Who this is for
OGC at Terms.Law is sized for businesses that have outgrown DIY templates but are not yet ready for a $15,000-per-month BigLaw retainer. Three profiles fit best.
Funded startups, Series A to B
You have closed a round, the legal volume has spiked, and your investor counsel only handles the deal docs. You need someone to take the steady stream of customer NDAs, vendor MSAs, employment offers, and IP assignments off your CEO's plate.
Tap for details ↻How it works: a monthly retainer covers the recurring flow (NDAs, MSAs, offers, IP assignments) so it stops landing on your CEO, and larger one-off matters are quoted separately. Your investor counsel keeps the deal docs; I handle everything around them.
Tap to flip back ↻SaaS and fintech with no in-house
You are shipping product, signing enterprise customers, and the legal stack (ToS, Privacy, MSA, DPA, BAA) needs to keep pace. You want a lawyer who already understands SaaS and AI legal work, not someone you have to educate.
Tap for details ↻Why there is no ramp-up: I already work in SaaS and AI legal, ToS, Privacy, MSA, DPA, BAA, plus AI output-rights and pilot-risk questions. No time spent teaching me your model, and the legal stack keeps pace with shipping.
Tap to flip back ↻Solo founders running real businesses
You are profitable, you do not want a co-founder or a fractional GC, but you have actual contracts and actual disputes. You want fixed-fee, fast-turnaround legal help without the firm-overhead markup.
Tap for details ↻What you get: flat fees, fast turnaround, and no retainer required. Call when a contract or a dispute comes up, get a clear quote, and skip the firm-overhead markup. Most single documents are $575.
Tap to flip back ↻Why outside general counsel, and not the alternatives
Most growing companies do not have a legal problem so much as a legal-throughput problem: a steady stream of contracts, employment documents, IP questions, and small disputes that each need an attorney's eyes but none of which justify a full-time hire. Outside general counsel is the model that fits that stage. Here is how it compares to the three options founders usually weigh against it. This is general information about how I structure the work, not legal advice about your company.
Versus DIY templates
Templates are fine until a counterparty redlines them, a clause actually gets tested, or an investor's counsel reads them in diligence. Then the gaps that were invisible become expensive.
Tap for details ↻What changes: an attorney reviews the document against your actual facts, catches the present-tense IP-assignment and liability-cap problems a template cannot, and gives you a redline you can send. Most single documents are a flat $575, so you are not choosing between a free template and a five-figure firm bill.
Tap to flip back ↻Versus a BigLaw hourly retainer
A large firm can do everything, but the model is built around billable hours, junior-associate handoffs, and partner rates that make a quick contract review feel like a budget decision.
Tap for details ↻What changes: you work directly with me, the work is scoped and quoted before it starts, and most recurring matters are flat-fee or covered by a monthly retainer instead of an open-ended hourly meter. You get a senior attorney on the routine work without the firm-overhead markup, and you bring in specialist firms only for the matters that genuinely need them.
Tap to flip back ↻Versus hiring in-house too early
A full-time general counsel is a real salary plus equity plus benefits, and at an early stage the legal volume usually is not steady enough to keep that role busy on its highest-value work.
Tap for details ↻What changes: you get general-counsel coverage as a monthly retainer or per-matter fee, scaled to the work you actually have, with no headcount commitment. When your volume genuinely outgrows the fractional model, you will know, and the foundation will already be clean for the in-house attorney who takes it over.
Tap to flip back ↻What the relationship actually buys you
Beyond any single document, the value of an ongoing OGC relationship is continuity: one attorney who already knows your contracts, your cap table, your customer paper, and your risk tolerance, so you are not re-explaining the business every time something comes up.
One point of contact
A single attorney handles the recurring flow and routes the rare specialist matter, so legal stops being a scramble to find someone who understands your business.
Context that compounds
Because I keep the through-line across your documents, each new matter starts from what I already know, which generally means faster turnaround and fewer avoidable conflicts between agreements.
Predictable spend
A flat monthly retainer or scoped flat fees per matter make legal a line item you can plan around, instead of an hourly meter you are afraid to start.
An entry point that is not a retainer
If you are not ready to commit, start small: a $240 written consultation or a single $575 document. There is no requirement to be on a retainer to work with me.
