The law is there to protect people, and over the past few years and even decades it has taken a lot of new steps to protect the consumer. For even the most caring and honest businesses, however, there is one downside to this extensive portfolio of protections; the resulting laws are complicated.

This is mostly down to the sheer variety of issues that need to be covered, but not all areas of legislation apply to all businesses. Working out exactly where you stand, precisely which rules and regulations are applicable to you, and how to implement a reliable and ongoing scheme of compliance can all be very challenging. Many businesses find themselves in need of legal advice and assistance from consumer law solicitors, especially if they have allegedly failed to comply with the law and are facing legal action from consumers or regulatory bodies.

In particular, I offer my services as an experienced consumer law barrister in matters relating to:

• Food Law: A lot of legislation goes into ensuring the proper preparation, packaging and sale of food. Some of this comes under the remit of the Trading Standards Institute, and some falls to other bodies such as the Food Standards Agency (FSA). Food law applies to businesses that serve food for on-site consumption, such as restaurants and cafés, as well as to shops that sell food for customers to eat elsewhere – though the two types of business obviously have different laws to contend with.
• Trading Standards: A number of consumer rights and legal matters are protected and enforced by the Trading Standards institute. These include issues of labelling, refund and replacement rights, and a variety of customer disputes. A wide range of retail businesses and many service providers are subject to trading standards law, and the exact nature of the rules that apply to you depends on what you sell and on where and how you sell it. As a trading standards barrister, I can provide you with all of the advice and guidance that you need when facing potential trading standards issues.

Whether you just want advice on the exact legal obligations of your business or you need expert advocacy in the face of legal proceedings brought by Trading Standards officers, I can help. As a diverse and experienced barrister I am able to offer litigation and support similar to that of consumer law solicitors and I have a wealth of experience helping businesses with alleged breaches of trading standards and consumer law, having operated as a consumer law barrister for a number of years.

For expert advice from trading standards lawyers and consumer law lawyers or for more information on how I can help your business with its own, specific situation, please contact my clerk and ask for Stuart Jessop on 0207 797 8408 or info@stuartjessopbarrister.co.uk.