Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Key definition

Beneficiary definition

What does Beneficiary mean? In legal practice, a beneficiary is the person or entity for whose benefit property is held or administered, most commonly under a trust or will. In trust law, the trustee holds legal title while the beneficiary holds the beneficial (equitable) interest and may enforce the trust. The term is largely descriptive rather than uniformly defined by statute, though particular Acts, scheme rules and trust instruments may define beneficiary classes. Key features include: fixed or discretionary entitlements; present, future, contingent or defeasible interests; and eligibility of individuals, charities and other bodies. Beneficiaries may, subject to the trust terms and capacity,...

Governing direct access by the business to external law firms: risks, parameters, transparency and improving existing arrangements for in-house legal teams

Published by a LexisNexis In-house Advisor expert

Practice notes

Many in-house legal teams often act as the gateway through which the business engages law firms. Where the legal function holds responsibility for managing the budget for external spend, that approach is reasonable. However, if the business user or beneficiary of the advice funds the work and needs guidance regularly, well-governed direct access can be sensible. This Practice Note offers practical pointers for in-house lawyers on setting up processes that allow business colleagues to reach external legal resources directly.

Direct access—risks to avoid

When exploring direct routes to external legal advice, certain pitfalls must be tightly controlled or avoided; a business user might:

pose the wrong question
provide partial or misleading information to the law firm
run up higher or avoidable costs
misread or misinterpret the advice received
hide or downplay unpalatable conclusions

Suggested pre-requisites for establishing direct access

Good relationships

A key pre-requisite, particularly where direct access is not yet permitted, is the presence of a strong relationship between the law firm, the in-house legal department and the relevant business person...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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