- Consumer's Choice Award 2019
- Consumer's Choice Award 2020
- Consumer's Choice Award 2021
- Consumer's Choice Award 2022
- Consumer's Choice Award 2023
- Consumer's Choice Award 2024
Outside General Counsel services provide strategic legal leadership for growing businesses in Markham and the surrounding region. Rather than maintaining a full in-house team, your company benefits from senior guidance on governance, risk management, contract strategy, and critical transactions. A flexible arrangement allows you to scale legal support to match your current needs, while preserving budget predictability and focus on core operations. By partnering with experienced practitioners, you gain practical, timely counsel that aligns with your business goals.
Choosing an external general counsel option means you receive board-ready advice without the obligations and overhead of a full-time hire. Our approach centers on building a trusted relationship with your leadership team, understanding your market, regulatory landscape, and growth plans. We review contracts, oversee compliance programs, manage disputes, and guide strategic initiatives. The result is stable guidance you can rely on as you navigate growing operations, partnerships, and financing opportunities within Markham and Illinois.
Having access to seasoned legal leadership supports timely decision making and better alignment between strategy and risk. An outside general counsel helps you manage regulatory changes, improve contract quality, and protect confidential information. The arrangement provides strategic oversight for corporate governance, board communications, and major transactions, while maintaining cost efficiency. You benefit from continuity during leadership transitions and scale legal capacity to match project demand, enabling front-line teams to focus on growth, customer service, and competitive advantage.
Frankfort Law Group offers dedicated business lawyers who understand the markers of successful Illinois companies. Our firm collaborates across transactional, employment, intellectual property, and dispute resolution practices to deliver practical, well-rounded guidance. We work closely with in-house teams to align legal priorities with business goals, reduce risk, and improve process efficiency. With extensive experience advising organizations of varying sizes in Markham, Cook County, and beyond, we bring a steady, client-focused approach to every engagement.
Outside general counsel is a flexible service that pairs high-level strategic advice with hands-on legal support. It complements your leadership by supplying governance structure, policy development, contract review, and risk management without the fixed cost of a full-time general counsel. The arrangement scales with your business, providing continuity through growth, change, and regulatory updates. It is designed to integrate with your existing teams, delivering timely guidance when decisions matter most.
This service emphasizes proactive planning and prevention over reactive responses. You gain a trusted advisor who helps set company policies, ensures regulatory compliance, audits processes, and coordinates across departments to safeguard your organization. By having a single point of contact, you simplify communications and accelerate responses to commercial opportunities, audits, and risk assessments, while maintaining strong ethical standards and clear accountability.
An outside general counsel is a strategic partner who provides overarching legal guidance without occupying a full-time role. This configuration allows a company to access senior leadership on governance, contracts, compliance, and risk management as needed. The focus is on aligning legal work with business objectives, supporting growth, and helping your leadership team manage complexity while keeping costs predictable and transparent.
Key elements include governance frameworks, policy development, contract lifecycle management, risk assessment, and regulatory oversight. Processes focus on timely review, proactive communication, and clear escalation paths. This approach emphasizes collaboration with executive teams, regular updates on legal risk, and practical steps to implement changes across the business. The result is a coordinated program that reduces exposure while enabling strategic initiatives to move forward.
This section defines core terms and describes how elements come together. You will encounter terms related to governance, compliance, and contract management, explained in plain language to support informed decisions. The glossary is designed to help leadership and teams understand concepts quickly, reduce miscommunication, and align expectations when engaging external counsel. Clear definitions enable consistent use across board discussions, policy development, and daily operations.
Governance refers to the framework of rules, policies, and processes that guide how a company is directed and controlled. It includes board oversight, compliance with applicable laws, ethical standards, risk management, and accountability across leadership and departments. A strong governance structure helps ensure decisions align with strategic goals, protect stakeholder interests, and provide transparent reporting. Good governance supports sustainable growth by clarifying roles, responsibilities, and decision-making authority.
Contract lifecycle management describes the end-to-end process of creating, negotiating, approving, executing, renewing, and retiring contracts. Effective CLM ensures contracts reflect negotiated terms, reduces risk of disputes, and improves cycle times. It requires standardized templates, clear approval workflows, and centralized storage. A mature CLM program helps teams locate obligations, monitor performance, manage renewals, and enforce compliance across departments. When supported by outside counsel, CLM aligns contracts with business objectives while maintaining consistent risk controls.
