Outside General Counsel Services
Typically, an in-house lawyer receives salaries that can amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars per annum, plus various other benefitslike medical insurance, paid holidays, sick leaves, air-tickets, etc.
There are also some additional costs for recruiting, support staff, office space, visas, gratuity and other resource costs.
As such, hiring an in-house lawyer on payroll rarely makes economic sense for small and medium sized businesses that have neither the capital nor the work load to justify the cost and commitment of an in-house lawyer.
Similarly, the small and medium sized businesses often find the fee of traditional law firms very high and outside their budget.
“Outside General Counsel” represents an affordable middle ground and an innovative approach for businesses looking for experienced corporate practitioners without the sizable overhead associated with hiring a full-time employee.
It may be possible that you already have one or more law firms but which is too expensive or not too fast to respond for your day-to day legal matters.
My “Outside General Counsel” services will give your company access to premier legal advice at a priority but without the high expense of hiring in-house lawyer or a cost that is typical with traditional large law firms.
You will get commercially focused legal advice and personal attention from an experienced lawyer at a cost that is a fraction of the cost of hiring an in-house lawyer and can be easily budgeted month-on-month.
Moreover, you will get access to the infrastructure of a traditional law firm without any associated costs.
Contact me for an affordable monthly package designed specifically for you.
As an “Outside General Counsel”, I can provide and manage the following services:
• Commercial contracts, distribution and franchise agreements, software, technology and licensing agreements and strategic transactions
• Complete support on mergers and acquisitions including due diligence and drafting share sale and purchase agreements, asset sale and purchase agreement, etc. until closing
• Shareholder’s agreement, joint venture agreement, board and shareholder resolutions
• Corporate governance, directors meetings, shareholder meetings, and minutes
• Counseling officers and directors on fiduciary duties and strategic considerations
• Employment contracts, severance agreements and other related matters, including hiring, retention, termination and employee manuals and handbooks
• Real estate purchases and commercial leasing
What is an Outside General Counsel?
Think “Outside General Counsel” as an attorney who is not an employee but at the same time an integral part of the company. The attorney can bring necessary knowledge, expertise and experience to handle the business and commercial day-to day matters at a fraction of the cost of either hiring a full-time executive-level general counsel or relying exclusively on a big law firm lawyer.
Why you should hire Outside General Counsel
The UAE legal regime (especially corporate governance laws and regulations) is changing at an unprecedented rate. All companies are facing heightened legal, compliance and regulatory risk and requirements. This will lead to increase compliance costs however often the operational expense budget is limited, in particular for small and medium sized enterprises.
In an ideal world, the company could simply hire their own in-house lawyer to manage their contracts drafting, review and negotiations, transactions, corporate governance and regulatory compliance programs.
However, a better alternative is to hire an external general counsel who provides legal support on a periodic or ongoing consulting basis rather than as a full-time employee. There are number of benefits in hiring and “Outside General Counsel”. Few of those are listed below.
Minimal Costs
Hiring “Outside General Counsel” requires only fraction of cost compared to full time employee. No recruiting,
housing, full time salary, gratuity, office space, medical insurance, and other related costs typically associated with full time employee.
Part of your team
Once you start my services of “Outside General Counsel”, I will acquire deeper knowledge of your business operations, its risks, team and culture of the organization. This will be helpful in the long run as I will be well versed with your business aim and objective and can respond super-efficiently to craft a legal solution of any problem or issues that arise.
No Long term commitment-Easy hire and fire
In the United Arab Emirates or for that matter in any other jurisdiction, it is often easier to hire than to fire.
This concern is automatically taken care as I will not be on your payroll. The termination of relationship (although I hope this will not be required) can be done simply by conveying it in an email.
Support of a law firm and high performance!
Often, legal issues and concerns exceed the specific expertise of that one attorney. You will get support and infrastructure of a traditional law firm without paying for high rate billable hours of a lawyer and on specialized matters.
And unlike full time employees who get complacent and lose the will to impress you, I will provide high quality service as this will directly translate into more referrals and business.
