Fractional Counsel Model

 

Traditional law firms provide services on an hourly basis for certain specific matters and bill clients for the time used for each conversation, each incoming and outgoing email, document review and negotiation. Firm attorneys are experienced mainly in milestone events like leases, investor rounds or financings, but not ongoing operations or the company as a whole.

 

The fractional counsel model offers an alternative: experienced in-house counsel act as “outside in-house” counsel on a part-time/flexible basis, and are retained on a project or monthly basis to both accomplish specific goals or objectives and act as on-call strategic problem-solving partners. More extensive engagements mean a lower effective hourly rate. 

 

As companies and the business climate in which they operate become more complex, legal needs increase and legal tools can help save time and money. An in-house lawyer’s in-depth understanding translates to proactively addressed legal needs, decreased outside counsel costs, and more time for business teams to focus on operations and opportunities. In-house lawyers can help implement document retention, compliance, contracting, employment and governance procedures that mitigate future risk. In-house counsel are adept at finding outside counsel with niche expertise, and at managing the costs and communication for matters requiring outside counsel.