Fractional General Counsel: A 12-Month Look-back
The Results, First
- One flat monthly fee, zero surprise billable hours — all attorney work delivered inside a fixed budget for a client doing $110M in annual gross sales.
- ~$1M+ in disputed exposure neutralized in a single year — a $900K harassment demand settled at 100% insurance-covered cost; a six-figure wage/hour dispute settled at $18,000; an $82,000 contract balance walked away from at $0; a ~$100,000 SaaS obligation restructured to $18,000 with no interest; a $15,000 anti-poaching demand defeated for $0.
- A seat at the table, not a vendor relationship — procurement contracts, labeling approvals, product-quality disputes, terminations, IP management, and deal-making handled from inside the operation.
- Retention that speaks for itself — the firm has never been fired by a $10M+ business; its oldest fractional GC client has been on plan since 2018.
For business leaders wondering how to integrate a general counsel into a food business, here is a 12-month look-back on a typical engagement with a client generating $110M in annual gross sales. The company runs several plants and sells its own brands while also co-packing for other national brands and major retailers. The Food Law Firm sat inside the operation—handling procurement contracts, labeling approval, product-quality disputes, employee terminations, intellectual-property management, and deal-making. All attorney work was performed on a fixed monthly budget with no additional billable hours charged to the client.
What a Year on the GC Plan Covered
| Work area | Representative matters handled in the year |
|---|---|
| Brand & Trademark Protection | Renewals and maintenance for a 17-mark portfolio; clearance opinions on 3 line-extension products; resolved 2 third-party infringement actions via negotiated coexistence (counterparties pulled look-alike products and ceased use); disciplined docketing kept every Section 8/9 and maintenance deadline on track. |
| Employment Law & HR Risk | Ground-up Employee Handbook refresh compliant across 4 states; drafted/reviewed 14 independent-contractor agreements; negotiated 3 executive/managerial severance agreements; ran internal misconduct investigations resulting in for-cause terminations. High-level: harassment demand (initial $900,000) settled at 100% insurance-covered cost; wage/hour dispute (potential six figures) settled at $18,000 under strict confidentiality; terminated a 20-year employee for severe policy violations with no post-separation claims. |
| Commercial Matters | Terminated a 5-year IT service contract in year 2 with a complete walk-away on a disputed $82,000 balance after documenting service failures; coordinated inventory sell-through and a claim-free sunset with a brand licensor; navigated a no-cancellation SaaS agreement (~$100,000 remaining) to an $18,000 payment plan over 10 months with no interest or fees; defeated a $15,000 anti-poaching demand for $0; negotiated 20+ supplier agreements with protein companies, including forward-price contracts that insulated the company against inflation and tariff shock. |
| Regulatory & Labeling | Settled a Proposition 65 claim on an imported specialty ingredient at $18,000 (potential +$100,000 by volume), then secured supplier warranties for ongoing chemical compliance; resolved a California “no sugar added” allegation at $6,000; audited ~30 regulated SKUs and brought labels/claims current before reprint. |
Why This Beats Hourly for a $10M+ Brand
Each of those matters, billed hourly through outside counsel, would have arrived as an unpredictable invoice at the worst possible moment. On a fractional GC plan they were simply part of the monthly relationship—which is exactly why $10M+ food businesses stay. If your company is scaling and legal keeps showing up as a “dynamic variable” in the budget, that is the signal to move it to a line item. Compare plan tiers and pricing →, or read another proof point in our Open Range Beef case study.
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Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. The matters and figures above describe one specific engagement and are provided for illustration only.
Jason Foscolo
Founder of The Food Law Firm — fractional general counsel for food & beverage businesses nationwide.