- 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
Frankfort Law Group offers practical outside general counsel solutions for Joliet and Will County businesses. Our approach blends strategic legal guidance with business sense to help leadership focus on growth and operational efficiency. By serving as your ongoing legal partner, we anticipate issues, manage risk, and align legal considerations with your company’s goals. Whether you are a startup or established enterprise, having accessible legal counsel reduces delays, lowers costs, and supports confident decision-making in a dynamic market.
This model supports efficient governance, cost predictability, and rapid response to vendor negotiations, audits, or regulatory updates. With local familiarity—Illinois state laws, county and municipal requirements, and industry norms—we help you navigate evolving landscapes while keeping your business priorities front and center. Our aim is to enable you to focus on core operations while legal protections and processes stay robust.
Engaging outside general counsel provides consistent legal oversight across the business, reduces firefighting, and strengthens governance. You gain proactive risk management, scalable support as your needs grow, and access to counsel with deep understanding of your industry. This approach helps leadership make informed decisions, maintain regulatory compliance, and protect value without the overhead of a full-time in-house team.
Frankfort Law Group has served Joliet and Illinois businesses with practical legal guidance for many years. Our team combines broad corporate practice with responsive, hands-on support tailored to each client. We work closely with leadership to align legal strategy with business goals, manage risk, negotiate agreements, and navigate complex regulatory environments. Our approach emphasizes clarity, collaboration, and dependable communication.
Outside general counsel is a long-term, strategic partnership that provides ongoing legal advice as part of your leadership team. Rather than handling discrete tasks, this service encompasses governance, contract management, risk assessment, and compliance planning. By embedding attorneys into your business processes, you receive timely guidance, consistent policy application, and better alignment between legal decisions and business objectives.
Our Joliet-based team focuses on understanding your industry, operations, and regulatory environment. We work with you to establish clear processes, reporting routines, and escalation paths. This structure ensures legal considerations are integrated into daily operations and strategic planning, reducing surprises and enabling smoother growth in Illinois and nearby markets.
Outside general counsel refers to a trusted attorney or firm that provides continuous, strategic legal advice to a business as if an in-house general counsel were present. The arrangement covers governance, contract review, risk management, employment matters, intellectual property, and regulatory compliance. It combines legal depth with practical business understanding to support sustainable growth.
The key elements include ongoing legal guidance, contract lifecycle management, policy development, risk assessment, regulatory monitoring, and coordinated governance. The processes involve regular check-ins, proactive planning, document management, and escalation protocols to ensure timely, clear, and accessible legal support for day-to-day decisions and strategic initiatives.
Key elements of an outside general counsel relationship include governance guidance, contract management, risk assessment, regulatory compliance, and strategic partnership. The processes are designed to provide predictable access to advice, structured reviews, and proactive planning so you can focus on growing your business with confidence.
Outside General Counsel describes a long-term, integrated legal advisory arrangement where a law firm or attorney provides ongoing support to a business, performing both routine and strategic tasks similar to those handled by an in-house general counsel.
Governance and Compliance refers to the systems, policies, and oversight practices that ensure a company operates within legal requirements and maintains ethical standards, including board advisory, risk frameworks, and regulatory monitoring. In an OGC relationship, this involves aligning operations with applicable laws, audits, and policy implementation.
Contract Lifecycle Management is the end-to-end process of creating, reviewing, negotiating, approving, tracking, and renewing contracts to protect interests and support business objectives.
Regulatory Compliance covers the activities to ensure the business adheres to laws, regulations, and industry standards relevant to its operations, products, and markets.
Compared with an in-house general counsel or a traditional fee-for-service law firm, outside general counsel offers integrated, ongoing support without a full-time hire. It provides cost control, continuity, and a single point of contact for policy, risk, and strategy. This approach suits businesses seeking steady governance, predictable budgeting, and accessible legal counsel as needs evolve.
