Blog · General Counsel

What Is General Counsel — and Do I Need One?

By Dylan James, Texas attorney · June 2026

If you've heard the term "General Counsel" and assumed it was something reserved for corporations with a floor of lawyers and a legal budget bigger than your annual revenue — you're not alone. That assumption is also costing a lot of people and small businesses money they didn't have to spend.

Let me explain what General Counsel actually means, who it's for, and why having one may be the most practical legal decision you can make.

The traditional definition

In the corporate world, a General Counsel (often called a GC) is the chief lawyer for an organization. They're the person the CEO calls before signing a major contract, the one who reviews the employment agreement before it goes out, and the one who spots the liability problem in the new vendor deal before it becomes a lawsuit. Their job isn't to react to legal crises — it's to prevent them.

Large companies hire GCs full-time. The salary can run $200,000 to $500,000 or more per year. That's not on the table for a small business owner in Dallas, and it definitely isn't for an individual trying to navigate a contract dispute or a landlord problem.

What it means for smaller clients

When I offer General Counsel services, I'm offering the same function — a trusted attorney you can call before a problem becomes a crisis — at a scale that works for you. Instead of a full-time hire, you have a relationship with an attorney who knows your situation, your goals, and your risk tolerance, and who you can reach when something comes across your desk that you're not sure about.

For a small business, that looks like: reviewing your vendor contracts before you sign them, drafting the employment agreement for your first hire, advising on the non-compete clause a competitor just sent you, or flagging the insurance issue in your commercial lease that you were about to overlook.

The value of prevention

Most legal problems I see in my office were preventable. A contract dispute that took two years to resolve started with an agreement that was never reviewed. An employment dispute started with a handshake and a "we'll work out the details later." An eviction fight started when a tenant signed a lease without understanding the default provisions.

The fee to review a contract before you sign it is a fraction of what litigation costs after something goes wrong. General Counsel is, at its core, a prevention service. You're not paying for a lawyer when you're in trouble. You're paying to stay out of trouble.

What I handle as General Counsel

My General Counsel practice covers a wide range of needs for both businesses and individuals in North Texas:

• Contract review and drafting — vendor agreements, service contracts, independent contractor agreements, leases, and more
• Employment matters — offer letters, non-competes, severance agreements, and employee classification questions
• Business formation and governance — structuring your LLC or PLLC correctly, operating agreements, and basic governance questions
• Demand letters and dispute resolution — when a relationship goes wrong and you need to assert your rights or respond to a claim
• General legal questions — the "is this a problem?" call that can save you months of headaches down the road

How it connects to my other practice areas

One thing I've found useful about practicing across multiple areas is that legal problems don't stay in their lanes. A personal injury settlement creates an asset that needs to be protected. A small business owner who is also an immigrant needs legal advice that accounts for how a business decision might affect their immigration status. An estate plan for a business owner looks different from one for someone who only has personal assets.

Having one attorney who understands your full picture — not just the contract in front of you today — is worth something that hourly billing from a specialist firm can't replicate.

Is General Counsel right for you?

If any of these sound familiar, the answer is probably yes:

• You've signed contracts without reading them carefully because you weren't sure what to look for
• You've wanted to ask a lawyer a question but didn't know who to call or assumed it would be expensive
• You run a business and handle your own contracts, HR, or vendor relationships without legal review
• You've been in a dispute and didn't know your rights until it was too late to use them
• You want someone who knows your situation and can give you a straight answer, not a form letter

I offer a free initial consultation. You can tell me about your situation — business or personal — and I'll tell you honestly whether a General Counsel relationship makes sense, what it would look like, and what it would cost. No pressure, no call screeners, no hourly billing anxiety. Just a direct conversation with a licensed Texas attorney.

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