Frequently Asked Business Law Questions

Outside Chief Legal is a modern law firm that serves as outside general counsel and fractional chief legal officers for growing businesses. Rather than billing by the hour for isolated matters, we work as an ongoing legal partner, learning your business, handling the day-to-day, and staying a step ahead of what is coming.

It describes exactly what we are. “Outside” means we are not on your payroll. “General Counsel” is the day-to-day work: contracts, employment questions, compliance, and the disagreement with a vendor. “Chief Legal” is the level above that (governance, growth, succession, and the executive decisions where legal and business strategy stop being separate subjects).

We combine the resources of a large firm with the flexibility and personal attention of a boutique. Our attorneys bring over 200 years of combined boardroom and courtroom experience and work on a fractional, on-demand basis, which is what makes executive-level counsel affordable for a company that could not carry it full time.

A General Counsel is the chief in-house attorney (responsible for day-to-day legal matters, compliance, contracts, litigation, and guidance across departments). A Chief Legal Officer is typically the more senior role, shaping legal strategy to fit business goals, advising executive leadership and the board, and owning governance and enterprise risk at the highest level.

We have offices in downtown Mobile and in Fairhope, Alabama, serving clients across Mobile and Baldwin Counties. Our attorneys are licensed in Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi, and most of our work sits along the Gulf Coast.

Yes. It is the core of what we do. Most clients engage us on a Partner Plan for ongoing general-counsel work, and some larger clients separately retain us for chief-legal-officer advisory at the executive and board level. Both can be scaled up, scaled down, or concluded as the business changes.

Everything from early-stage startups to mature enterprises, across manufacturing, insurance, construction, healthcare, professional services, hospitality, real estate, transportation, nonprofits, and family-owned businesses.

Yes. Our litigators have handled more than 1,000 cases in state and federal courts, and our senior trial counsel has tried more than a hundred jury and non-jury cases to judgment. We bring the same cost-benefit thinking to litigation that we bring to everything else. The question is never only whether you can win, but whether winning is worth what it costs.

Yes, and we do it often. We collaborate with in-house teams, department heads, and existing outside counsel, integrating with finance, HR, operations, and leadership, sharing knowledge, and documenting processes so improvements last after the engagement ends.

We do not handle family, bankruptcy, or criminal law. If a matter falls outside what our attorneys can do themselves, we locate a vetted attorney who can, make the introduction, and help manage the matter alongside them (most times at no additional cost to you).

Four ways, depending on what fits: fixed fees for defined services, Partner Plans with fixed monthly pricing for ongoing support, project-based arrangements for specific matters, and hourly rates where you only need occasional help.

National benchmarks put median total compensation for an in-house General Counsel at roughly $350,000 to $375,000 a year. For a Chief Legal Officer, estimated total employer cost (including roughly 30% in benefits and taxes) runs about $393,000 to $467,000. Those figures come from the Larson Maddox Regulatory & Legal Salary Guide (2025).

Yes. More than 75% of our new matters come from repeat clients and their referrals. You can find testimonials on our website and our Google Business Profile, and we are happy to connect you with clients who can speak to our approach and the outcomes we have delivered.

It is a focused, confidential meeting with an experienced attorney (thirty minutes by phone or video, or a full hour by phone, video, or in person). A deposit reserves the time: $200 for the thirty-minute session, $400 for the hour.

Three ways. Book directly through the links at the top or bottom of any page on this site, reach us through the contact page, or call 251-217-9733 and ask about a Risk-Free Strategy Session.

Send anything relevant ahead of time (contracts, demand letters, suit papers, or whatever prompted you to call). Our attorneys review it before the session so we can start on your actual question instead of the background to it. Beyond that, come as you are. We will handle the rest.

We work primarily remotely from our Mobile and Baldwin County offices, which keeps our expenses down and lets us pass the savings on. But we like to begin a relationship in person, spending time at your business, meeting your team, and seeing how the operation actually runs from the inside.

Sometimes the answer is a single project. Sometimes it is a Partner Plan. Sometimes we work together for a month or two first, because we would rather see what you actually need than sell you a plan that does not fit. And if your matter belongs with a different firm, we will tell you that too, and help you find them.