Outside General Counsel

Everyone knows that businesses have to follow the law, but there is no need to lawyer up unless someone sues you, right?  Wrong.  With legal disputes, especially those involving businesses, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  Big businesses know this.  The biggest ones have entire compliance teams that pore over every detail of every contract before offering it to the other party to sign.  Some of them even have employees whose entire job is to scour the Internet for instances of trademark infringement on the company’s intellectual property.  Even though hiring employees full-time to stop legal problems before they start is beyond the budget of small businesses, no business venture is too small to heed the warning that the time to ask for legal advice is before someone sues you, not after.  It is in the interest of small businesses to have an ongoing relationship with a law firm, so it can provide for the company’s need for legal counsel and representation when this need arises.  To find out more about the legal services you can get at an affordable price for your small business, contact a Washington, D.C. small business lawyer.

What Does a General Counsel Do?

A general counsel is a lawyer who is part of the C suite of a major company.  He or she reports directly to the chief executive officer.  The general counsel’s job is to provide a legal perspective on pending decisions by the company’s leadership; the general counsel even has a vote in some decisions.  The other main task of the general counsel is to form and implement a strategy for compliance with laws relevant to the company’s business activities.  Depending on the size of the company, there may be any number of other lawyers employed by the company, and some of them may work under the supervision of the general counsel.

You Can’t Afford a General Counsel, but Your Legal Strategy Should Not Be Piecemeal

It is only practical for a company to hire a general counsel if the company has gotten big enough that it needs one.  Small and medium-sized businesses often need legal advice, but they cannot afford to pay a full-time employee to provide it for them, especially not at a salary competitive with what the lawyers employed as general counsel at large companies make.  Instead, smaller businesses can engage the services of a law firm as outside general counsel.

When you hire a law firm as outside general counsel, you start by paying a retainer to establish the attorney-client relationship.  After that, the law firm can help you with any of your business activities that require knowledge of the law, such as drafting contracts, complying with regulations, and resolving disputes, ideally before they get to the courtroom.

Contact Tobin O’Connor Ewing About Outside General Counsel

A Washington, D.C. small business attorney can provide outside general counsel legal services for your small business venture.  Contact Tobin, O’Connor, and Ewing in Washington, D.C. or call 202-362-5900.

Source:

forbes.com/councils/forbesbusinesscouncil/2023/10/25/the-essential-role-of-general-counsel-in-protecting-your-business/