Compliance refers to adherence to applicable laws, regulations, industry standards, and internal policies. A robust compliance program identifies obligations, monitors activities, and implements controls to prevent violations. It includes training, auditing, reporting, and governance oversight. Outside general counsel can help design and refine compliance programs, tailor procedures to your industry, and respond to regulatory inquiries. Effective compliance reduces risk, protects reputation, and supports reliable business operations across Markham, Illinois, and the broader market.
Risk management is the systematic identification, assessment, and mitigation of potential threats to the business. It involves evaluating legal, operational, financial, and reputational risks and implementing control measures to reduce exposure. An outside general counsel can help design risk registers, policy frameworks, and incident response plans. Regular reviews and updates ensure risk management evolves with the company and market, supporting resilient operations and informed decision-making.
Businesses often compare different models: maintaining in-house counsel, engaging a law firm on a project basis, or using outside general counsel. Each option has distinct cost structures, flexibility, and risk profiles. The best choice depends on company size, growth plans, and the complexity of legal needs. A pragmatic approach blends availability, coverage, and alignment with business objectives.
For smaller operations or specific projects, a limited approach can provide essential guidance without committing to full-time external counsel. This arrangement allows for targeted contract reviews, policy updates, and risk assessments while keeping costs predictable. It also gives leadership a window to evaluate broader needs and decide on longer-term arrangements. When urgent issues arise, you have quick access to counsel who understands your business and can help avoid costly missteps.
However, as complexity grows or governance requirements increase, a more integrated solution offers better continuity. An ongoing relationship supports proactive planning, consistent contract management, and timely responses to regulatory developments. It reduces the disruption of recurring legal matters and helps align legal priorities with strategic initiatives. The decision should reflect your growth trajectory, risk tolerance, and need for dependable, scalable guidance.
Adopting a comprehensive approach delivers balance between control and flexibility. You gain centralized guidance on key business matters, with a single partner who understands your goals and risk tolerance. This reduces inefficiencies from scattered counsel and creates a cohesive strategy for governance, contracts, and compliance. The arrangement also supports budget predictability, as costs can be planned around major initiatives and timelines.
With integrated guidance, teams can rely on consistent policies, faster contract cycles, and clearer escalation paths. The ongoing relationship fosters trust and accountability across leadership, legal, and operations. Companies often experience fewer regulatory hiccups, improved vendor negotiations, and better alignment between legal risk and business strategy. This holistic approach positions the organization to pursue opportunities with greater confidence.
Cost efficiency comes from scalable support that adapts to workload. An outside general counsel delivers senior guidance without the fixed overhead of a full-time team, allowing you to adjust resources as needs change. This model provides predictable expenses, helps forecast legal spend, and reduces risk from staffing gaps. You retain a high level of service while keeping capital expenditures aligned with growth.
Strategic alignment is another important benefit. A comprehensive approach ensures legal considerations are embedded in strategic plans, supplier contracts, and compliance programs. Regular reviews keep policies up to date with changing laws and market expectations. Leaders receive timely insights, enabling better risk management and faster execution on opportunities. The result is a more resilient organization that can adapt to new challenges.
Start with a clear set of priorities, such as governance, contract playbooks, and risk monitoring. Schedule regular check-ins with your counsel to review ongoing matters and upcoming projects. Use standardized templates and templates to speed processes. Maintain open channels between legal and business teams. This alignment helps ensure guidance remains practical and actionable, enabling faster decision making and better outcomes.
Foster collaboration rather than isolation. The more you involve in-house teams and vendors, the clearer the legal posture becomes. Encourage explanation of complex terms and decisions in plain language. Regular training sessions on updates in governance or contract standards help everyone stay aligned. By promoting transparent communication, you reduce misunderstandings and accelerate progress on important initiatives.
Businesses consider outside general counsel for reliable leadership, cost flexibility, and scalable support. The service helps you manage growth with governance, compliance, and risk management built into daily operations. It avoids the constraints of hiring while still delivering high-level guidance. You receive a dependable partner who can respond quickly to changing circumstances, contracts, and regulatory developments, reducing exposure and keeping momentum.
Additionally, a consistent legal partner supports better vendor negotiations, improved policy consistency, and clearer board communications. This consistency minimizes confusion and elevates decision-making quality. With ongoing access to seasoned counsel, leadership can align strategic choices with practical risk controls. The outcome is a more resilient organization capable of pursuing opportunities with confidence.
