A commission from Legal Buddy if you join after following our link, at no extra cost to you. We have kept the whole section above on when a membership is the wrong answer, because a recommendation you cannot trust is worth nothing to either of us.

Is a template as good as a solicitor drafting it?

No, and it is not sold as such. A template is a well drafted starting point for a situation that is common. A solicitor gives you advice on your facts and takes professional responsibility for it. For an ordinary client contract the gap is small. For a shareholder agreement it is enormous.

Do I still need a solicitor?

For anything structural or contested, yes. We use both, and we would suggest most growing businesses do the same. The membership handles volume and routine; the solicitor handles the things that would be expensive to get wrong.

Will the documents suit my industry?

They are drafted for UK small businesses generally. If you are in a regulated sector, expect to need specific advice on top. The templates will not know about your regulator, and that is where the risk usually sits.

Can you fill the templates in for me?

We can help you work out which documents you need and get them into your website and your process, which is the part most people stall on. We are not lawyers and we will not advise you on the content or tell you a document is legally sufficient.

Worth an hour

Get the ordinary paperwork done, then get on with the business.

Have a look at the plans and what each includes. If it turns out your situation needs a solicitor rather than a template, we will say so.

See Legal Buddy pricing Ask us first

Affiliate link. ChangeFluent earns a commission if you join, at no extra cost to you. Nothing on this page is legal advice.