The General Counsel Services are a cornerstone of our dispute avoidance framework.
These services offer businesses of a certain scale the opportunity of having their own in-house counsel without going to market to hire one. Hiring an internal counsel means that the business needs to not only find someone of the right calibre and level but also to afford that person and to obtain cover when they are away on holiday. These different criteria can lead to mixed results for business – typically an in-house lawyer can be regarded as too significant a cost for the expertise needed, or they are less expensive, but too inexperienced.
We solve that problem. We have senior lawyers who have worked as General Counsel to PLC and private business. These lawyers have all got extensive expertise in managing internal risk and work to a style acceptable to business stakeholders. The objective is to provide a single point of contact for the business so that one person becomes fully informed of the client business and is sufficiently integrated to advise on matters of concern and opportunity. Sometimes the client company will want the lawyer to attend at board meetings to complement the decision making process with legal input.
We would expect as part of our advisory services that our senior lawyer reviews all the standard company documents used in the course of its business, is involved in contract preparation and review and assists with issues that arise day to day.
Corporate events such as capital raises, acquisitions, disposals and joint ventures are excluded from the retainer as is litigation.
The primary aim is to provide day to day support and to provide individuals within the business with the support of a known senior adviser.
Typically clients opt for a retainer relationship where parameters are set for our involvement on a monthly basis. Retainer terms are agreed on a case by case basis.
Saving Money & Reducing Risk
Client companies find they spend less on external costs and add to the overall competence of the decision making process. The General Counsel services save money, reduce risk and allow a company to focus with confidence on upside opportunities.