A new offering – fractional general counsel services

In my professional career here in Loudoun and Washington DC I’ve been fortunate enough to be an in-house partner to wonderful executive teams. I’ve also had the privilege of working with attorneys representing other companies. Of course, I’ve also had the major challenge of dealing with companies who are either utterly unsupported on the legal front or who outsource their legal services to an outside law firm.

Businesses absolutely need legal support and guidance for their companies. It should be non-negotiable to a business that their contracts, processes, or decision making process doesn’t (At the very least) have a checkpoint with an attorney minding the blind spots and standardizing things for them.

So what’s the problem?

The broader problem is two fold. The first problem is that internal general counsel is expensive. Yes, I’ve been blessed to build a career in that environment but I’m also honest enough to recognize the extraordinary commitment that was made in me to be general counsel. I’m also honest enough to recognize that the cost to in-house an attorney isn’t just their salary – it’s their benefits, their bonuses, your insurance, and their impact to your deal flow.

When properly integrated, internal general counsel can be an absolute asset. They can ensure full coordination across your organization, help mitigate risk items, and become a major driving force within the organization that helps promote uniform value and administration.

More often than not, though, internal legal is sequestered or placed under a Chief Financial Officer and written down as a bottleneck for compliance purposes. In these instances internal legal is an expensive show pony that could’ve benefitted you more as a racehorse than a stable occupant. Not only is that not feasible for upstart and growing companies, it’s unacceptable for established companies looking to sell or to simply maximize their value.

Then there’s the external law firm solution. External law firms often comes at premiums and the hourly model. This creates two tensions. The first is to maximize the billable hours or be a large enough client that you’re a priority for the firm. External law firms operating on the billable hour need to see return on investment or else you’re just a retainer signed and prioritized right around your profitability. To the extent that you’re getting work you’re often getting high priced theory application, not integrated and focused work centered around facilitating your business. The second is that you’re value for the work tilts towards retaining in-house counsel. After all, if a $500.00 per hour external mid-level firm member results in either slow responses or a need to run up a $50,000.00 bill to get attention (And, still, you’re likely needing both internal and external counsel), you’re better off hiring in-house.

But there is an alternative.

The Fractional General Counsel Solution

Companies have already discovered the overhead saving capacity of shared services models, fractional Chief Financial Officers, and various other incentive driven contributors. Businesses now have access to attorneys who can serve multiple companies at a price that’s affordable to businesses from half a million dollars in revenue all the way up to multi-million dollar companies. Fractional general counsels can address matters all the way from contract templates and negotiation to corporate governance. Depending on the size and profile of the fractional general counsel practice businesses may also have additional services available (for a fee, of course).

Fracturing the Fractional General Counsel Market

The fractional general counsel solution, however, is plagued with low value adds that treat your company as an academic application of law. Many services are either a document review center on demand or high priced consultants with bar licenses. Firms that offer these services who market it with words like “advise,” “ensure,” and “help” should be tested. Advise is great, what’s the cost of execution? Ensure how? How far does help go?

If your legal support responds with “typically in your industry…” or “the industry standard is…” then you ask yourself this follow-up question; “What does that have to do with what I’m offering or what I’m comfortable with?”

Why am I your Fractional General Counsel?

Excellent question.

The short answer is that I’ve supported companies at all stages and all levels of maturity and accelerated sales cycles by being a student of the business, not a law student treating your needs like an exam. The longer answer follows.

I’m your fractional general counsel because I’ve spent seven (7) years as the general counsel or in-house counsel for companies ranging from high-growth government contractors in Fairfax Virginia and start-up backed software companies in the Dulles Tech Corridor to established and large international companies in the Arlington Courthouse area. I’ve built contracts shops from the ground up and installed controls and processes to minimize risk exposure. I’ve handled employment law issues concerning wages, non-competes, trade secrets, and fiduciary obligations. I’ve served as an officer and maintained the minutes for investor-backed companies. I’ve supported companies that are pristine in their operations and others who leave a fair amount to be desired. I’ve helped facilitate transactions in as little as a month – it’s all about having your ducks in a row, making sure everyone has all their needs set, met, and exceeded.

You’re looking for legal support that integrates with your team, understands you and your company, and builds around that. Anyone can Google general legal advice or get a broad opinion of a lawyer. What you need is someone who has built a career in recognizing that business doesn’t operate at the speed of smell. What I’ve learned over time is that there are always angles of attack – you’re never invulnerable. This cannot grind your operations to a halt. You need an attorney who knows your tolerances and how certain terms and laws actually impact your business or else you’re not getting value for your money.

I leverage top end support tech to streamline my work, from tools like Wealth Counsel and a massive library of continuing legal education to automating my client processes and securing your communications and transmissions via my practice management software and data security solutions.

I believe in set expectations – my fractional general counsel practice is built around you and your market segments, your needs, and subscription legal service to meet your needs. You’ll know exactly what it costs, exactly what to expect, and exactly how I operate. My deep rooting in my faith demands that level of transparency to you and commitment to the right way to do things.

So what next?

If at any point you’ve asked yourself any of the following questions:

• • Does this person know what they’re talking about?

• • Why are my sales cycles so slow?

• • Do my contracts actually protect me?

• • Do they know what we do?

• • Is this worth holding the deal up?

• • Am I ready for M&A?

• • Could I get a data room together quick if I wanted to sell?

• • Am I protected if anything goes sideways with this employee?

• • How do I defuse this problem?

Then you should contact me to get started. If you’re the type of person (As I am) to say “I’m know enough to know what I don’t know” then we’ll get along great.