Dot-coms warned to seek adviceMany European dot-com companies face catastrophic litigation, and their directors exposure to huge personal liability, according to a survey by City-based Landwell, the correspondent law firm of Big Five accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers.The survey - Time for law and order - of 400 dot-com managers from the UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands revealed that one in five were unconcerned by legal risk; 70% are confident that they have dealt with the legal risks facing their businesses abroad, even though the survey indicated that they have not.It said that 30% fail to protect trade marks in home markets while fewer than 50% have registered trade marks abroad.

UK dot-coms proved far better at this than their German and French counterparts.More than half of the respondents have Web sites accessed from at least ten countries, yet more than 30% had neglected to take advice on international enforceability of their contracts.There was even less work on patent protection: nearly 80% spent nothing on patent protection at home, while 82% spent nothing abroad.The report also revealed that only 40% of dot-coms have registered their domain names abroad, and almost 90% are unconcerned by their legal responsibility for Web site content.With a quarter of the dot-coms failing 'basic financial hygiene tests', thereby running the risk of 'wrongful trading', Landwell said their directors and company officers may face personal liability under insolvency legislation.Simon Walker, head of e-business at Landwell in the UK, said that one-tenth of respondents reported that they already faced legal problems: 'The recent spate of dot-com "deaths" should be a sufficient warning that short-term finance and broad awareness are not enough to survive.

Capturing the value in your business, limiting your liabilities, and customer care are keys to survival'.Legal IT expert Charles Christian said: 'Dot-coms are culturally opposed to lawyers slowing them down, and those who do take legal advice put emphasis on the urgent immediate jobs at the expense of the longer term'.He recommended lawyers to sell dot-coms advice in packages, rather than confusing them by presenting them with a plethora of legal departments.Jeremy Fleming