Testimonials

The best commercial legal/business mind bar none!

Mark has a unique ability to turn complex legal gobbledygook into simple English. He understands, talks and writes like no other lawyer I’ve met. His business mind is one of the sharpest I know, understanding business issues quickly and finding solutions / adding value immediately.

To top it all, he’s also one of the nicest blokes you’ll meet!

I highly recommend Mark and hope we continue to work together in one guise or another in the future.

Mat Oram, Director, AdviseInc

I had an upcoming contract negotiation for an Agile development with a large European bank. Mark was recommended to me by a colleague who had worked with him previously, and I have to say that Mark more than lived up to his reputation. He was quick, responsive, knew his stuff and was an effective negotiator. In short, he was ridiculously valuable.

Lee Goodenough, Managing Director, VASS UK&I 

I engaged Mark to do the legals on the acquisition of a company whose technology was critical to our future business plan. The timeline was extremely ambitious – we signed the deal in 17 working days (including both technical and mainstream due diligence) from signed heads of terms. We would not have made this deadline without Mark’s pace, proactivity and pushing of all sides.
 
Mark acts more like an internal counsel than an external law firm, and that gave me a definite edge. He kept the deal moving at speed, but also was aware of when issues needed to be put in front of me for a decision. Mark’s internal counsel approach gave us a significant advantage in doing the deal, and also protected our internal team, and wider management team, from having their time consumed unnecessarily.
 
Overall, it was a great experience. His speed and responsiveness were excellent, and the quality of his advice was fantastic. I particularly appreciated discussions on tactics, negotiations, and the ‘art’ of how to get deals over the line. The psychology discussions were incredibly useful: for example, analysis of why individuals might be reacting in a particular way. This gave me the confidence in discussions to know when to push a little harder and when to back off. In fact, much of the advice went beyond what I would expect from a lawyer. It was business advice and advice on how to get a deal done. Negotiation tactics are one of Mark’s strengths and a definite value-add. Looking forward to our next project together.

CFO & Chief of Staff, Kneip

Mark helped us to negotiate and contract a software licensing reseller deal that was strategically important to the business. Having worked with Mark for many years both in a previous business and at Metapraxis, he was the obvious choice for this engagement and we were delighted with the outcome. Mark is very commercial, focuses on what matters, makes the complex simple and communicates it clearly and succinctly: it’s a pretty unusual combination. He was very responsive and worked quickly. He was also very clear on which points we needed to be aware of, and take a view on, and which were not that material. He has a good relational sense and worked well with the other side’s lawyers. The only thing I would have done differently is getting him involved earlier in the negotiation process because of his strong commercial sense; he would have added a lot of value in the shaping of the deal upfront. But I have to say that the contract we ended up with was much better than the one we started with. Mark was good value for money, and I would definitely recommend him.

Simon Bittlestone, Director at Metapraxis, Advisor at Plum Tree Capital.

I decided to use a lawyer for a recent negotiation because it was a foundational contract and key to the success of the business going forward. Mark was recommended to me by a friend who had used him for similar deals, but I was still concerned about ROI, costs and how long it would take to negotiate the contract. But it turned out to be a really good experience. Mark’s speed and responsiveness were great. He was proactive in dealing with the other side, and he took a lot of work off my plate. The quality of his advice was very good, and the overall value for money was good. Thanks to Mark, the contract we ended up signing was in a totally different league (for us but overall for both parties), with much clearer terms and covering events we had not initially thought of. I would definitely recommend him.

Ramiro Martínez-Pardo, Fintech director at Beka Finance, Chief Executive Officer at HeyTrade!

We instructed Clearview Legal after struggling with expensive lawyers from a major UK firm.  Working closely with our commercial team, Mark immediately restructured and simplified customer and supplier contracting for our division’s most strategic and profitable deals.

We now have a highly cost-effective service from Clearview Legal that is flexible and high-value, with approximately 25 stable long-term contracts in place.  Mark is commercial, quick, and easy to work with. I recommend him.

Nigel Muirhead, Products Director, Agilisys

Mark embodies all the skills that a good lawyer requires... Highly recommended.

Sergio Cerro, CEO, Rebellion Pay

One of the best commercial lawyers I’ve worked with…

Steve Robertson, Chief Financial Officer, DPR

Mark is an excellent commercial lawyer who is very user-friendly. He is quick to spot the business issues in a deal, adds value very fast and suggests solutions. Unlike most lawyers, there is no mumbo-jumbo or gobbledegook in his opinions.

Andrew Mosely, Consulting Director, Metapraxis 

One of the most sales-aware lawyers I have worked with, a great negotiator, and quick to cut through to, and resolve, issues to enable business to be done.

Simon Hampton, Oracle 

...[Mark’s'] work rate is immense; he cuts to the chase on the most challenging commercial and legal points... at the top of my list for legal counsel.

James Snow, Director, SamePage

A first-class lawyer with the vital balance of legal expertise and commercial acumen.

Peter Grisman FCA, Company Secretary, Glasseco 

We have used Mark as our Corporate Lawyer for all commercial and litigation matters for the last three years. His extensive Commercial legal experience has proved invaluable to us, and I have no hesitation in recommending him to anybody who wants a first-class lawyer with the vital balance of legal expertise and commercial acumen.

Terry Baxter. Director of Risk and Compliance, Target Group

We engaged Mark to help us with the exit of a customer from a very large outsourcing contract.  The customer expected us to pay for the – very significant – costs of the exit; we took the opposite view.  To make things more difficult, the date of the exit was fixed and could not be moved.

We engaged Mark because he is bright, and commercially and contractually aware. The real bonus was how Mark integrated seamlessly into the team and was soon thought of as one of the SMTs. He provided a balanced objective and insightful analysis of the challenges faced, helped form the negotiation strategy, engaged directly in the negotiations and provided an unflappable, calm, pragmatic presence no matter how heated the customer debate.  There is no doubt that without Mark’s contribution we would not have achieved the successful outcome that we did.

Trevor Greenfield, Operations Director, XHRS

Mark Sherwood-Edwards is a very smart, pragmatic and experienced lawyer whom we have used for the majority of our commercial legal requirements – contractual, regulatory and general advisory – in the UK and around the world.

He is exceptionally quick to turn around assignments, well-tuned to the commercial issues that our company faces, able to think laterally when the need arises, and is our de facto in-house legal counsel.

Jeremy Toyne, Chief Executive Officer, Talkremit

I used Mark in a corporate acquisition. His negotiation skills were first-class, and his advice and guidance have saved me considerable amounts of money and ensured that the risks in the transaction were identified and mitigated as far as was possible. I have no hesitation in recommending him.

Tim Brooks, Managing Director, Lewisford Group

We have recently had the pleasure of working with Mark, who is one of the best commercial lawyers around. He is detail-orientated, extremely sharp and gets things done at pace. We would, without question, work with Mark moving forward and highly recommend his services.

Ben Graham, Partner, TritonExec