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Fractional general counsel for startups

A legal department, at the size you actually need. There’s a long stretch where a company needs ongoing counsel and cannot justify a full-time lawyer. The usual answers — call a firm per matter, or ask nobody — both cost more than they look.

from $1,500/month

A monthly retainer with defined turnaround, so legal stops being a thing you avoid because of what it might cost.

What’s included Start here
01

How much does a fractional general counsel cost?

Fractional general counsel starts at $1,500 a month and gives a company ongoing legal support without a full-time hire: a contract review queue with a defined turnaround, a managed compliance calendar, advisory hours each month, a quarterly legal health review, and replies within one business day. Billed monthly, with 30 days’ notice to leave.

Who this is for

E-commerce operators, SaaS companies, agencies, and digital-product businesses past formation, with real customers and a steady trickle of contracts and legal questions that currently either wait or get answered by a founder guessing.

Fractional GC

from $1,500/month

  • Contract review queue with turnaround SLA
    Send inbound paper as it arrives. Turnaround is defined in the engagement, not improvised.
  • Compliance calendar, managed
    Your filings and renewals tracked and surfaced before they’re due, rather than after.
  • Advisory hours each month
    For the questions that come before a document exists — pricing structures, a hire, a partnership, a difficult customer.
  • Quarterly legal health review
    A standing look at what’s accumulated: aging agreements, drifted practices, and what next quarter needs.
  • Priority access — replies in one business day
    The response commitment is written into the engagement letter.

Not included

  • Litigation and dispute representation
  • Financings and M&A — scoped as separate matters
  • Work requiring admission outside California
  • Regulated-industry specialty advice

Monthly, and you can change tiers or leave with 30 days’ notice. It’s a retainer, not a lock-in.

02

When does a company need a fractional GC?

Once it has real customers, real contracts, and a steady trickle of legal questions that currently either wait or get answered by a founder guessing. Usually that is after formation and before the volume justifies a full-time hire.

The longer guide to the model covers the stage it fits and how it differs from a firm on a matter or a full-time hire.

Why a monthly retainer rather than hourly billing?

Hourly billing quietly discourages the thing it should encourage. If every question has a meter attached, small questions don’t get asked — and small questions are where the cheap fixes live.

A defined monthly fee removes that. The point is that you contact me before signing, not after.

What isn’t covered by the retainer?

It isn’t unlimited work, and it isn’t litigation. Scope is defined in the engagement letter, and anything outside it gets quoted separately rather than absorbed quietly. If a month’s volume consistently exceeds the tier, we adjust the tier — not the invoice after the fact.

03

How does flat-fee pricing work?

The fee is flat and the scope is confirmed in writing before any work begins. “From” means that the stated figure is the starting point for a defined scope, and if your facts require more, you hear the revised number before anything proceeds, not on an invoice afterwards.

04

Common questions

What does a fractional general counsel actually do?
The same work an in-house lawyer does, at a fraction of the time and cost: reviewing contracts before you sign them, tracking compliance deadlines, and answering the operational legal questions that come up between formal matters. The difference is that the role is shared across several companies rather than dedicated to one.
Is this a fit for an e-commerce or SaaS business rather than a startup?
Yes. The model fits any company with recurring legal flow and no in-house lawyer — a Shopify or FBA operation dealing with supplier and marketplace terms, an agency signing client contracts, a SaaS company reviewing enterprise paper. Venture funding is not a prerequisite.
How is this different from hiring a law firm per matter?
Per-matter engagements price each question separately, which discourages asking. A retainer covers the ongoing flow at a known monthly figure, so routine review and quick questions are already paid for. Large discrete matters — a financing, an acquisition — are still scoped separately under either model.
Is there a minimum term?
No. It is billed monthly, and you can change tiers or end the engagement with 30 days’ notice.
What happens if we outgrow the tier?
We adjust the tier. If a month’s volume consistently exceeds what was scoped, that is a conversation about the arrangement rather than a larger invoice arriving without warning.
05

Other services

Formation

from $2,500 flat

Entity formation done so the paperwork matches the plan — including the founder equity and IP assignment most DIY filings skip.

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Contracts

from $1,500 flat

The core agreements a young company needs, customized to how you actually sell — with usage notes so you know which one to send.

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Web compliance

from $1,950 flat

Privacy, tracking, subscription and AI-disclosure compliance for internet businesses — before the demand letter, not after.

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06

Start here

I read every submission personally and reply within one business day — including when the honest answer is that this isn’t a fit.

Submitting this form does not create an attorney-client relationship, and I can’t treat what you send as confidential until we’ve signed an engagement letter — so keep the sensitive specifics for the call.