In some situations, a clearly scoped project or a defined retainer covers the essential needs without committing to full-time support. This approach provides flexibility, ensures critical tasks are completed on a timely basis, and maintains governance standards while keeping costs predictable for the business.
If you already have core processes and policies in place, a lighter ongoing engagement can sustain compliance and policy enforcement. This allows you to scale the partnership as needs grow, without disrupting day-to-day operations or driving unnecessary overhead.
As a business expands, legal needs become broader and more complex. A comprehensive service ensures governance, contract management, risk monitoring, and regulatory compliance are aligned across departments, enabling smoother growth and reducing exposure to compliance gaps.
Mergers, acquisitions, large vendor agreements, and significant policy changes require coordinated, ongoing oversight. A full-service OGC arrangement provides continuity, faster decision-making, and consistent application of policy across the organization.
A comprehensive approach delivers sustained governance, proactive risk management, and seamless contract oversight. It helps your leadership focus on strategic initiatives while the legal function supports day-to-day operations, compliance, and policy development. The result is clearer decision-making, stronger protections, and steadier growth.
With integrated processes, you benefit from consistent policy application, improved contract performance, and timely responses to regulatory changes. This results in cost efficiency, better alignment between legal and business objectives, and a more resilient operating framework for your Joliet-based business.
Coordinated governance ensures all departments operate under consistent guidelines, reducing the risk of miscommunication and noncompliance. Regular policy updates, board-ready reports, and clear escalation paths help leadership stay informed and prepared for audits and regulatory reviews.
A single, predictable retainer for ongoing legal support allows finance teams to forecast expenses with confidence. This reduces the chance of unexpected legal costs and provides a stable foundation for strategic planning and growth initiatives.
Start with clear objectives and measurable outcomes. Agree on scope, response times, and success indicators for projects or ongoing governance needs. Document expectations in a simple plan so both sides know what constitutes progress and when adjustments are needed.
Choose a billing model that reflects value delivered, whether a retainer, monthly hours, or milestone-based fees. Regularly review scope and adjust the engagement to match evolving business needs without compromising governance and compliance.
For Joliet and Will County businesses, outside general counsel offers a practical balance of ongoing legal support and cost control. It provides continuity, a single point of contact, and governance that aligns with business strategy. This arrangement supports efficient decision making and reduces the risk of fragmented legal advice across departments.
If your organization anticipates growth, regulatory changes, or complex contracts, this service scales with you. It ensures timely guidance, consistent policy application, and proactive risk management while maintaining a clear budget and accessible legal counsel for leadership.
Frequent contract reviews, ongoing governance needs, regulatory updates, and strategic transactions are typical drivers for outside general counsel. When in-house resources are limited or when specialized, scalable legal support is needed, this service becomes a practical solution for stable, compliant growth.
Limited internal legal resources require accessible, ongoing guidance to manage day-to-day obligations and key risk areas without overburdening staff.
Frequent regulatory updates and compliance obligations call for steady monitoring, timely policy adaptation, and clear coordination with leadership.
Significant contracts or negotiations with vendors, customers, or partners require consistent review, negotiation support, and governance alignment.
Our Joliet team is ready to provide practical, ongoing legal guidance tailored to your business. We focus on clarity, accessible communication, and proactive planning to support governance, contracts, and compliance. You can rely on steady, local expertise to help your company navigate Illinois regulations and market dynamics.
Frankfort Law Group combines long-standing experience with a practical, business-minded approach. We collaborate closely with leadership to understand your operations, risk tolerance, and growth plans, providing consistent guidance that aligns with your objectives and budget.
Our Joliet presence and Illinois focus mean you benefit from local knowledge, timely responsiveness, and a clear governance framework. We strive to deliver reliable, approachable legal support that helps your team move forward with confidence.
Choosing an outside general counsel relationship can simplify your legal operations, improve policy consistency, and support sustainable growth by integrating legal considerations into everyday decision-making.
