§ 04 — General counsel work
Outside general counsel
Andre has served as Chief Legal Officer to three companies, sitting inside the business rather than across the table from it. Growing companies retain the firm on a monthly subscription for the same role: one lawyer who knows the company, answers the phone, and handles whatever the quarter brings.
What the role covers
A company past its first few employees generates legal questions every week: a customer’s contract with terms no one read, an investor asking for option paperwork, a lender’s notice, a departing employee with a copy of the customer list, a state agency’s letter. Each one is small until it is not. A general counsel’s job is to answer them as they come, in the company’s own context, before they become disputes.
The subscription gives a company that function without a full-time hire. The fee is fixed monthly and covers attorney’s fees for the company’s legal matters within the agreed scope; court costs, filing fees, experts and other outside costs are billed at cost. Litigation and transactions beyond the scope are quoted separately, usually at a preferred rate.
§ 04 — General counsel work
Chief Legal Officer experience
Andre has served as Chief Legal Officer to three companies, sitting inside the business rather than across the table from it. Growing companies retain the firm on a monthly subscription for the same role: one lawyer who knows the company, answers the phone, and handles whatever the quarter brings.
- Learning Exchange, Inc. (LEXX) and affiliated companiesChief Legal Officer
- 888 Group, LLCChief Legal Officer
- Capital Source 2000, Inc.Chief Legal Officer
The work, in practice
Contracts and commercial terms
Master services agreements, vendor and customer contracts, terms of service and privacy policies, negotiated and kept current.
Equity and governance
Stock option plans and grants, operating and shareholder agreements, board matters and company records.
Financing and lenders
Loan and merchant cash advance review, lender negotiations and restructurings, and the disputes that follow when terms are not honored.
Protecting what the company built
Trade-secret and non-compete enforcement, intellectual property strategy, and litigation when it cannot be avoided.
Disputes and litigation strategy
Demand letters sent and answered, pre-suit negotiations, and the decision — made with the business, not for it — of when a fight is worth having.
Compliance and policies
Employment documents, privacy and consumer-protection obligations, licensing questions and the written policies that regulators and counterparties ask to see.
How the subscription works
One lawyer, on call.
- 01
Scoping conversation
What the company does, what keeps the founders up at night and what the first ninety days should fix.
- 02
Written terms
A fixed monthly fee, a defined scope and a term — typically twelve months — set out in a short engagement agreement.
- 03
A direct line
The founders and managers call or message Andre directly. Routine questions are answered the same day.
- 04
Quarterly review
A standing look at contracts, equity, filings and risks, so nothing waits for a crisis.
Common questions
What founders ask about the subscription.
Which companies is this for?
Companies large enough to generate steady legal questions — a handful of employees, real customers and contracts, perhaps investors or lenders — but not yet large enough to justify a full-time lawyer.
What is not included?
Court costs, filing fees, experts and other outside vendors, which are billed at cost, and matters outside the agreed scope, such as a lawsuit or an acquisition, which are quoted separately before work begins.
How is this different from calling a law firm when something comes up?
Continuity. A general counsel already knows the cap table, the key contracts and the people, so the answer comes faster and fits the company. And founders call earlier, when problems are cheap to solve, because the call is already paid for.
Does the firm work with companies outside Florida?
Yes. Several of the companies Andre has served operate in other states or abroad. Matters that require a lawyer licensed elsewhere are handled with local counsel.
Need a general counsel, not a law firm?
A scoping conversation costs nothing. English or Russian.