The Outside General Counsel: A Higher Level of Legal Services for Business

lawyer-estate-planningMany small and medium-sized businesses find themselves “out in the cold” when it comes to working with a business lawyer. Most of the time, it doesn’t make much sense for a small business to have an attorney on staff full-time. Attorneys are expensive, and most smaller businesses don’t have enough legal work to keep one busy full-time. The unfortunate result of this, however, is that many smaller businesses don’t get legal help when they actually do need it—before making important decisions that could have costly consequences.

Usually attorneys that work in private practice with small businesses work on a project basis—the client hires the attorney to draft a contract, or to negotiate a deal, or to form an entity. Once the project is completed, the client doesn’t call the attorney again until another project arises. It is unusual for attorneys to become an integral part of the business decision-making process within the business. As a result, many times businesses are blindsided by legal problems that could have been easily avoided with a little help and counsel from an attorney familiar with their business and industry.

Small Business Benefit From a General Counsel Too

Many smaller businesses would benefit greatly from forming an “outside general counsel” (OGC) relationship with a skilled, experienced attorney. In much the same way that huge corporations employ dozens of in-house attorneys to oversee and provide input on all facets of the corporation’s operations, an outside general counsel can provide insight and assistance to business owners and managers seeking to avoid legal pitfalls and take advantage of opportunities. As the name suggests, the attorney is not an employee of the business. Instead, he or she is a trusted outside advisor to the leadership team, offering legal counsel on a regular basis. Instead of calling the attorney only when something goes wrong, the business owner, leadership team, and attorney meet regularly to bounce ideas off each other and make sure that the plans for the business don’t raise any legal red flags. Keeping in mind the old adage that “an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure,” the OGC’s role is to prevent problems before they occur. And if unforeseeable problems do arise, the outside general counsel is perfectly positioned to be able to address those problems without having to spend expensive billable hours to “get up to speed” on the client’s unique business, key players, and industry issues.


Ask Dave About

"Ask Dave" is a growing collection of videos that explain estate & business planning terms and concepts in simple terms anyone can understand.
Our goal is to empower you to make informed decisions when it comes to your future. Some popular topics are:
  • About Probate
  • Downside of Probate
  • How A Trust Works
  • Planning & Wills

View Video Library

Our Practice Areas

  • Trusts (both simple and complex)
  • Pour-Over Wills
  • Powers of Attorney (health care & financial)
  • Probate
  • Asset Allocation & Trust Subdivision
  • Estate Tax Planning & Strategy
  • Capital-Gains Tax Planning

Outside General Counsels Can Bring Specialists as Needed

trust-estate-planning-attorneyAnother benefit of working with an outside general counsel is that the attorney tends to know other attorneys in other disciplines. Few attorneys are general practitioners anymore—in this age of specialization, clients are rarely well served by an attorney who claims to offer everything to everyone. Instead, a client can save valuable time and resources by seeking qualified referrals from the OGC when a specialized need arises. In this way, the OGC becomes the “go-to “ source for all legal questions. If the OGC can handle the issue in-house, then he or she will do so. For issues or projects outside the scope of the OGC’s practice, skilled, experienced colleagues can provide solutions with the OGC’s input and guidance. Clients don’t have to spend time and money searching for an attorney that specializes in employment law, or securities law, or the UCC. The OGC can bring allied professionals to the table.

Many business owners shy away from on ongoing relationship with an attorney, concerned that such regular contact will be expensive. However, experience suggests that the opposite is true. Clients who take the time to meet with their OGC regularly tend to find that the business runs more smoothly and efficiently, and that issues rarely get out of hand. In contrast, business owners who wait until the last minute to call an attorney often find that small problems that might have been handled easily at the outset explode into expensive and lengthy litigation—the bane of any small business. As in many areas of business and life, it’s much easier to do the routine maintenance than it is to make costly repairs. A good, experienced outside general counsel can help a business stay on focus, control costs, and avoid problems.

To learn about the role of an Outside General Counsel and to determine if you would benefit from an General Counsel Services, please contact David Morris at (916) 789-9810. Click here for Business Law

Our Locations

El Dorado Hills

5137 Golden Foothill Parkway, Ste. 110
El Dorado Hills, CA 95762
(916)789-9810
drmorris@morrislawgrp.com

Sacramento

3626 Fair Oaks Blvd., Ste. 100
Sacramento, CA 95864
(916)789-9810
drmorris@morrislawgrp.com

Communities Served

  • Sacramento
  • West Sacramento
  • South Sacramento
  • Mid Town Sacramento
  • El Dorado Hills
  • Cameron Park
  • Shingle Springs
  • Placerville
  • Folsom
  • Granite Bay
  • Carmichael
  • Citrus Heights
  • Rancho Cordova
  • Orangevale
  • Roseville

About Morris Law Group

Attorney David R. Morris is a Certified Specialist in Estates, Trusts, and Probate, certified by the State Bar of California. Certified Specialists undergo rigorous peer review, testing, and education to certify that they are experts in their subject matter areas. Fewer than two percent of attorneys in California become Certified Specialists in any area of law—the designation serves as an indication that the attorney is skilled, experienced, and knowledgeable in the specialty area.

With offices in Sacramento and El Dorado Hills, Morris Law Group provides innovative, cost effective solutions for clients seeking to resolve and avoid problems related to their families and livelihoods. We serve individuals and business clients in the communities of El Dorado Hills, Sacramento, West Sacramento, South Sacramento, Midtown Sacramento, Natomas, Folsom, Granite Bay, Rancho Cordova, Citrus Heights, Carmichael, Roseville, Cameron Park, Shingle Springs and Placerville.

   Connect with us online