ALR Law was founded on the belief that companies of all sizes benefit from working with skilled, experienced in-house general counsel.  Attorneys working consistently with their clients leads to better communication and, therefore, better counsel and results for the client.  While not all companies are at a stage of development where employing an in-house attorney full time is cost-effective or feasible, virtually all companies would greatly benefit from having a single attorney involved on a consistent basis in its business as larger businesses do with their in-house attorneys.  

Andy Romberger, the founder of ALR Law, was an associate and partner in major law firms before joining one of his clients as its full time, in-house general counsel.  Serving as in-house general counsel validated Andy’s belief of the inefficiency in the typical law firm/client relationship and the benefits to be gained by companies having a consistent relationship with legal counsel at a price point that permits the legal counsel to be involved in all matters of the business, not just matters deemed important enough or mature enough for the company to call outside counsel.  One of the greatest benefits to a company having its own general counsel is the prevention of legal problems.  As outside counsel and in-house counsel, Andy saw numerous situations that proved the adage that an ounce of prevention equals a pound of cure. Seeing an unmet need in the market for this sort of arrangement, ALR Law has developed solutions for companies that could use better, more productive and efficient relationship with its attorneys, the Part Time General Counsel and the Project General Counsel.

The Part Time General Counsel (the PTGC) solution is designed for companies that have a steady stream of legal matters that require attention, but for which the company does not want to or need to pay traditional law firm hourly rates.  These businesses tend to either pay too much by engaging law firms to address matters better suited for an in-house attorney or too little by having a non-lawyer muddle through the matter, often laying the foundation of significant problems in the future.  For an agreed upon monthly fee, the PTGC solution is designed to address this problem by having an ALR Law attorney placed at the client’s location on a regular, part-time basis to serve as the company’s general counsel, while also being available to the company when not on-site.  At the outset of a PTGC engagement, the PTGC would review the Company’s legal records and key contracts, and provide the Company with any recommended actions to be taken.  In addition to providing legal guidance, the PTGC would become involved in the business’s day to day operations and get to know the business’s employees and business partners, providing additional value and insight specific to the business.  Moreover, the PTGC would become an integral part of the Company’s management, adding crucial insights in strategy sessions for which utilizing an outside law firm would be premature and/or too costly.  The PTGC would not replace the company’s outside counsel, but rather would strategically and cost-effectively manage the day to day outside counsel relationship, allowing the company’s management team to focus on managing the business.   

The Project General Counsel (the ProGenCo) solution is designed for companies that are beginning a significant legal project, and wish for an experienced general counsel to manage it for an agreed upon, periodic fee.  Depending on the nature and scope of the project, the ProGenCo and the Company would agree on what work should be performed by the ProGenCo and what work should be performed by the Company’s other professional advisors.  Projects of this nature with which ALR Law has an extensive background include formation of business (e.g., incorporation documents, bylaws, shareholders agreements and the like), equity and debt financings, licensing agreements, Mergers &Acquisitions, distribution agreements, manufacturing agreements, equity incentive plans and phantom stock plans, bonus plans, employee handbooks, and management of litigation.