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The Legal Certainty Your
Organization Needs to Move Forward
The organizations that manage people and risk with confidence have legal clarity built in. Achkar Law's Fractional General Counsel gives you a dedicated legal team, a flat monthly fee, and the ability to call early - before small problems become expensive ones.
Christopher Achkar on Fractional General Counsel
A quick overview of what the program is, who it's built for, and why it works differently from traditional legal support.
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Most Organizations Are Stuck in One of Two Traps
You've reached the point where legal issues are no longer occasional. They're part of running the organization. And yet the two options most organizations fall back on both end up costing more than they should.
You Hired In-House Counsel
"We needed someone on staff. So we hired a senior lawyer. $280,000 in salary, benefits on top of that, and we still end up calling outside firms for anything specialized."
A full-time hire is a full-time commitment. One lawyer can't cover every area you need, their availability is fixed, and if they leave, you're starting over. The overhead is constant whether the legal work is or not.
You Call the Firm When Something Goes Wrong
"We try not to call unless we have to. Every email is another invoice. By the time we get advice, we've already made the decision - or the situation has escalated."
Reactive legal advice is the most expensive kind. When cost-per-call shapes whether your team picks up the phone, small problems compound into large ones. The bill arrives after the damage is done.
What if legal support just worked - embedded, proactive, and priced so your team actually uses it?
Achkar Law's Fractional General Counsel program was built for exactly this moment. Keep reading to see how it works.
Most growing organizations develop an unspoken rule: don't call the lawyer unless it's urgent.
The problem is that by the time it's urgent, the damage is already done. Sticker shock drives avoidance. Avoidance turns small problems into large ones. The numbers below show what happens when legal matters are handled one-off by outside counsel - the model most organizations default to when they don't have dedicated legal support.
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Fractional General Counsel
A senior legal team that already knows your organization, available when you need them, on a flat monthly fee. Questions answered same day, not next invoice cycle.
- The same team every time - they know your people, your contracts, and your risk profile
- Flat monthly fee so your team calls early, when advice is cheapest and most effective
- Employment, labour, HR, and commercial coverage under one engagement
- Proactive risk reviews built in - problems caught before they cost you
- Already at a litigation firm if something escalates - no handoff, no restart
A Different Model
How it compares to traditional options
Legal Support That Works the Way Your Organization Does
Your HR lead flags a potential accommodation issue. By end of day, you have a clear path forward - not a bill.
A manager wants to terminate an employee. You call before making the decision, not after. The termination is handled cleanly.
A vendor sends a contract with unusual indemnity clauses. It's reviewed and redlined before you sign anything.
Your legal team reviews what's changed in employment law, flags any policy gaps, and tells you what to prioritize next quarter.
Built For Organizations That Have Outgrown "Calling the Lawyer"
Founders & CEOs
Of organizations between 10 and 500 employees who need senior legal judgment available without the cost and commitment of a full-time hire.
HR Leaders & People Ops
Managing terminations, accommodations, investigations, and policy work who need a true legal partner embedded in their process, not just a vendor on speed dial.
CFOs & COOs
Who want predictable legal spend instead of surprise invoices, and the ability to plan ahead on exposure rather than react to it.
In-House Counsel
Who need overflow capacity or specialized employment, labour, and human rights depth their internal team doesn't have.
What Your Fractional General Counsel Covers
Employment & Labour Law
Drafting and reviewing employment contracts, termination clauses, and offer letters. Advising on terminations with and without cause. Managing severance negotiations. Responding to wrongful and constructive dismissal risks.
Workplace Investigations & Human Rights
Conducting or overseeing workplace investigations into harassment, discrimination, and misconduct. Responding to Human Rights Tribunal applications. Advising on accommodation requests and disability management.
Compliance & Policy Work
Drafting and updating workplace policies, employee handbooks, and codes of conduct. Ensuring compliance with the ESA, OHSA, Human Rights Code, and applicable BC legislation. Pay equity and accessibility compliance.
Commercial & Corporate Support
Reviewing and negotiating commercial contracts, NDAs, vendor agreements, and service agreements. Advising on shareholder issues, restructurings, and day-to-day corporate matters.
Strategic & Preventative Counsel
Quarterly legal risk reviews. Manager and HR training. Pre-litigation strategy. Crisis response when something goes wrong, and prevention work so it doesn't.
Litigation Readiness
If a matter escalates to litigation, you're already with a litigation firm. No handoff. No new lawyer to onboard. No lost institutional knowledge. Your team continues with you into the dispute.
This Is Not a Retainer. It's a Different Model.
A traditional retainer is a deposit against hourly billing. This is embedded counsel with defined scope, proactive work, and a team that knows your organization.
| Traditional Law Firm | Fractional General Counsel | |
|---|---|---|
| Billing | Hourly. Every call costs you. | Flat monthly fee. Predictable spend. |
| Behaviour | You hesitate to call due to cost concerns | You call early, when problems are cheap |
| Knowledge | New file means a new lawyer learning your business | Same team, deep institutional knowledge |
| Posture | Reactive: only engaged after a problem exists | Proactive: risk reduction built in |
| Coverage | Generalist or single-discipline | Employment, labour, HR, and commercial |
| Continuity | Month-to-month uncertainty | Structured engagement with defined scope |
The question isn't whether you can afford Fractional General Counsel. It's whether you can afford not to have it.
Side by side, the numbers are clear. The most expensive model isn't the one with a monthly fee - it's the one where your team hesitates to call.
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Why Canadian Businesses Choose Achkar Law
A Team, Not a Solo Lawyer
More than 20 lawyers across Toronto, Ottawa, and Vancouver. You're never dependent on one person's availability or expertise.
