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Governance and Compliance

Outside general counsel, governing documents, and the records and policies that keep your company in order.

What This Covers

How your company makes decisions and proves it did: operating agreements and bylaws that match how you actually run things, ownership records and required state filings, written approval of major decisions, and the internal policies a growing company needs. For nonprofits, that includes board governance, officer roles, and conflict-of-interest policies.

I’d rather be in the room before something breaks. Many companies are big enough to have regular legal questions but not big enough for an in-house lawyer. For them, I serve as outside general counsel for a fixed monthly fee. You call when something comes up, without watching the clock, and legal becomes part of how the company grows instead of a bill that shows up after the fact.

Regulator-facing work for public power districts and other regulated organizations is covered under Regulatory Affairs, and privacy compliance under Data Privacy.

How the Work Starts

It starts with a first meeting about how the company runs today and where it’s headed. Bring your governing documents and ownership records, even if they’re out of date. See how engagements work.

What Shapes the Scope

Cost depends on the company’s size, whether you need ongoing counsel, and the state of the current records. Ongoing counsel is usually a fixed monthly fee.

Questions people ask

Questions About
Governance and Compliance

Quick answers to the things owners ask before they call.

It’s an ongoing relationship in which I act as your company’s lawyer for a fixed monthly fee, instead of being called in one matter at a time. It suits companies with regular legal questions, such as contracts, policies, and owner decisions, but not enough volume to justify hiring a lawyer in-house. You call when something comes up, without watching the clock.

At a minimum: your formation and governing documents, an up-to-date record of who owns what, written approval of major decisions, and the required state filings. A lender, investor, or buyer will ask for all of it, and rebuilding missing records under deadline costs more than keeping them as you go.

State law generally requires fewer formalities for LLCs than for corporations, but your operating agreement may require more, and documenting major decisions in writing protects the owners either way. It’s also one of the first things checked when the company is financed or sold.

If anything important has changed, such as new owners, a departing owner, outside investment, or a different way of making decisions, then yes. Pay particular attention to what happens when an owner leaves, dies, or wants out. That’s the provision most often missing or out of date.

Your governing documents should answer that, and when they do, most disagreements can be worked out within the process they set. I help owners use that process, and I help them write one before it’s needed.

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