For some companies, it may not make sense to have a legal department. Maybe full-time general counsel is overkill. Or maybe you do have in-house counsel but need a lawyer with expertise and experience in a certain area.
There are alternatives to in-house legal departments and expensive retainers. Outsourcing to an alternative legal practice, one that offers the experience and skills of a Bay St lawyer, without the overhead and costs associated with a traditional law firm, is a great way to get much more value for every dollar you spend.
For other companies, you may have in-house counsel and need extra support. This article is for you.
Engaging external legal counsel is a great solution, here are some scenarios where you might need to out-source in addition to your in-house team:
- When you need specialized services that your in-house team doesn’t have the expertise in. For example, it could be Intellectual Property or Litigation
- If you are experiencing overflow work where your in-house resources don’t have the bandwidth to handle the workload in a timely manner
- You may be looking for help during short term leaves / maternity leave replacements
- You find you have vacancies that are difficult to fill
Any legal services can be outsourced. It becomes a question of preferences for the company.
Do you want to use internal resources or are they at capacity? Do you want to outsource transactional work but keep strategic work in-house?
If you are heavily reliant on legal for reviewing large volumes of contracts? You may choose to keep it all in-house. If you are focused on certain projects and need help with patents and other IP issues, you may choose to outsource those areas.
Outsourcing is becoming more common. CEO Law is a leader in this area, helping companies fill the gaps they struggled with in the past.
It’s a decision each business must make, by weighing all of the details above. If you do outsource, form a relationship with the lawyer so that future work is smooth and easy, don’t hop around to various lawyers.
Read more about CEO Law and are areas of expertise. We have a roster of accomplished lawyers covering many areas of the law. Consultations are free. Let’s have a conversation and see what support you need.
