General Counsel Services

IN-HOUSE EXPERTISE

Our General Counsel Services practice is a distinct legal discipline that provides clients in-house expertise on an outsourced basis. Attorneys in our General Counsel Services group previously served as chief legal officers, in senior in-house roles or as entrepreneurs running their own businesses.  

Our services include:

Corporate Governance

• Board of Directors and Board Committee support
• Legal entity maintenance
• Shareholder/operating agreements/bylaws
• Succession planning
• Ownership and incentive structures
• Secretarial function support

Commercial Transactions and Contracts

• Structure, draft and negotiate licensing, vendor, sales, consulting, joint venture, partnership, and manufacturing agreements and commercial leases
• Develop and implement templates and playbooks

Commercial Optimization

• Review and assess commercial contracting and sales/legal collaboration
• Strategic implementation of systems, templates, processes and training to increase compliance, reduce risk, streamline contract negotiations and close business faster

HR/Employment

• Employee handbooks
• Training
• Ethics/code of conduct
• Offer letters and employment agreements
• Employee management and relations
• Severance and separation agreements
• Force reduction
• Internal and external investigations
• Compensation/incentive plans

Data Privacy and Security

• U.S. and global privacy laws
  
• Regulations and industry standards
• Privacy notices and policies
• Data protection compliance programs
• Training
• Document retention and control
• Data breach support
• Cyber insurance coverage assistance
  

M&A and Integration Services

• Due diligence
  
• Data room management
• Post-acquisition support
• Vendor and sales contract alignment
• Contract assignments
• Consolidation of policies and procedures

Intellectual Property

• Strategic brand management
  
• Trademarks
• Content and copyright strategy
• Patents
• Trade secret protection
• Enforcement
• Licensing
• IP capture
• Process and policies

Litigation Management

• Pre-litigation dispute resolution
  
• Discovery production and review
• Selection and management of counsel
• Strategy
• Budget management

Regulatory Compliance

• Risk assessment
  
• Government audit response and support
• Compliance program development and implementation
• Cafting of policies
• Procedures and processes
• Training

BUSINESS ORIENTED

Highly sophisticated, but practical, our attorneys assess and resolve legal issues within the context of business objectives, risks and resources. Often serving as the legal quarterback for our clients, we implement nimble and practical legal and business solutions that materially increase compliance, while recognizing that a client’s priority is to close business fast and cost-effectively.

INTEGRATED ACROSS ALL PRACTICE AREAS

Our on-demand approach ensures world-class legal support at a fraction of the cost of building a permanent in-house legal team or replicating similar services from other law firms. PLG’s deep bench in other practice areas supplements our General Counsel services so that clients benefit from both in-house and law firm expertise. Our General Counsel attorneys seamlessly engage additional subject matter expertise as needed in areas such as intellectual property, privacy, regulatory compliance, litigation and employment.

CUSTOMIZED ENGAGEMENTS

For some clients, we function as sole senior legal counsel, providing critical advice on day-to-day legal issues, embedding compliance within a business or supporting a particular business priority.  For other clients, we partner with existing in-house legal departments, either on discrete areas of the law or as part of a larger project or team.  We can also offer flexible fee structures that take into account the unique needs of our clients’ businesses.