What are outside general counsel services?

Outside general counsel services (also called fractional general counsel services) consist of ongoing legal support for businesses, provided by external lawyers or law firms, which deliver the expertise of an in-house attorney without the costs of a full-time hire. AMBART LAW offers a version of these services, with a dedicated focus on AI governance, privacy law, commercial contracts, and intellectual property, as we have noticed that some of these practice areas are a high-need (and under-served focus) for tech, e-commerce, and SaaS companies, while also heavily affecting businesses in more traditional industries, such as financial services and consulting.

With an outside general counsel (OGC) or fractional GC, you can supplement gaps and coverage areas in your existing in-house legal team, or use this service as a way of accessing continuous legal guidance on a retainer basis. OGCs serve as a strategic extension of the leadership team, available to advise on day-to-day questions and larger legal strategy.

Unlike traditional advisory services provided by external counsel, OGCs also typically engage in project management and implementation work. For example, if they are working on a project that requires input from cross-functional stakeholders, such as an AI audit, OGCs will run point and lead the project themselves; rather than giving you an instruction manual on “how to” run the project; OGC “will do.” By contrast, external counsel working on an hourly basis will typically flag the legal risk and the applicable law. They do not engage in execution of the project or task, but rather will share their legal opinion and advise. This is a key difference between outside GCs and external counsel; the difference is not so much in what advice will be delivered but how that advice is delivered, with outside GCs often working more closely with the company, day to day, and thus able to offer more tailored advice and project management support. While serving as separate and outside of your company, from a resources-perspective, OGCs can be thought of as extensions of your team.

Another key difference is the payment and cost structure. Advisory counsel will often charge on an hourly basis or a flat-fee for a project. OGC services typically have more flexibility in payment, with many offering subscription-like services, or monthly flat fees. Because these services are for an ongoing time-period, OGCs can choose to calculate their monthly flat fee as a discounted block of hours, or offer other flexibility depending on the client’s needs and the estimated amount of work required.

Below is a comparison table showing the benefits of AMBART LAW’s fractional GC program, for companies that need on-going legal support, not tied to one specific project or question. For more discrete projects (one-offs), such as preparing policies, buying or selling data, AMBART LAW is happy to help on an advisory (hourly) basis. AMBART LAW has also worked with companies that have both a dedicated in-house team and advisory, external counsel; in these scenarios, we have served as fractional counsel that provide support to the in-house team, depending on their needs, overflow work, and the company’s quarterly or product priorities, while also interfacing with external counsel.

table: overview of outside general counsel (ogc) services

Visit our dedicated Fractional GC Services page to learn more about AMBART LAW’s fractional GC program. We are transparent about our pricing and offer flexible and scalable packages to meet your company’s needs:

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