We begin with an initial discovery to understand your business, risk profile, and goals. Then we propose a tailored engagement plan outlining scope, cadence, and success metrics. Ongoing work follows a collaborative cycle of guidance, reviews, and policy updates designed to support governance and growth in Joliet and the broader Illinois region.
Define scope, establish goals, and set expectations for ongoing legal support. This step ensures all stakeholders have a clear understanding of how the relationship will operate and how value will be measured.
We conduct a comprehensive review of current contracts, policies, and governance structures to identify gaps and priorities. The findings inform the engagement plan and help align legal activities with business objectives.
We develop a roadmap for ongoing support, including deliverables, timelines, and communication protocols. This plan serves as the foundation for consistent, proactive legal guidance.
Implementation of governance, contract management, and risk management processes. We integrate policies into operations, establish review cycles, and set up escalation points for timely decisions.
Policies are adapted to your business model and regulatory requirements, then embedded into workflows to support consistent decision-making across teams.
Contracts are standardized, tracked, and reviewed regularly to minimize risk and maximize value in vendor and customer interactions.
Review, adjust, and report on governance and compliance activities. This step ensures ongoing alignment with business goals and regulatory changes.
We monitor regulatory developments and business changes to keep your policies current and effective.
We provide regular reports and recommend adjustments to maintain compliance, efficiency, and governance strength.
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 provides ongoing legal guidance as part of your leadership team, focusing on governance, contracts, risk, and compliance. This arrangement helps you maintain continuity and proactive risk management without the overhead of a full-time hire. In Joliet, we tailor the engagement to your industry and growth plans, ensuring counsel is accessible when decisions arise. Expect clear communication, practical guidance, and steady progress toward your business goals.
An in-house general counsel is a dedicated employee, while outside general counsel is a retained partner providing ongoing services. The latter offers flexibility, scalable resources, and cost controls that adapt to your needs. You still receive strategic legal advice, governance support, and contract management, but with the advantages of an external team familiar with Illinois regulations and local market practices.
Typical tasks include contract drafting and review, negotiation support, policy development, risk assessments, compliance monitoring, and regulatory updates. An outside general counsel partner also helps with governance matters, board communications, and vendor management. This arrangement allows your leadership to focus on growth while legal considerations stay integrated into daily operations.
Engagements are commonly structured as retainers or milestone-based Arrangements with predictable monthly fees. We define scope, response times, and deliverables up front, and adjust as needs evolve. Billing is designed to align with value and outcomes, providing budget stability for Joliet businesses while ensuring access to continuous legal support when required.
In the first 90 days, you can expect a comprehensive assessment of contracts, policies, and governance processes, followed by a tailored plan for engagement. We establish regular touchpoints, implement initial policy updates, and begin documenting key decisions. The goal is to create a foundation for ongoing guidance that quickly translates into improved risk management and smoother operations.
Yes. Our team stays current with Illinois law and regulatory developments, applying them to your business practices. We can implement compliant procedures, monitor changes, and coordinate with auditors or regulators as needed. This ongoing support helps you maintain compliance while focusing on strategic initiatives.
Outside general counsel complements existing staff by providing scalable expertise, governance guidance, and policy consistency. We coordinate with internal teams to ensure seamless integration, clear communication, and efficient decision-making. This approach reduces silos and helps departments work toward common legal and business objectives.
Manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and service providers in Joliet often benefit most due to frequent contract activity, regulatory concerns, and growth objectives. Any business seeking steady legal guidance, risk management, and governance support—without a full-time lawyer on staff—can gain from this model.
Urgent matters receive prioritized attention through established escalation protocols and a defined response timeline. Your leadership has direct access to counsel, and the engagement includes rapid contract reviews, policy clarifications, or risk assessments to address time-sensitive issues effectively.
Frankfort Law Group brings long-standing Illinois experience, practical business insight, and a client-focused approach. We tailor services to Joliet and Will County companies, offering reliable guidance, clear communication, and a collaborative partnership that supports governance, growth, and daily operations.