The Parisi Law Firm Outside General Counsel Program is a legal services subscription for small and mid-size businesses without an in-house lawyer. You pay a flat monthly fee ($1,850, $3,175, or $4,500) for 6, 12, or 18 included attorney hours, quick questions, and a response time set by your plan. The initial term is three months; after that it continues month to month.
Most small and mid-size businesses in Georgia will never have a lawyer on the payroll, and most don't need one. What they need is someone to call when a customer or vendor sends over a contract, when an employee issue comes up, when a payment dispute lands, or when a license renewal is coming due. Without a regular attorney, those questions tend to get put off until they become expensive.
The Parisi Law Firm Outside General Counsel Program is built for that. It is a legal services subscription agreement: a flat monthly fee covers a set number of attorney hours plus quick questions, and the plan you choose sets your response time and the extras, such as deadline tracking, regulatory updates, and strategy meetings. "Outside general counsel" does not mean the firm becomes your employee or an officer of your company. It means you have outside lawyers who learn your business and are reachable when something comes up.
Plans and pricing
There are three plans. Each one is a complete package, and fees are per calendar month. Every plan includes quick questions and the core legal work listed further down this page, handled within your included hours.
Tier 1
$1,850 / month
For businesses that need a lawyer on call and a steady flow of contracts, policies, and letters handled.
- 6 attorney hours per month
- Response within 1 business day
- 1 strategy meeting per year
- Annual Legal Health Check refresh
- 20% off project work
Tier 2
$3,175 / month
For businesses with regular customer, vendor, or compliance activity that want faster answers and someone watching deadlines.
- 12 attorney hours per month
- Same-day response on requests in by 1:00 p.m.
- Contract and license renewal tracking with 60-day reminders
- Twice-yearly written regulatory update
- Firm joins your contract negotiation calls
- 25% off project work
Tier 3
$4,500 / month
For businesses that want a standing general counsel role without the salary: in the room for decisions, managing outside counsel, and monitoring the rules.
- 18 attorney hours per month
- Same-business-day response, plus a direct line to the supervising attorney for time-sensitive matters
- Quarterly strategy meetings and up to 3 leadership or board meetings a year
- Quarterly regulatory update and contract register review
- No onboarding fee; rush surcharge waived, subject to availability
- 30% off project work
Compare the plans
| Tier 1 | Tier 2 | Tier 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly fee | $1,850 | $3,175 | $4,500 |
| Included attorney hours | 6 per month | 12 per month | 18 per month |
| Quick questions | Included | Included | Included |
| Response time | 1 business day | Same business day for requests received by 1:00 p.m.; otherwise next business day | Same business day; direct line to the supervising attorney for time-sensitive matters |
| Contract review and drafting | Within included hours | Within included hours, plus the firm joins negotiation calls with the other side | Within included hours, plus negotiation calls and the firm manages redlines with the other side |
| Strategy meetings (up to 60 min) | 1 per year | 2 per year | 1 per quarter, plus virtual attendance at up to 3 leadership or board meetings a year |
| Regulatory update | Not included | Written summary twice a year | Written summary every quarter |
| Deadline and renewal tracking | Not included | Contract renewals, notice periods, and license renewals, with 60-day reminders | Same, plus a contract register reviewed with you quarterly |
| Legal Health Check refresh | Annually | Every 6 months | Quarterly |
| Staff training (up to 60 min) | Not included | 1 session per year | 2 sessions per year |
| Employee handbook and policies | Within included hours | Annual handbook review | Annual handbook review and update |
| Litigation and claims support | Evaluation and deadline calendaring | Same, plus coordination with counsel appointed by your insurance carrier | Same, plus management of outside and specialist counsel |
| Discount on project work | 20% | 25% | 30% |
| Rush surcharge | 25% | 25% | Waived, subject to availability |
| Authorized contacts at your company | 1 | Up to 2 | Up to 3 |
| Onboarding fee | $1,000 (waived with a 12-month commitment) | $1,000 (waived with a 12-month commitment) | Waived |
| Initial term | 3 months, then month to month | 3 months, then month to month | 3 months, then month to month |
- Strategy and leadership meetings, regulatory updates, deadline and renewal tracking, staff training, and Legal Health Check refreshes are not charged against your included hours.
- Features of a higher plan are not sold separately and cannot be added to a lower plan. You can change plans under the terms of your agreement.
