Wouldn’t it be nice to have an attorney in your back pocket at all times? Wouldn’t you like to call your General Counsel and run something by him/her before you pull the trigger? Many small and mid-size businesses don’t have the luxury of being able to afford in-house legal counsel to run things by on a daily basis. Yet, small and mid-size businesses require and deserve high-quality legal services. Enter MYGC|My General Counsel® – the brainchild of Lillian A. Ser, Esq., founder of Ser & Associates.
Think of it as the Netflix of the legal world. The subscription service provides on-demand legal counsel at your disposal. Yet, without the worry that every call and email you make to the firm will trigger the proverbial attorney clock.
The practice of law has changed a lot in the last 10 years since Ser & Associates opened its doors. A lot of players, such as LegalZoom and other lawyer-referral services have entered the playing field. However, they are not law firms, so they cannot provide legal advice. Yet, it is astonishing to see the number of business owners who fall for the advertising and then find that the form contract they purchased was no good and then they were sued; the employment agreement didn’t include the required non-competes or non-solicitation provisions and then all their employees were poached by a disgruntled ex-employee; or their trademark application didn’t make it through the United States Patent & Trademark Office review and now they must appeal to keep their mark.
Sensing this void in the marketplace, Lillian Ser chartered and trademarked a program called MYGC|My General Counsel®. She envisioned a small business owner being able to say at a negotiation, “You know what, let me just run this by My General Counsel before I sign the contract”. The cost of the program is tailor-made for each participating client based on projected work, but in the end, the client realizes a cost savings of 20-30%.
The MYGC|My General Counsel® allows business owners to budget for legal services while providing the peace of mind that they can contact their attorneys with any question or issue they might have. One question My General Counsel attorneys commonly get is, “I’m thinking of moving my office to a particular address. Can I have a medical office, restaurant, or other establishment there?”
“Medical offices, restaurants, etc., can’t be established just anywhere.,” says Lillian Ser, “The proper zoning needs to be in place. We may need a special approval or a permit, and we should also take a look at what impact fees you might have to pay. Let me check on that for you before we submit an LOI to the landlord.”
Another typical question My General Counsel attorneys get is, “I’m thinking of joint venturing with such and such company. What’s the next step?”
“Well, there’s a lot that goes into a joint venture. Let’s meet to discuss corporate structure and what your expectations are so that we can begin to create the framework for a solid joint venture agreement, ensure no issues in the future and that you are protected,” advises Lillian.
The MYGC|My General Counsel® is Ser & Associates way of staying nimble and changing with the times. It doesn’t cover everything, for example litigation, trademark/patent services, and estate planning, but participating clients receive an additional 15-20% discount on those services.
Ser & Associates also takes the worry of high legal fees out of the equation by often times working on a flat-fee basis. This is yet another way we provide quality legal services to our clients, while ensuring they don’t have to worry about the final bill.
If you want to learn more about the MYGC|My General Counsel® program, contact Ser & Associates today at 305.222.7282.
