Carlton Fields offers tailored outside general counsel services that allow us either to act as a client’s law department or to supplement it. These arrangements enable clients to gain more timely, high-quality legal guidance about how to navigate legal challenges, improving their ability to make better decisions and to address issues before they become problems.
Our outside general counsel services clients range from smaller companies with no legal staff to larger businesses that have law departments, but may need to cope with a temporary vacancy or may prefer to outsource responsibility in a particular legal practice area – for example, employment or intellectual property law.
These flexible arrangements make it easier for clients to reach out to us with quick questions or for general legal advice. We help spot issues, brainstorm alternative approaches, and let clients know when they have a problem that may require more. We also help clients analyze and address legal risks or excessive legal costs associated with business divisions, operations, or entire portfolios of their work.
The following options can be customized to fit our clients’ needs.
Full Outside General Counsel Service
Together, we agree on an individual lawyer who will serve as the client’s GC, coordinating all legal services the client needs. The client and GC will decide if all services should be handled by Carlton Fields or by a combination of Carlton Fields and client lawyers, if any. Fees are agreed on as a monthly retainer payable at the first of each month. The goal is to agree on a value that considers all factors, including the comparative cost of an in-house legal department.
Segmented Outside General Counsel Service
Clients who have legal departments may benefit from contracting with Carlton Fields to handle one or more segments of their legal needs. For example, Carlton Fields could serve as the client’s labor and employment law department, SEC compliance department, or litigation management department. Fees are agreed on a yearly or multi-year basis, and are paid as a monthly retainer.
On-Call Consulting Service
Clients identify the areas of law on which they may need frequent legal consultation, informal discussions, “reality checks,” or brainstorming. Examples might include: general corporate, employment, or intellectual property advice. Annual fees, payable monthly, will be agreed each year. Formal opinions, employment audits, individual patent applications and the like would be separate engagements.
The information on this website is presented as a service for our clients and Internet users. It is not intended to be legal advice, and should not be considered as such. Although we welcome your inquiries, please note that merely contacting us will not establish an attorney-client relationship between us. Consequently, you should not convey any confidential information to us until a formal attorney-client relationship has been established. A person may become a client of Carlton Fields only through a written engagement letter between that person and the firm, after the firm has had an opportunity to review its database to assure no conflict exists and after deciding whether the representation is appropriate. Please remember that electronic mail is not secure, and that you should not include sensitive or confidential information in messages. With that in mind, we look forward to hearing from you.