With the economy nose-diving into recession, many businesses may find themselves turning to attorneys for advice. But with many companies looking to tighten their belts, those legal costs can be intimidating.
Legal counsel is one area where many companies could possibly save thousands of dollars, says Attorney Eric Cook of why he started General Counsel Consulting in Portsmouth. His firm advises businesses on how to get the legal services they need at the right price.
Cook started his business over the summer to help companies analyze their current use of legal counsel and review where, why and how money is being spent. He can also serve as a part-time counsel or temporary replacement. In many cases, he says, companies have high-priced legal counsel retained from Boston, New York or Washington, D.C.-based firms. However, Cook says, local firms can often offer that same expertise and answer questions faster and at lower hourly rates. Cook also points out that many companies that outsource legal services have a human resources manager, chief financial officer or someone else without a legal background selecting legal services.
"My expertise is in providing legal services to companies and managing them from an in-house perspective," says Cook, who has been an attorney for 12 years, including as in-house counsel for Lonza Biologics in Portsmouth and Sig Sauer in Exeter. Cook also has an MBA. "When legal services are handled by a non-legal professional, it's my experience the company is not getting the best legal service it can."
Cook has set up legal departments at two companies and he says he reduced the average monthly outside counsel
expenditures by 20 to 30 percent for other companies he has worked for. For more information about General Counsel Consulting, visit www.generalcounselconsult.com.
Current Issue - May 2024