Startup legal readiness and fractional GC
Before you take SAFE money, onboard advisors, or sign your first design-partner pilot, the legal foundation either holds up under investor diligence or it does not. The most common reason a clean round gets slowed down is not the cap table math; it is missing IP assignments, advisor equity promised by handshake, a founder who never filed an 83(b), or a pilot contract that quietly licensed away the core product. The Startup Legal Readiness Sprint is a fixed-scope engagement that closes those gaps so your data room survives a serious look. This is legal information about what the work covers, not legal advice about your specific company.
Pre-financing cleanup
Confirm founder IP assignments are in place, founder stock has timely 83(b) elections, advisor and contractor equity is documented with vesting, and there is a single source-of-truth cap table. These are the items investor counsel checks first.
Tap for the deliverable ↻Deliverable: a legal-readiness gap map and prioritized checklist, the first thing produced in the sprint, within 24 hours. It tells you what to fix before SAFE money, in the order investor counsel checks.
Tap to flip back ↻Contractor and consultant IP assignment
Present-tense invention-assignment language so work product the startup paid for is actually owned by the startup, not licensed from a former contractor. Open-source usage reviewed for license contamination.
Tap for the deliverable ↻Deliverable: a present-tense IP-assignment template for contractors and consultants, plus a review of your existing agreements for the promise-to-assign gap and any open-source contamination.
Tap to flip back ↻Advisor agreements
Advisor agreements with an equity range appropriate to the role, a vesting schedule, and a cliff, instead of a verbal promise that becomes a diligence red flag. Common frameworks discussed; the right number depends on stage and contribution.
Tap for the deliverable ↻Deliverable: a clean advisor agreement plus equity-range and vesting guidance (schedule and cliff), so a grant is documented and board-ready instead of a handshake that resurfaces in diligence.
Tap to flip back ↻Design-partner and pilot SOW
A usable pilot agreement that keeps your core IP: pre-existing IP stays yours, customer feedback gives only a license back, no implied warranties, liability capped at fees, clean data-handling terms, and a fixed term with a clean exit.
Tap for the deliverable ↻Deliverable: a usable pilot and design-partner SOW that keeps your core IP, with the feedback-license, warranty, liability-cap, and clean-exit terms already drafted in.
Tap to flip back ↻AI or security pilot risk boundaries
Clear advisory or log-only versus blocking framing, customer-responsibility and human-in-the-loop language, security and data reps scoped to the pilot, incident-notification terms, and limitation of liability, so you ship without taking on uncapped product liability.
Tap for the deliverable ↻Deliverable: the risk-boundary language for your pilot contract, advisory or log-only framing, human-in-the-loop and customer-responsibility terms, scoped reps, and a real liability cap.
Tap to flip back ↻Investor data room
A legal checklist across corporate, IP, commercial, people, financing, and compliance, plus a pre-pitch pass for the diligence red flags that slow rounds down, and a list of what you should not sign before your first financing.
Tap for the deliverable ↻Deliverable: a data-room legal checklist across all six areas plus a pre-pitch red-flag pass, organized the way diligence counsel actually asks for it.
Tap to flip back ↻Startup Legal Readiness Sprint
A fixed-scope engagement to get the foundation fundraise-ready: IP assignment cleanup, advisor and contractor documentation, one pilot or design-partner SOW, and a data-room checklist with a diligence red-flag pass.
- Founder, contractor, and advisor IP and equity reviewed
- One design-partner or pilot SOW drafted or redlined
- Data-room legal checklist and red-flag pass
- Document-heavy variant (16 to 20 hours): $3,840 to $4,800
Phase 2: ongoing fractional GC
After the Sprint, ongoing legal support as your real business needs it: customer and vendor contracts, employment and contractor docs, the next pilot, and the surrounding work around a financing. Billed at $240 per hour against a written scope, or rolled into a monthly retainer.
- No commitment created by the Sprint
- Each task scoped and quoted before work starts
- Can convert to a monthly OGC retainer
- Not lead deal counsel on the financing itself
Adjacent engagements often pair with the Sprint: founder and formation documents, Delaware C-Corp incorporation, contract drafting and redline, and an AI legal audit for AI and security products.
Not sure where to start? Ask the AI Legal Analyst
Pricing and scope questions answer instantly and free below, no email required. Pick a question to unfold a plain-language answer, then dig deeper or describe your own situation and the analyst routes you to the right next step. This is AI-generated legal information, attorney-supervised, not legal advice.
Startup legal readiness: instant answers
Tap a question. Each opens a free, preloaded answer with follow-ups that either go deeper or hand the question to the live analyst.
