You’re running a $2M company. You have 30 employees, a growing contract pipeline, and an IP portfolio that’s been mostly managed on instinct. You know you need real legal infrastructure. You’ve been thinking about fractional general counsel for months.
But here’s the question nobody answers: what actually happens after you say yes?
Not the pitch. The process.
This is a walkthrough of the first 90 days – the specific sequence, deliverables, and rhythm that define what fractional GC engagement looks like for a company at your stage.
Weeks 1 and 2: The Legal Audit
The first two weeks are diagnostic. Before we can protect anything, we need to understand what exists, what’s missing, and what’s quietly creating risk right now.
This starts with a document inventory. We go through everything: your existing customer contracts, vendor agreements, employment agreements, any IP filings you’ve made, your operating agreement, and your employee handbook if you have one. Most companies at $2M have a patchwork – some things drafted by outside counsel years ago, some from LegalZoom templates, some that were copy-pasted from a competitor’s public terms of service.
What we’re looking for in that first pass:
- IP ownership gaps. Do your employment agreements include invention assignment clauses? If a developer built your core product and left, does your company own that code – or do they? This is the question that kills exit deals.
- Contract liability exposure. Are your customer agreements capping your liability at contract value, or are you on the hook for unlimited damages? Most founders have never read this clause carefully.
- Compliance triggers you’ve already crossed. At 30 employees, Title VII, ADA, and GINA all apply to you. At 50, FMLA kicks in. We check where you are against where your documentation is.
- IP protection status. What trademarks are registered? What’s in use but unprotected? Are there patent opportunities you haven’t filed on yet?
By the end of week two, you have a written legal audit: a clear picture of what you have, what you’re missing, and a ranked list of what to fix first.
This is the moment most founders tell me they feel the weight lift. Not because everything is fixed – it isn’t yet – but because you finally know what you’re dealing with.
Weeks 3 Through 6: Priority Risk Remediation
The audit tells us where the fires are. Weeks three through six are about putting out the ones that matter most.
We triage by risk and frequency. The issues that could kill a deal, trigger a lawsuit, or create regulatory exposure get addressed first. The things that are technically imperfect but low-stakes get scheduled for later.
For most companies at your stage, this phase looks like:
Contract template refresh. Your customer MSA, your vendor agreements, your independent contractor agreements – we rebuild these with proper liability caps, IP ownership language, and payment terms that protect you. This isn’t about making contracts longer. It’s about making them work.
Employment agreement cleanup. If your existing employees don’t have invention assignment clauses, we prepare standalone assignments they can sign now. Retroactive is better than never. We also update your offer letter template so every future hire is covered from day one.
IP filing prioritization. We review what’s in use and unprotected, what’s worth filing on, and what the timeline looks like. If you have product innovations that haven’t been protected, we map out a provisional patent strategy. If your brand has exposure, we get trademark applications moving.
Handbook and policy gaps. If you don’t have a compliant employee handbook, we build one. If you have one that hasn’t been updated since you had 10 employees, we update it.
This phase is high-velocity. You’re getting a lot of deliverables in a short window. The goal is to get you from “legal patchwork” to “solid foundation” before we shift into steady-state rhythm.
Weeks 7 Through 12: Establishing the Rhythm
By week seven, the acute risks are addressed. Now we build the operating model that makes fractional GC actually work long-term.
Weekly check-ins. A standing 30-minute call to review anything time-sensitive: a contract that came in, an employee situation, a partnership conversation that needs legal eyes. This is the “no meter running” benefit in practice. You don’t save up questions until they’re emergencies. You bring them when they’re small.
Contract review in real time. When a customer sends over their standard agreement – and enterprise customers always send their own paper – we turn around a redline within one business day. You don’t lose deal velocity. You close with terms that protect you.
First board meeting attendance. For Premium tier clients, we join your quarterly board meeting. Not as a passive observer – as active counsel. We’re there to present on legal and IP status, flag anything the board needs to know, and answer governance questions directly. This matters more than most founders expect. It signals to investors and board members that your legal infrastructure is serious.
Quarterly IP review. At the end of the first 90 days, we do a formal IP portfolio review. What’s been filed, what’s pending, what opportunities we’ve identified, what risks remain. This becomes a recurring quarterly deliverable – the kind of proactive IP management that most fractional counsel providers simply don’t offer.
By day 90, you have a legal audit on file, a refreshed contract library, updated employment agreements, an IP strategy in motion, and an operating rhythm that means legal issues get caught early instead of late.
What This Actually Changes
The shift isn’t just operational. It’s psychological.
Before fractional GC, legal is a source of ambient anxiety. You know there are gaps. You don’t know exactly where. You avoid calling outside counsel because the meter starts running the moment you dial. So small issues sit until they’re expensive.
After the first 90 days, that changes. You know your foundation. You have a standing call. You have someone who knows your business, your contracts, your IP, and your team – and who you can reach without watching the clock.
That’s what “embedded counsel” actually means. Not a lawyer you call when things break. A partner who’s already inside the business when things come up.
And because we combine business law with IP expertise – something most fractional GC providers don’t offer – you’re not managing two separate counsel relationships or hoping your business lawyer remembers to flag the IP implications in that new partnership agreement. We catch both sides.
That’s the first 90 days. It’s structured, it’s fast, and by the end of it, you have legal infrastructure that can actually support the company you’re building.
If you’re a growing company between $1.5M and $3M in revenue and this is the kind of engagement you’ve been looking for, let’s talk. Schedule a legal strategy review at garcia-zamor.com – we’ll map your current gaps and show you exactly what the first 90 days would look like for your business.
If you want contracts that hold, IP that’s protected, and legal bills that don’t surprise you every month – let’s talk. Garcia-Zamor Law Firm delivers fractional in-house counsel with a unique advantage: business law PLUS IP expertise, backed by 70+ years of combined experience. Passionately devoted to your success. Visit garcia-zamor.com or call (410) 531-9853.
