Managing legal spend is a pain point for many businesses, particularly as they mature. As your operations expand, so do your legal bills. There are more risks to manage and more contracts to sign.
If you’re spending a lot on legal fees, you might realise that you’ll soon reach a point where it’s cheaper to employ a salaried in-house lawyer. Someone senior enough with the range of experience to deal with most of your day to day legals, and can pre-empt and manage any legal emergency.
But hiring your first lawyer is a big step – it’s a significant cost, a lot of commitment and perhaps you’re just not ready?
Many growing businesses face this dilemma, but we’re now seeing an increasing number of executives adopt a novel solution that keeps their legal costs in check (without the commitment) by using an ‘outsourced general counsel’.
What is an outsourced general counsel?
Much like ‘outsourced CFOs’ (or virtual CFOs), these lawyers are former general counsel (GCs) or senior in-house lawyers who have left their companies to provide GC services on an outsourced or on-demand basis.
Unlike lawyers who’ve only practised within law firms, outsourced GCs have spent most of their careers working inside businesses. Through this experience, they’ve been able to learn and adopt a ‘commercial mindset’, understand how businesses function from the inside and how various industries operate – a combination of skills that is highly valued (and paid) in larger enterprises.
Outsourced general counsel offer a way for small to mid-sized enterprises to access this skill set in a flexible and affordable way. Engagements are typically for a certain number of days or hours per week or month, delivered on a remote or on-site basis, although it’s common for the majority of the work done to be done remotely, with periods on-site as required (for onboarding, important meetings etc).
A benefit of having the work done remotely is being able to tap into a national (or even global) talent pool of outsourced GCs. It’s common for these lawyers to service two or even three businesses at any given time, spread across the country.
“Narissa was exactly what we were looking for. She had the right combination of in-house and private practice experience. She was able to get to grips with the way that our business worked and how we wanted to communicate to our clients and she had a great can-do commercial attitude.”
How much does an outsourced GC cost?
Prices for an outsourced general counsel can vary according to the volume and intensity of work and the level of experience you require. Most outsourced GCs are at a senior level, with over 15 years of experience, having worked in multiple corporate legal teams after cutting their teeth in large private practice law firms earlier in their careers.
But to give you a sense of price, day rates tend to range between $1,000 to $1,800 per day. Compare that to your firm’s hourly rate for a senior lawyer (partner or special counsel level), or even the ‘blended rate’ that combines senior and junior lawyer rates, and see how the numbers stack up.
Remember that it’s not a black or white choice: an outsourced GC can help you control legal spend by relying less on external firms, but it can be a smart move to keep a mix of both. Let your outsourced GC deal with the majority of day to day legals, and have them instruct your firm/s for more complex, niche or bet-the-company litigation or transactions. As former GCs, they’re experts in procuring and managing external legal work.
Where can you find an outsourced general counsel?
While the number of former in-house lawyers setting up an outsourced GC offering is on the rise, they can be hard to find. Here at InCounsel we have spent years unearthing and curating a vetted network of outsourced general counsel that brings these lawyers together in one place, allowing you to fast track your search for the right solution.
Our panel of outsourced GCs:
Have at least 10 years' experience.
Trained at top-tier or highly regarded law firms.
Have significant in-house experience at the senior and general counsel level.
Intimately understand the industries and sectors they’ve worked in.
Can handle the full range of day-to-day legal issues that affect your business.
As former in-house lawyers ourselves, we can quickly understand your requirements and provide a tailored (and free) matching service to help you find the right outsourced general counsel for your needs.
“The Outsourced General Counsel service offered by InCounsel was perfect for our business.”
Case studies and examples
As the MD of high-growth business, Victoria Kelly was looking for a better way to manage her company’s legal obligations. She found a part-time, outsourced GC to be the perfect solution for her business. Read her case study and check out a few more examples of how this solution could for your business.
If this sounds like it could be the right solution to give you confidence to grow your business, while knowing that your legal risks (and fees) are under control, then please get in touch.