Common circumstances include rapid growth, complex transactions, frequently changing regulations, and frequent contract negotiations. When you require ongoing governance, risk oversight, and policy development, outside general counsel is well suited to support. This service is particularly helpful during leadership transitions, financing rounds, or reorganizations where consistent guidance is essential. It provides continuity while you adapt to market conditions.
Mergers and acquisitions or strategic partnerships require careful coordination across multiple departments. An outside general counsel can help with deal structure, due diligence oversight, and contract alignment. By coordinating with finance, operations, and compliance teams, the firm helps you navigate complexities while preserving speed and clarity.
Regulatory changes and audits demand proactive planning and robust documentation. A steady counsel presence supports timely responses, policy updates, and risk mitigation strategies. Through ongoing oversight, you maintain compliance, prepare for external reviews, and reduce the likelihood of penalties or operational disruptions. This proactive stance preserves business continuity and protects value for stakeholders.
Contract-intensive environments, such as vendor management or service agreements, benefit from consistent templates and streamlined negotiation processes. An ongoing external general counsel standardizes terms, clarifies obligations, and helps teams manage renewal timelines. The result is improved negotiation leverage, fewer disputes, and stronger supplier relationships, along with clearer accountability across departments. This approach supports smoother operations and better alignment with long-term business objectives.
We are here to help your business access reliable legal leadership when it is most needed. Our team collaborates with your executives, managers, and departments to anticipate issues, improve processes, and support growth. We focus on practical guidance, timely responses, and clear communication. By providing steady counsel, we aim to reduce risk, protect assets, and enable confident decision-making across Markham and the Illinois market.
Choosing our firm means partnering with a team that understands business realities and regulatory environments in Illinois. We offer a coordinated approach that blends strategic insight with hands-on support. Our focus is on practical solutions, policy development, and value-driven legal leadership that scales with you. You will work with attorneys who listen, plan, and execute in alignment with your goals.
Additionally, our client relationships emphasize accessibility, clear communication, and measurable outcomes. We align with your budgeting practices, provide regular updates, and tailor services to fit your needs. The result is dependable counsel you can rely on to navigate governance, contracts, and compliance while supporting ongoing growth.
Our approach prioritizes transparency, consistency, and practical problem solving. You will experience steady collaboration, predictable timelines, and a clear path from planning through execution. This holistic model supports business momentum while maintaining a strong legal posture and responsible risk management.
From initial discovery to ongoing management, our process emphasizes collaboration, transparency, and predictable timelines. We start with listening to your needs, then craft a plan that fits your operations and budget. We provide written proposals, define milestones, and maintain regular touchpoints. Throughout, you receive practical guidance and proactive risk management to support your strategic objectives.
Step one focuses on assessment and alignment. We review your current legal framework, contracts, and governance structure to understand gaps and opportunities. The goal is to establish a clear, actionable plan that integrates with your business calendar. You will gain defined priorities, timelines, and responsibilities to guide the next phase.
Part one details the scope of work, personnel assignments, and communication channels. We identify key contacts, specify deliverables, and outline reporting formats. The document serves as a living map that guides ongoing collaboration and ensures everyone shares a common understanding of targets and expectations.
Part two addresses escalation procedures, risk thresholds, and decision rights. It clarifies how issues are escalated and resolved, helping your leadership maintain momentum while staying within risk tolerances. Clear escalation ensures timely responses, consistent documentation, and coordinated action across departments.
Step two involves implementation and ongoing management. We execute the plan, align processes, and establish governance routines. Regular reviews, contract management, and policy updates become a routine part of operations. The focus remains on practical outcomes, enabling your team to work smoothly with legal oversight while maintaining clear accountability and measurable progress against milestones.
Part one of step two focuses on process integration. We embed standardized templates, approval flows, and reporting practices into your existing workflows. The aim is to reduce friction and speed up routine tasks, such as contract reviews and policy approvals, while preserving accuracy and compliance.
Part two addresses performance tracking and governance. We set measurable indicators, monitor responses to legal matters, and adjust plans as needed. Regular updates ensure leadership stays informed and able to act quickly when legal considerations impact strategic decisions, providing a dependable framework for ongoing success.
Step three emphasizes optimization and scale. We refine processes, expand coverage as the business grows, and ensure continuous improvement. This phase focuses on knowledge transfer, governance maturity, and long-term planning so that the organization maintains a strong legal posture while pursuing opportunities. Ongoing adaptation keeps the legal function aligned with strategy, risk tolerance, and competitive needs.
