Your “Outside General Counsel” for Unique Legal Needs
It can be expensive and impractical for small to mid-sized companies to maintain in-house counsel. Yet, design and construction involves a wide variety of legal issues and concerns. Even larger companies with attorneys on staff may find themselves in need of specialized design and construction knowledge their in-house counsel lacks. Many design and construction companies rely on general counsel lawyers to provide outside general counsel services.
Jeremy provides general advice on a wide range of matters – large and small – to a wide variety of design and construction clients. He provides occasional counsel on discrete issues to some clients. Other clients look to Jeremy as their principal legal counsel. He helps clients address firmwide concerns that go beyond specific projects, such as intelligently managing internal operations to maximize reward and minimize risk. Jeremy also helps clients resolve discreet problems, like making tough decisions, handling the important meeting, or crafting a delicate letter.
An experienced litigator, he has successfully prosecuted and defended countless lawsuits in over 30 state and federal court venues. However, Jeremy also values dispute avoidance and cost-efficient resolution of claims. He knows smart businesspeople are asking, “Why do we pay so much to prepare for trials that seldom occur”?
Jeremy also has knowledge and experience with many contract types, from AIA Contract Documents to non-standard form agreements, and knows how to modify a wide variety of contract forms to serve the needs of each client and project, including Owner-Architect Agreements, Owner-Contractor Agreements, Design-Build Agreements, and many other contract types. Jeremy has the knowledge and experience to help people who design and build into smart contracts.
What is an Outside General Counsel?
Outside general counsels are attorneys who provide long-term, temporary, or on-demand legal services for companies who either don’t want to engage full-time general counsel or require specialized advice on an as-needed basis.
At Baker Law – Design and Construction Counsel, we offer outside general counsel services to help design and construction companies manage their legal needs. We can assist if:
- Your design or construction business is scaling up fast but you’re not at the point where you’re ready to engage full-time, in-house counsel.
- You have an urgent legal situation that requires specialized advice
- You need legal expertise in a specific area to supplement your in-house legal team
Jeremy Baker has extensive experience across a wide range of construction and design issues and matters and is prepared to offer collaborative, affordable, on-demand counsel when legal issues arise on design and construction projects.
What Problems Do We Solve?
Our clients use us for legal work related to:
We can also help your in-house counsel increase efficiency and productivity, accommodate additional capacity needs, and achieve timely results. If you are an architect, engineer, real estate developer, property owner, or contractor, we can provide you with expert and practical legal solutions that meet your business goals.
How Can General Counsel Services Benefit a Company?
Many smaller to mid-sized businesses do not have in-house counsel and rely on outside law offices like Baker Law. We can assist you with your daily legal requirements in addition to special matters involving the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), Americans With Disabilities Act, and Fair Housing Act.
If you are not having your business transactions or practices reviewed by an attorney, you could be exposing your company to significant risk. As part of our general counsel services, we identify these risks and help you address them in a proactive manner.
From providing occasional outside general counsel to negotiating project-specific contracts, or guiding end-to-end development of major projects, Jeremy can help.
For more information, contact us.
Jeremy is an affordable alternative for companies who do not want to take on the salary of in-house general counsel in Chicago.
