Monthly Retainer Counsel
Most growing companies don't have enough legal work to justify a full-time lawyer, but they have too much to handle alone. A monthly retainer gives them a senior attorney on call for the routine questions, at a predictable cost, without the overhead of an in-house hire.
Talk to an attorneyFounded
1965
Attorneys
11
AV-rated
Martindale-Hubbell
Office
Bellevue, WA
Founded
1965
Attorneys
4
AV-rated
Martindale-Hubbell
Office
Bellevue, WA
Monthly retainer counsel for Bellevue and Seattle companies
Oseran Hahn serves as outside general counsel for companies on a fixed monthly retainer: a senior partner who knows the business and handles the steady stream of legal questions a working company generates, from contracts and employment to vendors, governance, and the occasional problem. The point is predictability, one point of contact, a defined scope, and a known cost, rather than a new engagement and a cold start every time something comes up. When a matter crosses into a specialty, the right attorney at the firm joins without a new engagement letter.
A retainer works because it turns legal help from an emergency purchase into a standing relationship. We cover the routine legal questions a company generates day to day; we give the company a senior partner as a single point of contact who already knows the business; we keep the cost and scope predictable; we bring in the firm's specialists when a question crosses into their area; and we help the company decide when its volume has outgrown a retainer and a fractional or in-house counsel makes sense.
What the retainer covers
A working company generates a steady stream of legal questions that are too small for a project engagement and too important to guess at: a customer contract to review, a vendor threatening to walk, an employee departure, a question about whether a new practice is compliant, a governance step before a board meeting. The monthly retainer covers that flow. The company sends the question, and a senior attorney who already knows the business answers it, usually the same day. The work that does not fit the retainer, a financing, an acquisition, a lawsuit, is handled separately and scoped on its own, but the day-to-day is simply included.
A senior partner who knows the business
The value of outside general counsel is continuity, so the engagement is built around one senior partner as the point of contact rather than a rotating cast of associates. That partner learns the company's contracts, its people, its history, and its risk tolerance, which means the company is not re-explaining context every time it calls and the advice fits the business rather than a generic template. It is the same relationship a good in-house general counsel provides, without the company carrying the salary and the overhead.
Predictable cost and scope
A retainer only works if both sides know what it covers, so we define the scope and set a fixed monthly fee against it. Routine contracts, employment questions, governance, vendor issues, and general counsel are included; discrete projects and disputes are scoped and billed separately so they do not blow up the monthly number. The arrangement gives a company without in-house counsel something it usually cannot get from hourly billing: a legal budget it can actually plan around, and the freedom to call without watching the clock on every question.
The specialist bench behind the partner
A single attorney cannot be expert in everything a company needs, and the retainer does not pretend otherwise. When a question crosses into mergers and acquisitions, real estate, employment litigation, tax, intellectual property, or securities, the partner pulls in the right specialist from the firm, who joins already briefed rather than starting cold. The company gets the depth of a full firm through one relationship, and it does not negotiate a new engagement letter every time a matter needs a different set of hands.
When to move to fractional or in-house counsel
A retainer is the right tool for a certain volume of legal work, and part of our job is to tell the company when it has outgrown one. As the questions get more frequent and more strategic, the better fit may be a fractional general counsel arrangement with a defined, larger monthly commitment, or eventually a first in-house hire. We help companies read that inflection point honestly and structure the transition, including how the firm continues to support an in-house lawyer once one is in place.
Sixty years counseling Pacific Northwest companies, with senior partners who serve as outside general counsel for businesses not yet ready to hire one in-house. The same partner handles the matter, year after year, and the full firm stands behind them.
The same partner, year after year.
Outside general counsel only works if it's continuous. You get a senior partner who knows the business, not a rotating cast, so the advice fits the company rather than a template.
A full firm through one relationship.
When a question crosses into M&A, real estate, employment, or tax, the right specialist joins already briefed. You get the depth of the whole firm without a new engagement every time.
A legal budget you can plan around.
A fixed monthly fee against a defined scope. The routine work is included, the big projects are scoped separately, and you can call without watching the clock.
The attorneys behindthe work.
Our business and corporate attorneys handle this work alongside our litigation team, so you have coverage whether your matter stays transactional or becomes something more.
What clientsask us first.
What does a monthly retainer typically cost?
It depends on the company's size and the volume of legal work, and we set the fee against a defined scope so both sides know what it covers. The routine work is included in the monthly number; discrete projects and disputes are scoped separately. The goal is a predictable legal budget, not an open-ended hourly relationship. We'll quote a fee after a short scoping conversation.
What kinds of questions does the retainer cover?
The day-to-day legal work a company generates: contract review and drafting, employment questions, vendor and customer issues, governance steps, compliance questions, and general business-law advice. Bigger matters like a financing, an acquisition, or a lawsuit are scoped and handled separately, but the steady stream of routine questions is simply included.
What happens when our question needs a specialist?
Your partner brings in the right attorney from the firm, briefed and up to speed, without a new engagement letter. Outside general counsel through Oseran Hahn means one relationship with access to the depth of a full firm, so a question that crosses into M&A, real estate, employment litigation, or tax is handled by someone who actually does that work.
Do we have to be a certain size to use a retainer?
Not exactly, but the model fits best for companies generating regular legal work, often in the $5 to $50 million revenue range, that don't yet justify a full-time in-house lawyer. Smaller companies sometimes use a lighter retainer; larger ones move toward fractional or in-house counsel. We'll tell you honestly whether a retainer is the right fit.
What if we eventually want to hire in-house?
We help you decide when the volume justifies it and structure the transition. Many companies move from a retainer to a fractional general counsel arrangement before a first in-house hire, and the firm continues to support an in-house lawyer once one is in place. The relationship is built to scale with the company, not to lock it in.
When should we set up a retainer?
When legal questions have started arriving regularly and handling them one-off, or not at all, has become a risk. The retainer is most valuable before a problem, when the company can build a standing relationship with counsel who knows the business, rather than calling a stranger in a crisis.
Recentarticles.
A senior partner as your outside general counsel, on a predictable monthly retainer, for companies not ready to hire in-house.
Oseran Hahn P.S. · 11225 SE 6th St, Suite 100 · Bellevue, WA 98004
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