Anyone who’s been involved with growing or managing a business will recognize that legal matters play a crucial role in business success.
From financings to purchase contracts, from employee stock option plans to shareholder agreements, there are countless facets of any business where legal documentation and advice are required.
Traditionally, businesses have two options: hire an external law firm to provide the necessary services or employ in-house legal counsel. The former can be exceedingly expensive; the latter can come with limitations to the scope of expertise (while also being expensive).
At Aluvion, we’re Doing Legal Differently™:
Forward-thinking entrepreneurs are looking for alternatives that give them more value and options for less money. As a business owner, you should not be forced to choose between two sub-optimal alternatives when it comes to obtaining legal services for your business. We offer a solution to business owners through our Virtual In-House Counsel™.
Improve your budget planning with predictable legal costs:
When you hire a traditional law firm to help your business, you’re signing up for an uncertain and potentially wild ride. Your final bill for these services is unclear at the start – it all depends on how many hours the firm’s lawyers bill for their work. Sure, they’ll give you a quote. However, you may encounter a trickle-down model where lawyers at every level of seniority are adding billable hours on your file at the same time and these costs are ultimately passed on to you.
Also, what happens when you need a lawyer with a different specialization? The process starts all over again! This is time-consuming, not budget friendly and frustrating when all you want to do is concentrate on growing your business.
Hiring your own in-house counsel is one way to avoid some of this frustration, but in-house doesn’t mean it’s less expensive.A full-time lawyer will run you an average salary of $100,000 per annum, plus benefits, severance commitments and other overhead costs. Even with in-house counsel, you’ll still need to engage an external law firm to support areas in which your internal lawyer doesn’t practice. This means you’ll be paying your lawyer to manage your outside counsel – in a sense, you’ll be doubling up your legal fees in some areas, which isn’t efficient.
Virtual In-House Counsel™ addresses the challenges of both scenarios by offering an entirely different legal model: on-demand legal services for a fixed monthly fee. This will give you certainty regarding your legal service costs and give you peace of mind that you have a legal team behind you, ready to answer any of your legal questions – from corporate matters to tax questions, to intellectual property, litigation and more. It’s worry-free legal advice without the sticker shock.
Reduce costs and the stress of looking for an all-inclusive legal team:
Your legal requirements are as unique as your business. While you may need help with a shareholder agreement today, next week you might be grappling with employment-related matters.
With Virtual In-House Counsel™, you have on-demand access to an entire team of lawyers and the full spectrum of their expertise. Rather than hiring an in-house lawyer with experience in only one field, you can rely on our team to give you access to the particular skill set you need, when you need it.
Our lawyers will stay up to date on your file at all times, so as a client you don’t need to pay for a lawyer’s time to “learn” the file – something that does typically happen in traditional law firms.
Is Virtual In-House Counsel™ right for your business?
We offer the same expertise and quality service as traditional Bay Street law firms but at roughly 50% of their billable rates because we are driven by our belief in Doing Legal Differently™.
Our overhead costs are extremely low thanks to a cloud-based system and a limited physical footprint. We keep our operation lean – for example, eschewing a fancy office with expensive furniture and operating without secretaries – so that you pay only for our time, not bells and whistles. In addition, our lawyers’ approach to work and life resonates with entrepreneurs and business owners because we don’t fit the Bay Street “look and feel”. You won’t find us wearing three-piece suits; instead, you’ll see our individuality shine through because we believe in being friendly and approachable.
So what does Virtual In-House Counsel™ offer you?
We have designed three packages reflecting different levels of demand for legal services that are flexible and suitable for a wide range of businesses:
Gold Package includes up to 40 hours per month and is particularly well suited to a company that has 10 to 50+ employees and defined legal needs but prefers not to engage in-house counsel. The company may be deterred by the high overhead costs associated with adding a lawyer to its in-house team or it may feel that one lawyer will not be able to meet its need for expertise in diverse areas of law. Either way, Virtual In-House Counsel™ offers lower costs and access to a deep pool of legal talent.
Silver Package includes up to 10 hours per month, making it ideal for a growing organization that’s been in business for a couple years.
Bronze Package includes up to 3.5 hours per month and is ideal for a new company. This package is well suited to clients that have made use of our Bay Street In A Box™ solution to launch their business.
All three packages include an initial consultation – either in person, over the phone or via video conference – during which we will gain an understanding of your company’s legal needs and help you choose the best service package given your requirements.
Demand for legal services typically fluctuates, so your business will likely need more legal support in some months and less in others. Either way, we are committed to complete transparency, so you will receive a detailed summary each month listing the work completed and time invested. In addition, twice per year we will review your hours used versus your allotted subscription hours to ensure you’re signed up for the right package.
A better choice for meeting your company’s legal needs:
With fixed monthly fees, on-demand access to a team of experienced lawyers and greater clarity for planning purposes, getting the legal services you require doesn’t have to be all that complicated – or expensive.
Virtual In-House Counsel™ offers excellent value while at the same time giving you consistency and certainty. You’re not locked in: after an initial six-month period, with the first month free, you can terminate your subscription at any time. This fixed-fee model gives you greater clarity when budgeting thanks to predictable monthly legal costs. No unexpected legal bills. No surprises.
So, what’s next for your business?
Please contact us to find out how your business can benefit from Virtual In-House Counsel™ and embrace a better approach to legal services.
