Business Law
External General Counsel on Subscription – When Does a Strategic Partnership Pay Off?
For most owner-led companies a full-time general counsel is too costly, while ad hoc hourly advice creates thresholds. This is how an external general counsel on subscription works.
The problem with traditional hourly billing
Owner-led companies take decisions with direct legal and commercial implications every day: customer contracts to be signed under time pressure, key hires with incentive schemes, or supplier deviations. When every call and email is billed by the hour, a threshold emerges. Management hesitates to check a short question because the cost is unpredictable. The result is reactive legal work rather than proactive risk management.
How does a Strategic Partnership with Martiq work?
Our Strategic Partnership model operates as an external legal function integrated with your management team:
- Predictable monthly cost. A fixed monthly framework for ongoing advice, contract review, employment law and corporate housekeeping.
- No ramp-up time. We know your business model, risk appetite and ownership structure, eliminating time spent getting up to speed on new matters.
- Proactive contract review. A low threshold for the CEO, HR or sales leadership to send draft contracts for a swift red-flag review before signing.
- Seamless scaling. For larger events such as acquisitions (M&A), funding rounds or disputes, a team already familiar with the business is in place and can scale up – often through our Project & Fixed Fee model.
Which companies is the model suited to?
The model delivers the greatest commercial value for founder-led companies and groups with 10–150 employees that have an ongoing need for commercial contracts, employment law support and active corporate governance, but wish to maintain a lean internal organisation with full cost control.
Read more about how we work or contact us to discuss a partnership.