Common OGC and founder questions, always free
What it includes
Six categories of work cover the vast majority of OGC requests at Terms.Law. Anything that does not fit gets quoted separately.
Contract review
NDAs, MSAs, SOWs, vendor agreements, customer order forms, channel partner agreements, settlement and release documents.
Tap for details ↻Flat $575 per contract or covered by the retainer. You get a redline plus a short risk summary, the 3 to 5 clauses that actually matter, usually within a few business days. Not a 20-page memo.
Tap to flip back ↻Demand letters
Unpaid invoices, breach of contract, IP infringement, deposit recovery, contractor disputes. On firm letterhead, certified mail.
Tap for details ↻$575 flat on firm letterhead, USPS certified plus email, up to two revision rounds, and a review of the first response. Add a court-ready draft complaint for $1,200 total.
Tap to flip back ↻Employment documents
Offer letters, employment agreements, contractor agreements, separation and severance agreements, employee handbooks.
Tap for details ↻California-compliant offer letters and agreements with at-will, IP, and confidentiality language built in, plus separations with proper releases. Flat per document or covered by the retainer.
Tap to flip back ↻IP assignments
Founder IP assignment, employee IP assignment, contractor IP assignment, work-for-hire language, trademark assignments.
Tap for details ↻Present-tense invention-assignment language so the work actually belongs to the company, not a promise to assign later. Founder, employee, and contractor versions. This is the item investor diligence checks first.
Tap to flip back ↻Compliance touch-ups
Privacy policy updates, terms of service revisions, data processing addenda, CCPA and GDPR clause refresh, click-wrap audits.
Tap for details ↻Privacy and ToS refreshes, vendor DPAs, CCPA / CPRA and GDPR clause updates, and a clickwrap audit so your terms are actually enforceable. Scoped per matter or covered by the retainer.
Tap to flip back ↻Regulatory questions
Quick attorney answers on California-specific issues, federal consumer-protection rules, and SaaS or AI compliance questions.
Tap for details ↻Quick written attorney answers, usually same day, on California rules, federal consumer-protection questions, and SaaS or AI compliance. Covered by the retainer or billed at $240/hr.
Tap to flip back ↻Pricing models
Three ways to engage. Pick whichever matches how your legal work actually flows.
Pay-as-you-go
Use the standard ladder: $240 written consult, $400 Zoom session, $575 demand letter or contract, $1,200 leverage package, $2,000 SaaS stack.
- No commitment, no minimum
- Fixed fee per matter, scoped up front
- Fast, scheduled turnaround
- Best for sporadic legal needs
Monthly retainer
Flat monthly fee covering the typical OGC mix. Each retainer is reviewed and quoted individually to fit the business and the expected workload. Common cap: roughly six matters per month from the categories above.
- Predictable monthly spend
- Priority response within 1 business day
- Unused work does not roll over
- Best for steady ongoing legal flow
Project
Defined deliverable scoped and quoted through the Quote Calculator. Full SaaS legal stacks, fund formation packages, AI legal audits, custom drafting projects.
- One scope, one price, one timeline
- Quoted within 1 business day
- Milestone-based delivery
- Best for defined initiatives
How it works
Four steps from intake to delivery. Same flow whether you are on retainer, paying per matter, or running a project.
Describe the matter
Use the AI Legal Analyst on this page, drop in the documents, and describe what you need. It surfaces the issues and proposes a scope. Pricing and scope answers are instant and free.
I review and draft
I read the materials, confirm the scope and fee, and produce the actual work product: the contract, the letter, the memo, the redline.
Fast, scheduled turnaround
Standard turnaround for most matters is a few business days after I have what I need. Rush is available when scheduled in advance.
Revisions until you approve
Each package includes a defined number of revision rounds. I iterate until the deliverable is right, then close the matter.
What this is NOT
Not litigation, not class actions, not regulatory enforcement defense.
OGC at Terms.Law does not cover filing complaints, appearing as attorney of record in court or arbitration, defending enforcement actions by federal or state regulators, or running discovery in active litigation. When a matter heads in that direction I coordinate with specialist counsel and stay in the loop on the business-side legal work.
Not a substitute for transaction counsel on financings or M&A.
Series A through D rounds, secondary transactions, full M&A deals, and complex tax-driven restructurings need specialist counsel running the deal. I can review the surrounding business contracts, employment docs, IP assignments, and customer-side fallout but I am not your lead deal counsel on a financing or sale.