Part one centers on training and documentation. We provide targeted training sessions for staff on policy changes, contract handling, and compliance protocols, helping teams apply rules consistently. We also assemble comprehensive documentation that supports audits and governance reviews, ensuring knowledge is retained across departments and new hires. The goal is a self-sustaining legal function embedded within the organization.
Part two emphasizes assurance and continuous improvement. We monitor outcomes, solicit feedback, and refine processes to enhance efficiency and resilience. This ongoing cycle helps your business stay prepared for regulatory updates, market shifts, and complex transactions while maintaining steady governance, clear accountability, and consistent performance across legal matters.
At the Frankfort Law Group, we take great pride in our commitment to personal service. Clients come to us because they have problems, and they depend upon us to help them find solutions. We take these obligations seriously. When you meet with us, we know that you are only doing so because you need help. Since we started our firm in northeast Illinois, we have focused on providing each of our clients with personal attention. You do not have to be afraid to tell us your story. We are not here to judge you or make you feel ashamed for seeking help. Our only goal is to help you get results and move past your current legal problems.
At the Frankfort Law Group, we take great pride in our commitment to personal service. Clients come to us because they have problems, and they depend upon us to help them find solutions. We take these obligations seriously. When you meet with us, we know that you are only doing so because you need help. Since we started our firm in northeast Illinois, we have focused on providing each of our clients with personal attention. You do not have to be afraid to tell us your story. We are not here to judge you or make you feel ashamed for seeking help. Our only goal is to help you get results and move past your current legal problems.
Outside general counsel is a senior legal advisor who provides strategic guidance and practical support without being a full-time employee. They work with your leadership to address governance, contracts, compliance, and risk, integrating legal thought with business strategy. This setup delivers sustained leadership for key decisions, improved risk awareness, and a steady hand during growth and change. It emphasizes clarity, accountability, and pragmatic problem solving across the organization.
Outside general counsel is suitable for growing businesses that need flexible, scalable legal leadership without the fixed costs of a full-time hire. It is also valuable for companies undergoing rapid change, complex transactions, or governance needs where ongoing guidance can prevent delays. This model pairs senior judgment with day-to-day support to help teams move forward with confidence and consistency.
A traditional law firm provides project-based or ongoing representation with partners and associates; outside general counsel delivers integrated, ongoing leadership from a single senior point of contact. The latter emphasizes continuity, governance integration, and proactive risk management, rather than episodic work. It aligns legal work with business strategy while maintaining predictable budgeting and direct collaboration with company leadership.
Outside general counsel covers governance, contract management, compliance, risk oversight, and strategic transactions. It can include policy development, board communications, payroll and employment considerations, vendor negotiations, and dispute avoidance. The goal is to provide practical guidance across core business functions while enabling teams to operate with clear direction and timely support from a trusted legal partner.
Costs with outside general counsel are typically aligned with workload and project scope. Many agreements feature predictable monthly fees or retainer arrangements, with scalable resource availability as needs change. This approach avoids fixed overhead, provides budgeting clarity, and ensures access to senior guidance when essential, reducing surprises while maintaining flexibility for growth and market shifts.
Getting started is often a matter of aligning priorities, arranging an initial discovery, and setting expectations about scope and communication. After a kickoff, you will receive a plan, proposed governance framework, and an outline of deliverables. The timeline depends on the scope but generally includes fast access to guidance on urgent matters and a path to broader engagement as needs evolve.
For urgent legal needs, outside general counsel can allocate immediate support through prioritized reviews, quick risk assessments, and rapid responses. While ongoing engagement is typical, many clients receive rapid triage and essential red flags presented promptly, with a plan to address the issue efficiently while keeping stakeholders informed and aligned with regulatory and business considerations.
Yes. Outside general counsel often supports negotiations by reviewing contracts, redlining terms, coordinating with vendors, and ensuring that deal terms align with policy and risk tolerance. The goal is to expedite negotiations while maintaining clear, actionable guidance and reducing the likelihood of disputes or misinterpretations down the line.
An external partner typically complements the internal team without replacing it. It provides leadership and continuity while your staff handles daily tasks. Clear roles and communication channels help preserve morale, maintain workflow efficiency, and ensure governance and policy decisions remain aligned with business objectives.
Success is measured by clarity of guidance, timely delivery of contracts and policies, and the ability to anticipate and mitigate risk. Regular progress updates, milestone reviews, and objective metrics such as cycle times, policy adoption rates, and governance improvements help demonstrate value and align legal work with business results.