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Outside General Counsel Services for Early-Stage Companies (Subscription)

A defined-scope outside general counsel subscription service for early-stage companies that need recurring practical legal advice, support for agreed legal work, and guidance to help manage risk without hiring a full-time in-house lawyer.

Overview and When to Use the Startup Outside GC Plan

The Startup GC Plan is an outside general counsel subscription for early-stage companies that want recurring access to business legal guidance and support for agreed legal priorities.

The plan is designed for startups that want an ongoing outside legal partner but do not need full-time in-house counsel.

What’s Included in This Startup GC Plan

Our Startup GC Plan is structured around defined monthly time, agreed priorities, and legal work appropriate for the subscription.

Monthly Legal Support​

Each month, the Startup GC Plan includes up to six hours of legal support.

 

  • Scheduled check-in calls
  • Short legal questions
  • Document issue-spotting
  • Ordinary-course legal guidance
  • Internal attorney review
  • Legal triage
  • Project scoping
  • Work toward one or more mutually agreed legal goals

 

Before monthly time is applied to a specific legal project, Wilkinson Law LLC and the client must agree on the scope of the project and the estimated amount of monthly time to be used. If the project is expected to require more than the available monthly time, Wilkinson Law LLC may recommend a separate fixed-fee project, hourly engagement, revised subscription arrangement, or phased approach.

Scheduled Check-In Calls

The plan includes up to two scheduled check-in calls per month, and time spent on those calls counts against the six hours of monthly legal support.

 

Each check-in call is limited to 30 minutes. Check-in calls are intended for legal triage, prioritization, practical business legal guidance, and discussion of agreed legal goals.

 

Clients should provide agenda items before each check-in call so the time can be used efficiently.

Legal Questions and Document Issue-Spotting

The monthly time may be used for short legal questions and limited issue-spotting of ordinary-course business documents.

 

A short legal question means one discrete, non-urgent business legal question that can reasonably be answered within the available monthly time and without substantial factual investigation, legal research, drafting, redlining, negotiation, or analysis of multiple legal issues.

 

Document issue-spotting may include identifying whether a document appears routine, whether it raises business legal concerns, whether certain provisions should be reviewed more closely, or whether the document should be handled through a specific legal project.

 

Examples of questions or issue-spotting requests that may fit within the plan include:

 

  • “Is this the type of issue we should handle in our standard agreement or through a separate addendum?”
  • “Does this customer request raise a legal concern that should be reviewed more closely?”
  • “Should this contractor issue be handled through an agreement or a separate legal project?”
  • “Is this NDA issue routine, or does it require a more detailed review?”
  • “What legal issues should we consider before taking this next ordinary-course business step?”

 

Responses to short legal questions and document issue-spotting requests are intended for practical legal guidance, not formal legal opinions.

Agreed Legal Goals and Project Work

The monthly time may be applied toward agreed legal goals or discrete legal projects if Wilkinson Law LLC and the client agree on the scope and estimated hours before the work begins.

 

Depending on the circumstances, agreed legal goals or project work may relate to:

 

  • Company formation
  • Formation documents
  • Founder equity documents
  • Stockholder agreements
  • Buy-sell agreements
  • Restricted stock agreements
  • Equity incentive documents
  • IP assignment agreements
  • Employment agreements
  • Contractor agreements
  • Advisor agreements
  • Customer agreements
  • Vendor agreements
  • Partner agreements
  • NDAs
  • Commercial contract templates
  • Website terms and privacy policy documents
  • Contract review
  • Contract revisions
  • Legal project planning
  • Governance support
  • Other agreed business legal work

 

Wilkinson Law LLC may decline to apply monthly time to a requested project if the matter is too broad, too specialized, too time-sensitive, too uncertain in scope, or otherwise unsuitable for the plan.

What's Not Included in This Outside General Counsel Service

The Startup GC Plan does not include the following services:

 

  • Litigation, disputes, demand letters, threatened claims, or adversarial matters
  • Tax, accounting, patent, securities, fundraising, investment, immigration, employee benefits, cybersecurity, privacy compliance, or specialized regulatory advice
  • Formal legal opinions
  • Legal research memoranda
  • Emergency legal services
  • Representation of individual founders, officers, directors, employees, investors, contractors, partners, affiliates, or other persons in their individual capacities
  • Legal work for anyone other than the client identified in the engagement agreement

Plan Terms and Monthly-Time Limits

No Rollover or Banking of Monthly Time

Unused monthly time, calls, questions, review capacity, or other included services do not roll over to future months and may not be banked, transferred, credited, refunded, or applied to separate projects.

Minimum 12-Month Commitment

The Startup GC Plan requires a minimum 12-month commitment, subject to a signed engagement agreement.

 

After the minimum commitment period, the subscription may continue or end as provided in the applicable engagement agreement.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do I Know if My Company Is Ready for the Startup GC Plan?

Your company may be ready for the Startup GC Plan when legal questions come up regularly, but not often enough to justify hiring a full-time in-house lawyer. This often happens when contracts, hiring decisions, ownership questions, or ordinary-course business issues need legal judgment before the company moves forward.

Is This the Same as Fractional General Counsel?

The Startup GC Plan is similar to fractional general counsel because it gives your company recurring access to legal guidance without adding a full-time lawyer to payroll. The difference is that this plan is structured around defined monthly time, agreed legal priorities, and the scope set out in the engagement agreement.

How Is This Different From Hiring a Lawyer for One Contract or One Project?

A one-time legal project usually focuses on a specific document, transaction, or issue. The Startup GC Plan is designed for companies that want a lawyer to become familiar with the business over time, help prioritize recurring legal questions, and identify when a separate project may be needed.

Contact Our New Jersey and New York Attorneys

If the Startup GC Plan fits the kind of recurring legal support your company needs, contact Wilkinson Law LLC at info@wilkinsonlawllc.com or call 732-410-7595.

Overhead view of business professionals reviewing legal documents for outside general counsel support

CONTACT OUR NEW JERSEY AND NEW YORK BUSINESS ATTORNEYS

Call us at

732-410-7595

Or 

Email us at

info@wilkinsonlawllc.com

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