- Work beyond your included hours is billed at subscriber rates ($350/hour for the managing attorney, $250/hour for an associate attorney) instead of the standard $400 and $300. Rush work is a document over 10 pages needed back in under 24 hours, or weekend or holiday work, and is surcharged only with your advance approval.
- Exact terms are set in your written legal services subscription agreement.
What every plan covers
Your included hours go toward the everyday legal work a business without in-house counsel runs into. Within those hours, the firm handles:
- Contracts: customer, vendor, supplier, subcontractor, and independent contractor agreements, purchase orders, NDAs, and similar commercial contracts, with negotiation guidance
- Customer-facing documents: estimates and proposals, service agreements, statements of work, change-order and completion forms, warranty language, invoice terms, and cancellation, refund, and deposit policies
- Website terms of use, privacy policy, and online ordering or booking terms, written for how your business actually operates
- Customer disputes and chargebacks: responding to complaints and payment disputes, chargeback response packages, and demand letters
- Collections: demand letters, pre-suit collection letters, advice on lien rights, and preparing magistrate court (small claims) filings for you to file
- Licensing and compliance: guidance on the state and local licensing, permitting, consumer-protection, and advertising rules for your business, plus help with license applications and renewals
- Georgia sales and use tax guidance, coordinated with your CPA
- Employment and contractor matters: offer letters, contractor agreements, employee vs. contractor classification, handbook and policy review, and discipline and termination guidance
- Entity upkeep: annual registration, operating agreement or bylaw updates, resolutions and minutes, and ownership changes
- Practical legal input on business decisions, risk, and insurance coverage questions, working with your agent
What is billed separately
Some matters need their own engagement. These fall outside the subscription, and the firm may handle some of them under a separate agreement (at your plan's discount where it bills hourly) or refer you to other counsel:
- Lawsuits in magistrate, state, superior, or federal court, and responding to a filed suit, apart from the small-claims preparation and claims support described above
- Arbitration, mediation, and appeals
- Government enforcement actions, audits, investigations, and administrative hearings, including the Georgia Department of Revenue, Department of Labor, and licensing boards
- Tax returns, tax opinions, tax planning, and tax disputes
- Mergers and acquisitions, selling the business, investor financing, and securities matters
- Real estate purchases, sales, and closings
- Trademark, patent, and copyright registration and disputes (trademark clearance and filings may be offered as project work)
- Personal legal matters of owners or employees, and work for affiliates, customers, or other third parties
How getting started works
It starts with a consultation about your business, the legal issues you run into most often, and which plan fits. If you go ahead, you sign a written legal services subscription agreement that sets out your plan, what is included, what is excluded, and the fees. Georgia's Rules of Professional Conduct call for the scope of the representation and the basis of the fee to be communicated to the client, preferably in writing (Rule 1.5(b)), and the agreement does that.
Onboarding includes a Legal Health Check: a review of your core documents, licenses, policies, and practices, with a written action list. Your plan then refreshes that review on its schedule, covering what is new or has changed since the last one.
- Consultation to understand your business and choose a plan
- Written subscription agreement: plan, scope, exclusions, and fees
- Onboarding Legal Health Check and action list
- Monthly included hours, quick questions, and your plan's response time
- Three-month initial term, then month to month
Who the program is for
Any small or mid-size business that does not have its own lawyer on staff: service companies, retailers, professional practices, family businesses, and trade contractors. Many of the businesses Parisi Law Firm works with are in the trades, where contracts, change orders, lien deadlines, and slow payers are a constant, but the program is not limited to them.
Jerry Parisi, the firm's managing attorney, leads the program, and the firm keeps it to a limited number of subscribing businesses so every client can get the response time their plan promises.
Keeping your company in good standing
Some of the most avoidable legal problems are administrative. Georgia LLCs and corporations must file an annual registration with the Secretary of State between January 1 and April 1 each year (O.C.G.A. § 14-11-1103(c); O.C.G.A. § 14-2-1622(c)). A newly formed corporation must file its initial registration within 90 days of incorporating, unless it was formed after October 1 (O.C.G.A. § 14-2-1622(d)).
Falling behind has real consequences. If an LLC's annual registration is more than 60 days late, the Secretary of State may begin administrative dissolution (O.C.G.A. § 14-11-603(b)(1)(A)). Annual registration is part of the entity upkeep every plan covers, and on Tier 2 and Tier 3 your license and contract renewal dates are tracked with 60-day reminders. For setting up a new entity, see our business formation page.
