Most growing businesses reach a point where legal questions stop being occasional. Contracts pile up, a vendor sends over a one-sided agreement, an investor asks about your governance, an employee issue surfaces. You don’t yet need—or can’t yet justify—a full-time lawyer on payroll. But hourly outside counsel makes every phone call feel like a meter running. A fractional general counsel is built for exactly this gap—and the best ones bring something more than a title, which we’ll get to.
What is a fractional general counsel?
A fractional general counsel (sometimes called an outside or outsourced general counsel) is an experienced business attorney who acts as your company’s go-to legal advisor on a part-time, ongoing basis—usually for a flat monthly fee. You get the judgment and continuity of an in-house general counsel without the six-figure salary, benefits, and overhead of a full-time hire.
The defining feature is the relationship. Unlike a one-off engagement, a fractional GC learns your business, your risk tolerance, and your goals—so the advice is practical and grounded in how you actually operate, not generic.
How it differs from a law firm or a full-time hire
- vs. hourly outside counsel: No meter anxiety. Predictable, flat pricing means you ask the question instead of avoiding it because of the bill.
- vs. a full-time GC: A full-time general counsel can cost $350,000–$500,000+ in total compensation. A fractional GC delivers similar strategic coverage for a fraction of that—scaled to what you actually need.
- vs. DIY templates: You get an attorney’s judgment on your situation, not a generic form you hope you filled in correctly.
What does a fractional general counsel actually do?
Scope varies, but a fractional GC typically handles the proactive, operational legal work a business runs into week to week:
- Reviewing and negotiating contracts—vendor, customer, and service agreements
- Drafting NDAs, terms and conditions, and standard templates you reuse
- Corporate governance: operating agreements, bylaws, board and member resolutions
- Commercial and corporate transactions
- Employment-related agreements and day-to-day legal questions
- Compliance and policy updates as regulations change
Most fractional GCs focus on proactive counsel rather than litigation. When a dispute requires courtroom representation, they help you coordinate the right specialist—while staying focused on keeping your business out of those situations in the first place.
How much does a fractional general counsel cost?
Across the market, fractional general counsel arrangements commonly run from around $2,000 to $10,000+ per month depending on scope and volume. Compared with the $30,000–$45,000 monthly cost of a full-time GC—before they’ve reviewed a single contract—the math is what makes the model so popular with growing companies.
Subscription-based models go a step further by making the cost predictable: a flat monthly fee, no hourly surprises. (You can see how LawScription structures this on our Plans & Pricing page.)
Does your small business or nonprofit need one?
A fractional GC tends to make sense when several of these are true:
- You’re signing or receiving contracts regularly and want them reviewed before they bind you
- Legal questions come up often enough that hourly billing is becoming expensive—or causing you to avoid asking
- You’re scaling: new hires, new vendors, new markets, or fundraising
- You’re a nonprofit that needs board-level governance and compliance support but can’t staff a legal department
- You want a consistent advisor who knows your business, not a different stranger each time
Nonprofits in particular are often underserved here: they face real governance, compliance, and contract obligations but rarely have the budget for traditional counsel. The fractional model fits that gap well.
Beyond the job title: what we call Operations Law
Here’s the distinction that matters. “Fractional general counsel” describes a role—a part-time senior lawyer. It doesn’t describe an approach. Two fractional GCs can hold the same title and work in completely different ways: one waits for problems to land on the desk; the other builds the legal foundation that keeps problems from landing at all.
At LawScription, our founder Robyn Davis practices what she calls Operations Law: the discipline of getting your contracts, compliance, and governance right so your business runs cleanly as it grows—rather than just reacting to deals and disputes as they arise. A fractional GC fills a seat. Operations Law is the comprehensive, proactive lens we bring to it—treating your legal foundation as infrastructure to build, not fires to fight. See how Operations Law works across contracts, compliance, and governance →
How LawScription approaches it
LawScription offers fractional general counsel through a flat-monthly subscription designed for small and mid-sized businesses and nonprofits—the organizations larger firms tend to overlook. Every engagement is handled directly by Robyn Davis, Esq., who brings 25+ years of corporate legal experience, including AmLaw 200 partnership and Fortune 250 in-house roles.
If you need ongoing advice and a dedicated attorney relationship, LawScription Counsel is the subscription built for that. If you mainly need documents or a one-time review, Matters à la Carte and LawScription Docs cover those without an ongoing plan.
Frequently asked questions
Is a fractional general counsel the same as a law firm?
Not quite. A law firm is typically engaged matter-by-matter and billed hourly. A fractional GC is an ongoing advisor embedded in your business on a recurring, usually flat-fee, basis.
Do fractional general counsel handle lawsuits?
Usually no—the focus is proactive, operational legal work. If litigation arises, a fractional GC helps you bring in and coordinate the right specialist.
When should I switch from hourly counsel to a subscription?
When legal questions become routine rather than rare. If you’re hesitating to call your lawyer because of the bill, a flat-fee subscription usually pays for itself in both cost and peace of mind.
Thinking through whether a fractional GC—or a fuller Operations Law relationship—fits your business? Talk it through with us, or compare plans and pricing to see what ongoing legal support would look like.