Virtual General Counsel

Our virtual General Counsel offering

Seamless integration with your team

Why have we created our virtual General Counsel service?

Our team works closely with clients to understand their objectives and support the development of their businesses, and we understand that at times, they need a more focused, personal and integrated service.

Perhaps you’re reaching the stage where you need ongoing, routine legal support, but are not quite ready to hire an experienced lawyer full-time. Maybe you need seamless interim cover for a specific project, employee absence, or skills gap. Or you may simply want a more integrated legal function to consistently support your business during stages of rapid growth.

We get it, as we’ve also experienced these pain points. Many of us have founded, invested in and scaled businesses – whilst others have hired senior lawyers and engaged external law firms on behalf of large corporates – so we understand these needs and challenges better than anyone. We also support General Counsels and in-house lawyers who work for our existing clients, by delivering tailored know-how sessions that offer opportunities to access training in specialist areas. This means we truly understand where we’re able to add unrivalled value, which is why we created our virtual General Counsel offering.

External law firm vs. (virtual) in-house lawyer

Whether you’re looking for an extension of your existing legal team, or a dedicated legal resource for your management team to tap into when necessary, we’re here to help. Not only will you have on-going access to an experienced lawyer – many of us have previously worked as General Counsel or senior lawyers at global corporates – but also the expert resources of a full-service law firm; resources that a standalone in-house lawyer likely won’t have access to.

Rather than engaging an external law firm on an ad hoc basis when the need arises, this service enables you to embed us into your core team. This means we’ll get to know your business and its objectives inside out, so we’ll be able to seamlessly and commercially manage your legal matters as and when they arise.

For example, as soon as a customer or supplier contract needs to be reviewed, we can use our knowledge of your business as the foundation of our review and any subsequent negotiations. This should help to significantly speed up your sales or procurement process, enabling you to efficiently close the deal whilst managing risk appropriately. One less thing to worry about.

We’ll also help you to understand which legal matters should be prioritised, helping you to make the most of your legal budget and avoid overlooking key risks.

Adaptable.

Cost-Effective.

Scalable.

Fully bespoke service

We understand that every business is unique and will have different legal needs, both in terms of substance and scale. This is why we build bespoke packages that are specifically tailored to the distinct commercial and legal needs of each individual client. For example, on a day-to-day basis, we could be your first port of call when you need support with contract analysis, commercial negotiations, routine HR matters, ongoing compliance, recovering bad debts, and preliminary intellectual property-related issues. The possibilities are endless.

Moreover, we can adapt the service over time so that it evolves to meet your changing legal needs as you scale, offering far greater flexibility than hiring a full-time in-house lawyer or legal team. On that note, we can also extend our offering to include teams of lawyers when need arises, offer cost-effective junior support for more routine matters, or even second lawyers to your business during particularly busy periods. In addition, if you have an existing in-house legal team, we can offer training and other resources to help them keep abreast of the ever-changing legal landscape.

On top of all this, our virtual General Counsel package will entitle you to discounted hourly rates for any work that falls outside the scope of the retainer, be that complex short-term projects or large-scale mergers and acquisitions.

Flexible support to suit your needs

We provide flexible support for start-ups, scale-ups and bigger businesses. We can provide an experienced lawyer to help guide your business in several ways such as:

What People Say

Why Ignition Law

Our clients range from software start-ups, medical technology firms and university spinouts, to social enterprises, investment funds and established companies across a number of sectors, many of which seek sophisticated advice to help them scale. For the better part of a decade, these clients have put their trust in us to provide advice that’s not only technically spot on, but commercially relevant and cost effective, and we take pride in our ability to consistently deliver fast, flexible and forward-thinking legal, commercial, and strategic advice.

In addition, as already mentioned, our lawyers have worked at many of the world’s most high profile international law firms and corporations, meaning you’ll have access to senior, market-leading experts who are used to providing nothing less than the highest levels of client service.

Fast – we work like you do: agile, tech-enabled and efficient
Affordable – our model lets us work to a budget that suits your stage of growth
Experienced and entrepreneurial – our lawyers are creative thinkers with an entrepreneurial edge; their blend of enthusiasm and diligence is how we provide your business with innovative solutions.

On each step of your journey, we’ll provide comprehensive legal advice, customised for your needs.

Get in touch

Get In touch

If this sounds like it might help to transform the way you approach legal services, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We’d be very happy to arrange a no obligation call so that we can better understand your needs and create a bespoke proposition for you to consider.