Services
Leadership and management
  • Promotion of firm culture/tone at the top
  • Voice of reason and ethics
  • Thought leadership on key decisions/executive sounding board
  • Investor, shareholder, and Board relations
  • Customer service, including interface with customers and their representatives
  • Employee/staff management
  • Sales support (and documentation), including in-person negotiations
  • Vendor negotiations and AP dispute resolution
  • “Go-to” person for advice, answers, and information for employees and third parties

Strategy and planning
  • Legal audit and remediation plan development
  • Business planning and monitoring against plan
  • Risk assessment and avoidance strategy (in light of business goals)
  • Transaction analysis and due diligence
  • Pre-IPO, equity investment, and exit event preparation
  • Pro-active issue spotting and opportunity spotting

Systems and processes
  • Implementation of solutions developed through leadership and strategic participation
  • Knowledge responsibility for contract and documentation content
  • Management and monitoring of contractual infrastructure
  • Organization of corporate, shareholders, and corporate governance requirements
  • Setting up and administration of equity participation by employees and investors
  • Intellectual property management (registration monitoring and contractual protection)
  • General counsel functions, such as contract review and acceptance and contract dispute resolution
  • Insurance (property, E&O, D&O) procurement and monitoring
  • Customer intake/approval, including proposal and pricing practices, and service delivery (interface with customers for troubleshooting up front and continuing issues)
  • Employee intake, review and termination/release, and employee benefits administration
  • Internal process manuals (contract deliverable and response standards)
  • Outside counsel management (cost reduction and timeliness)

Contract infrastructure
  • Review of existing forms and relationships (customers, strategic partners, suppliers, material agreements, etc.)
  • Development of basic contracts suite, including:
    • Nondisclosure agreement
    • Customer facing contract, including liability limitations
    • Service and support requirements/SLA
    • Resale and referral agreements (joint venture/affiliation deals)
    • Contractor agreement
    • Vendor agreements and purchase orders
    • Employment letters, noncompetition and confidentiality agreements, severance/releases
    • Human resources forms (application, interview, intake/exit/termination, annual review, handbook/internal rules/conduct, benefits description and training)

Legal matters
  • Choice of business entity
  • Shareholder/investor terms and rights
  • Capital raising documentation, including business description/plan
  • Lending and other financing arrangements
  • Strategic partner, joint venture and other business participant relationships
  • Franchising
  • Employee compensation, options/stock and other offer terms, including noncompetition
  • Mergers and acquisitions (buying and selling companies, stock, assets, equipment, etc.)
  • Commercial transactions (purchase and sale of goods and services)
  • Leasing (real estate, equipment, staffing)
  • Due diligence
  • Other business transactions, such as licensing

Products
  • Corporate recordkeeping (quarterly and annual meetings and Board/shareholder reporting)
  • Document management tool (repository for forms, policies, whistleblower suggestion box, contract system and tracking)
  • Document retention program