Outside Counsel: Group Expertise
When you have an outside counsel, it means that you have hired a law firm to represent you and your company. It means usually you will have to pay a retainer fee and also pay your attorney and the firm on an hourly basis.
That means for anyone who does any work on your business at the firm, you will be charged for it. Even if the secretary does any filing of documents, they will charge you or his time. If the junior attorney does work on your file, they will charge you. If a partner does any work on your business, then you will see a higher rate charged to you. This charging also includes any printing, mailing, filings they would have to do for you, etc.
On another side, there is a plus to having outside counsel: A team of attorneys working for you.
In-House Counsel
In-house counsel is focused solely on your company.
The biggest plus for an in-house counsel: they are normally employees. For every phone call or email, there is a person responsible. You can take advantage of the full expertise.
The downside for in-house counsel is they may not have the ability to handle everything that is before.
But the good news is, because an in-house counsel is an attorney, they can review and cut back on the number of things outside counsel would take advantage of to charge you.
What Does That Mean
There are a number of pros and cons when reviewing what fits best for you. It might make better sense to use outside counsel if you need more attorneys with different areas of expertise. It might make sense for you to hire an in-house counsel employee if you are dealing with a number of legal issues on a daily basis like contracts, negotiations, legal questions, etc.
Third Option
Attorneys like us have done away with the billable hour. With an understanding of start-ups and small businesses and without having lots of resources to devote to maintaining their legal paperwork, may bill on a project, flat-fee basis.
It is great to engage a law firm at a flat fee. They want to be your outside counsel but give you the time and effort of an in-house counsel.