Should I Switch My Company From Big Law Hourly Billing to Fixed-Fee Outside Counsel? 

The Question Behind the Invoice 

Am I getting my money’s worth from the firm billing me by the hour? 

I check my invoice from last month against the one from three months ago. The number moves. A quick contract review costs a different amount depending on which associate touched it, and my finance team can’t forecast legal spend from that. 

My company keeps growing at the same time: more contracts, more hires, more investor questions, and all of it billed at $600 to $1,200 an hour. That’s the point where it’s worth asking whether fixed-fee or subscription Outside General Counsel, OGC for short, fits where my company is now. OGC means ongoing legal coverage for a flat fee instead of a new invoice every time I call. 

How OGC Works in Practice 

What an OGC Engagement Is 

OGC is an ongoing relationship. A firm handles my recurring legal needs for a set fee instead of sending a new invoice every time I have a question, and I get a lawyer who already knows my business and my risk tolerance. 

What a Typical Month Under OGC Covers 

A well-scoped OGC engagement usually includes: 

• Contract review and drafting for customer, vendor, and partner agreements 

• Employment matters: offer letters, terminations, classification questions 

• Routine corporate housekeeping: board consents, cap table updates 

• On-call advice for day-to-day questions that used to feel too small to call a lawyer about 

Big transactions and litigation stay outside the flat fee and get billed separately. 

How the Switch Gets Scoped 

Moving from big-law hourly to fixed-fee OGC means scoping the engagement properly. Pull the last 12 months of invoices to see what work recurred, define the scope of matters covered with carve-outs for anything larger, and agree on overage rules upfront so a busy month isn’t a surprise bill. 

How to Tell If the Switch Saves Money 

The comparison that matters is total annual spend against total annual coverage, not one invoice against one flat fee. A cheaper monthly number that excludes half of what my company needs isn’t a win. 

Common Founder Mistakes 

• Switching Without Reviewing Real Usage First. Founders switch based on sticker shock from one bad invoice rather than a real picture of what recurs monthly. Without that data, there’s no way to know if a flat fee covers what the company needs. 

• Assuming Fixed Fee Means Unlimited. Founders sign an OGC agreement expecting it to cover everything. When a matter falls outside scope, the firm either bills it separately and the founder is caught off guard, or absorbs it and coverage quietly degrades. 

• Moving Off Big Law With No Transition Plan. Founders end the big-law relationship the same week they sign new counsel, with no overlap to transfer knowledge. Open matters and deal history get lost right when the company can least afford a gap. 

10-Minute Self-Check 

Before I decide whether to switch to fixed-fee OGC, I work through this: 

• Have I pulled 12 months of legal invoices to see what recurs? 

• Do I know which matters stay outside a flat-fee scope (M&A, litigation)? 

• Have I gotten a written scope of what the engagement covers month to month? 

• Do I understand the overage rules before a busy month hits? 

• Am I comparing total annual spend, not one invoice against one flat fee? 

• Do I have a plan to transfer open matters from my current firm? 

• Is my legal need predictable enough for a flat fee to make sense now? 

If I can’t answer yes to most of these, I’m not ready to make the switch yet. 

Bottom Line 

Fixed-fee outside counsel isn’t automatically cheaper. Hourly billing isn’t automatically wasteful. What matters is whether scope matches the legal work a growing company generates every month. Get that wrong, and the savings disappear the first time a matter falls outside it. 

Ready to See What a Flat-Fee Legal Package Would Actually Cover for My Company? 

Our launch-ready legal package is tailored to your software, your customers, and the way your product actually operates. Schedule a free 30-minute discovery call to discuss your business, your goals, and whether our team can help prepare your product for launch. 

Book here: Initial Consultation with Primum Law Group – Primum Law Group, PC