Employment & Labour Is What We Do
It's not a practice area we dabble in. It's the firm's depth - recognized across Ontario and BC.
Advice From Lawyers Who've Argued the Case
Most legal advice is given by lawyers who've never been in court. Ours has. That changes the quality of the guidance.
Recognized Leadership
Best Law Firms - Best Lawyers 2026. HRD Canada Best HR Service Providers 2025. Canadian HR Reporter Excellence Award 2024 & 2025. Christopher Achkar recognized by Canadian Legal Lexpert.
Ontario and British Columbia
Licensed in both provinces, with offices in Toronto, Ottawa, and Vancouver - wherever your workforce operates.
How the Engagement Works
Free Discovery Call (30 minutes)
We talk through your organization, your team size, your current legal spend, and the issues taking up the most time. No commitment. Just clarity.
Legal Risk Assessment
We conduct a structured review of your contracts, policies, and current exposure. You receive a written summary identifying your top risks and the work that should be prioritized.
Custom Engagement Proposal
We design a fractional engagement scoped to your organization: coverage areas, response times, monthly hours, and a flat fee. No surprises.
Onboarding
Your dedicated team is introduced. Key documents and policies are reviewed. Communication channels are set up. You're operational within two weeks.
Ongoing Partnership
Monthly check-ins, quarterly risk reviews, and on-demand access for everything in between.
A Fraction of the Cost of In-House Counsel
Scoped to Your Organization. Priced Accordingly.
A full-time, senior employment lawyer in Canada costs $200,000 to $350,000+ per year - before benefits, recruiting fees, or overhead. And they still can't cover everything.
The Fractional General Counsel program gives you a full team, broader coverage, and no hiring risk, typically at a fraction of that cost. Most organizations find it pays for itself the first time it prevents a matter from escalating.
- Flat monthly fee. No surprise invoices.
- Scoped to your organization's actual size and needs
- Full team access, not a single lawyer's capacity
- No long-term lock-in. Reasonable notice periods.
- Operational within two weeks
We'll quote a flat monthly fee after the discovery call. Most organizations spend significantly less than the cost of a single in-house lawyer, and get more coverage in return.
Start the ConversationFree 30-minute discovery call. No obligation.
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1-800-771-7882You Might Be Thinking...
You don't need to be big enough to need a General Counsel. You need to be busy enough to need legal clarity on a regular basis. If your team is handling terminations, accommodations, contracts, and compliance questions - and hesitating before each one - you're already at the size where this pays for itself.
Most clients have between 10 and 500 employees. The ones who benefit most aren't the largest. They're the ones whose HR and leadership spend the most time second-guessing decisions that a 10-minute conversation would have resolved.
Having a firm you call is not the same as having legal support. One you use when it's already expensive. The other prevents it from getting there.
The research is clear: when cost-per-call shapes whether your team picks up the phone, small problems compound into large ones. A firm you hesitate to call isn't a solution - it's a gap with a phone number attached to it. The Fractional General Counsel model exists precisely because reactive, as-needed counsel is the most expensive way to manage legal risk.
You're paying for access, institutional knowledge, proactive risk reviews, and the removal of hesitation. The value shows up in what doesn't escalate.
A termination handled correctly the first time. A policy gap caught before a complaint. A contract clause reviewed before it becomes a dispute. These outcomes don't show up on an invoice - but they're the reason organizations with embedded legal support consistently spend less on legal matters than those without it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is this different from a regular law firm retainer?
A traditional retainer is just a deposit against hourly billing. The Fractional General Counsel program is a flat monthly engagement with defined scope, dedicated team, response time commitments, and proactive work built in, not just reactive billing.
What size company is this for?
Most clients are between 10 and 500 employees. Smaller companies use it as a substitute for any in-house legal function. Larger companies use it to extend their in-house team's capacity in employment, labour, and HR.
What does it cost?
Engagements are scoped to your organization. As a benchmark, most clients spend significantly less than the cost of a single in-house lawyer ($200K to $350K+ all-in) while getting access to a full team. We'll quote a flat monthly fee after the free discovery call.
Are you only employment lawyers?
Employment, labour, and human rights law is our depth. We also handle commercial litigation, contract review, and corporate commercial matters as part of fractional engagements. For highly specialized work outside our scope (tax, IP prosecution, securities), we coordinate with trusted partners.
What happens if a matter escalates to litigation?
You're already at a litigation firm. There's no handoff, no new counsel to onboard, and no loss of institutional knowledge. Your fractional team continues with you into the dispute.
Do you work with clients outside Ontario and BC?
Our lawyers are licensed in Ontario and British Columbia. For matters in other provinces, we coordinate with local counsel while remaining your point of contact and strategic lead.
How quickly can we start?
Most engagements are operational within two weeks of the discovery call.
Can we cancel?
Yes. Engagements are typically structured with reasonable notice periods rather than long lock-ins.
What is included in a quarterly risk review?
Quarterly reviews cover changes in employment law and regulation that affect your business, a review of any active matters or pending risks, policy and documentation gaps, and upcoming priorities for the next quarter. You receive a written summary with recommended actions.
The Organizations Moving Forward Are the Ones With Legal Clarity.
Book a Free Discovery Call
In 30 minutes, we'll review your current legal posture, identify the risks worth addressing now, and tell you honestly whether this program is the right fit. No pitch. No pressure. Just clarity.
1-800-771-7882- 30 minutes with a senior lawyer, not a sales rep
- No obligation. Walk away with clarity regardless.
- Most engagements are operational within two weeks
- Serving employers across Ontario and British Columbia
Book Your Discovery Call
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