Catching problems early for trade contractors
For roofers, HVAC, plumbing, and electrical contractors, flooring installers, landscapers, and other trades, a lot of legal risk hides in paperwork. Georgia's construction payment laws run on strict notice and filing deadlines, and a missed step can cost you your lien rights even when the money is plainly owed.
On a subscription, subcontracts get reviewed for pay-if-paid language, indemnity, and waiver traps before you sign, lien waivers get checked before they go out, and a slow-paying job gets a demand letter instead of another month of waiting.
Common legal needs and how the program helps
| What comes up | How the program helps |
|---|---|
| A customer, vendor, or GC sends a contract to sign | The firm reviews it, flags risky terms like pay-if-paid and broad indemnity, and suggests changes before you commit; on Tier 2 and 3 the firm can join the negotiation call |
| A customer disputes a charge | Advice on the response and a chargeback response package with your supporting documents |
| An employee question or a planned termination | A direct answer on the legal risks before you act |
| Your handbook is out of date | Handbook review within your included hours (an annual review is built into Tier 2 and 3) |
| A contract is about to auto-renew | On Tier 2 and 3, renewal and notice dates are tracked with reminders at least 60 days out |
| A customer's invoice is past due | Demand letters, a collection plan, lien options where they apply, and small-claims paperwork for you to file |
| A rule that affects your business changes | On Tier 2 and 3, a written regulatory update with recommended next steps |
| You get sued | Evaluation and deadline calendaring on every plan; the lawsuit itself is a separate engagement |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Parisi Law Firm Outside General Counsel Program?
It is a legal services subscription for small and mid-size businesses without an in-house lawyer. For a flat monthly fee you get a set number of attorney hours, quick questions, and a response time set by your plan, along with plan extras such as deadline tracking, regulatory updates, and strategy meetings.
How much does the program cost?
There are three plans: Tier 1 at $1,850 a month with 6 included attorney hours, Tier 2 at $3,175 a month with 12 hours, and Tier 3 at $4,500 a month with 18 hours. Tier 1 and Tier 2 have a $1,000 onboarding fee, which is waived with a 12-month commitment. Tier 3 has no onboarding fee.
Is there a minimum commitment?
Yes. Every plan has a three-month initial term. After the initial term, the subscription continues month to month. Choosing a 12-month commitment on Tier 1 or Tier 2 waives the $1,000 onboarding fee.
How fast will I get a response?
It depends on your plan. Tier 1 responds within one business day. Tier 2 responds the same business day for requests received by 1:00 p.m., otherwise the next business day. Tier 3 responds the same business day and adds a direct line to the supervising attorney for time-sensitive matters.
What happens if I need more than my included hours?
Additional work is billed at discounted subscriber rates: $350 an hour for the managing attorney and $250 an hour for an associate attorney, compared with standard rates of $400 and $300. Your plan's discount of 20%, 25%, or 30% also applies to separate project work billed hourly.
Does the subscription include lawsuits?
No. Lawsuits, arbitration, mediation, and appeals are separate engagements. Every plan includes evaluating a lawsuit or claim and calendaring its immediate deadlines, and higher plans add coordination with carrier-appointed counsel or management of outside counsel within your included hours.
Is the program only for contractors?
No. It is open to any small or mid-size business that lacks in-house counsel, including service companies, retailers, professional practices, and family businesses. Trade contractors are a natural fit because of their constant contract, change-order, and payment-deadline work, but they are not the only businesses the program serves.
Does the firm become my company's employee or officer?
No. Parisi Law Firm works as outside counsel under a written subscription agreement. When the firm attends leadership or board meetings on Tier 3, it is there to give legal input; it does not act as a director, officer, or manager of your company.
Can you handle my taxes too?
Partly. Every plan includes general guidance on Georgia sales and use tax, coordinated with your CPA. Tax returns, tax opinions, tax planning, and Department of Revenue audits or appeals are outside the subscription and belong with your CPA or a separate engagement.
When is my Georgia annual registration due?
Georgia LLCs and corporations file their annual registration with the Secretary of State between January 1 and April 1 each year. A new corporation must file its initial registration within 90 days of incorporating, unless it was formed after October 1. An LLC more than 60 days late can face administrative dissolution.