Fractional general counsel
Embedded legal leadership without the full-time hire. The judgment of a general counsel across everything the seat covers: daily contracts, strategic decisions with your leadership team, compliance and security programs, and managing outside litigation counsel when a dispute turns real.
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Growing technology companies generate a steady stream of legal work — vendor agreements, employment contracts, SaaS customer agreements, corporate governance, and compliance questions. That work doesn’t stop, and it doesn’t fit neatly into a one-matter engagement model. MB Legal serves as Fractional General Counsel for technology and creative companies that need ongoing legal operations without the cost of a full-time in-house attorney.
The engagement works as embedded counsel: MB Legal handles contract review, vendor agreement management, offer letters and employment agreements, corporate governance questions, and regulatory compliance — as part of your team rather than as outside counsel called in for specific projects. It also means a lawyer in the room for the decisions that are not on any contract: what a deal is worth, whether a risk is worth taking, how a strategic move should be structured before it becomes paperwork. That operating model produces faster turnaround, better institutional knowledge of the business, and more predictable legal costs.
When a dispute does surface, the same counsel handles the front end — pre-suit strategy, demand letters, insurance tenders, and the early positioning that often resolves a matter before it becomes litigation. If a case has to be filed or defended, MB Legal engages and manages the right litigation counsel and stays in the loop on strategy, so the company is not paying an unfamiliar firm to learn the business from scratch.
Engagements run on a fixed monthly fee for a pre-determined allotment of general counsel work, structured around what the business actually generates rather than a standard package. Unused allotment rolls over to the next month, work outside the agreed scope is billed at a discounted rate, and routine check-ins happen in person or virtually so the legal work stays connected to what the business is doing.
Why MB Legal
MB Legal currently serves as General Counsel for technology companies on a direct basis — not as outside counsel, but as embedded legal operations. That day-to-day context shapes how fractional engagements are structured and delivered. The firm understands what contract volume looks like for a technology company with 20 employees versus one with 60, and how legal needs shift as the business grows.
The firm runs on MBLegalOS, MB Legal’s custom legal operating system, which does the first pass on routine contract review, drafting, and compliance work. A licensed attorney reviews and verifies every deliverable before it goes out. The result is faster turnaround on routine matters and consistent coverage of standard risk points, without the billing overhead of a large firm.
Common questions
What does a Fractional General Counsel actually do?
A Fractional GC handles the ongoing legal operations of your business — contract review, vendor agreement management, employment matters, corporate governance, and compliance — as embedded counsel rather than on a case-by-case basis. Instead of calling outside counsel reactively when a problem surfaces, you have a lawyer who knows your business and handles legal work as it comes up.
How is a Fractional GC different from hiring outside counsel?
Outside counsel works on discrete matters at hourly rates. A Fractional GC operates as part of your company's team on a subscription or retainer basis — handling the volume of routine legal work that growing businesses generate, not just the one-off emergencies. The result is more consistent coverage, lower per-matter cost, and counsel who understands the full context of your business.
When does a company need a Fractional GC rather than outside counsel?
The right time is when your company is generating a steady flow of contracts, vendor agreements, employment matters, and compliance questions — but not enough to justify a full-time in-house attorney. That typically happens between 10 and 80 employees for technology companies. MB Legal currently serves as General Counsel for technology companies in that range.
What does a monthly Fractional GC engagement include?
Most engagements run on a fixed monthly fee covering a pre-determined amount of general counsel work — contract review and drafting, vendor agreement management, employment matters, corporate governance, and regulatory compliance questions. If you don't use the full allotment in a given month, the unused portion rolls over to the next. Work that falls outside the agreed scope is billed at a discounted rate rather than standard hourly. MB Legal structures each engagement around what the business actually generates, not a fixed package.
Can a Fractional GC handle litigation or regulatory proceedings?
Fractional GC engagements cover transactional and compliance work, not litigation. If a regulatory matter or lawsuit arises, MB Legal coordinates with appropriate outside litigation counsel and manages that relationship on your behalf. Having embedded counsel who knows your contracts and compliance history makes outside engagements more efficient.
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