Brexit: Pathway to Preparedness

In-house legal teams will have undertaken a number of rounds of preparation for the implementation of a new relationship between the UK and the EU. Due to delays in the 'Brexit process’ some of the required steps to prepare your business may be outstanding and any existing plans may need to be reappraised in light of recent developments. Now is the time to refresh your plans and take necessary action. Our Brexit advisory team and legal project managers can help you get back on track and create a pathway to preparedness.

Now is the time to finalise preparations

The UK Government is now committed to a December 31st 2020 deadline when the transition period will end. After this an as-yet undefined new trading relationship will regulate the relationship between the UK and the EU. In-house legal teams, already facing significant pressures as a result of COVID-19, now need to take steps to review and reappraise their existing plans in light of the new timescale.

In order to do this effectively, in-house legal teams may need to undertake many of the following steps:

• Understand the emerging shape of the likely relationship between the UK and the EU
• Undertake a gap analysis and complete an audit of outstanding plans and actions which have not yet been implemented
• Review and reconfigure their plans to meet new deadlines and to factor in new/emerging risks and opportunities
• Reprioritise those actions which must be completed before December 31st 2020 and identify those actions which can be deferred until 2021 or beyond.
• Create a new delivery plan and timeline for implementation
• Ensure that the new delivery plan is legally sound
• Allocate actions and project manage the execution of the plan.

Pinsent Masons is well-placed to deliver this support to legal teams through a combination of our dedicated legal project management function, our public policy team and over 2500 lawyers across our offices in the UK, EU and in key markets worldwide.

How we can support you to get back on track

We recognise that the resources of legal teams are already stretched due to COVID-19. We will work with you to help get your team back 'on track', to support the identification of key risks, and to avoid wasted time 'dusting off' plans and getting them back into shape.

Once you have shared existing plans and timelines with our Brexit project management support team, we will:

• Support you to conduct a gap analysis of preparedness and work with you to refresh and reappraise those plans in light of new deadlines
• Support you to identify key actions which must be undertaken immediately and create new timelines for your teams to work from
• where necessary, bring in specialist lawyers to advise on the full range of Brexit-related risks including in relation to issues such as contractual risk, supply chain resilience, regulatory issues, immigration and all other issues of concern
  • advise as to whether you can accelerate your preparations using technology such as our large-scale contract review tool Provide you with a comprehensive revised plan with executable deadlines which can be shared with the business
  • Support you to project manage the delivery of the overall plan to completion.

Our experienced Brexit advisory team is top-ranked in the Legal 500 and is highly regarded for our work supporting large international businesses to prepare for challenges and opportunities associated with Brexit.

How else can Pinsent Masons help?

Pinsent Masons offers clients a multi-disciplinary, cross-border Brexit Advisory team. The team is ranked Tier 1 in the leading legal directory, Legal 500 and draws on our market-leading Public Policy and Government Affairs offering.

We have been working with clients to help them understand what Brexit may mean for their business, facilitate discussions with their organisation and advise on what practical steps can be taken to prepare for Brexit.