# Fractional IP counsel for growing companies

> Fractional IP counsel on a monthly plan. Patents, trademarks, contracts, investor matters and disputes from one firm, for one predictable fee.

Page: https://arapackelaw.com/counsel-on-demand/  
Title: Fractional IP Counsel for Growing Companies | Rapacke Law Group  
Breadcrumb: [Home](https://arapackelaw.com/) / [Startup legal services](https://arapackelaw.com/startups/) / [Fractional IP counsel](https://arapackelaw.com/counsel-on-demand/)

Ongoing IP and business legal help without the cost of in-house counsel. Pick a plan sized to your stage, and one firm covers contracts, investors, patents, trademarks and disputes.

- Monthly plans, quoted before work begins
- No hourly billing
- IP and business law in one firm

## For companies that need a lawyer every month, not every year.

Whether you are an entrepreneur, a growing startup or an established company, a plan gives you counsel on call without a full-time salary.

- **Founders before a raise** Formation, trademarks, founder stock and the first customer and employee agreements in one package.
- **Funded startups** Frequent hiring, IP development and contract negotiation, with a lawyer who already knows the company.
- **Scaling companies** IP enforcement, litigation, larger contracts and negotiations handled for you.
- **Teams with in-house counsel** Patent, trademark and IP depth that a generalist legal team rarely has.

## Counsel standing behind your company.

A Fractional IP Counsel plan covers the legal work a growing company runs into every month, from one firm that already knows your business.

### What a plan covers

- **Legal counsel** A lawyer to call before decisions, not after them.
- **Contracts and agreements** Customer, vendor, employment and partner agreements, drafted and reviewed.
- **Investor relations and legal opinions** Investor questions, diligence requests and opinions.
- **Patents, trademarks and enforcement** Patent prosecution, trademarks, cease and desist letters, litigation and enforcement.

### Agreed separately

- **Work beyond the plan** Larger matters are quoted as a flat fee before they start.
- **Government and court fees** USPTO, state filing and court fees are paid at cost.
- **Out-of-scope disputes** Litigation that needs a separate engagement is scoped on its own.
- **Work you never asked for** Nothing is added to your bill without your approval.

Every plan and every larger matter is quoted before work begins. Our team includes James Stark, Attorney of Counsel, a business attorney who serves as general outside counsel for companies.

## What is fractional IP counsel?

Fractional IP counsel is an outside firm that acts as your company’s IP and legal team part time, usually for a monthly fee. You get the judgment of counsel who knows your business and its IP, without an in-house hire or paying a law firm by the hour for every question.

### What fractional IP counsel does

- **Reviews contracts** before you sign them, and keeps your templates current.
- **Answers the daily questions,** from hiring and equity to a customer dispute.
- **Protects the IP,** with patents, trademarks and the assignments that prove ownership.
- **Prepares for investors,** with clean records, diligence answers and legal opinions.
- **Spots risk early,** before a letter, a regulator or a lawsuit makes it expensive.

### When a startup needs one

Usually when legal questions arrive every week, not every quarter. Common signs are steady hiring, a pipeline of customer contracts, an upcoming raise, IP worth protecting, or a first dispute. Before that, a single flat-fee package often covers the basics.

More on building the legal side of a software company in [the legal playbook by a SaaS lawyer](https://arapackelaw.com/startups/saas-lawyer-legal-playbook/), and on [what a flat-fee IP attorney costs](https://arapackelaw.com/intellectual-property/flat-fee-ip-attorney/).

## Fractional counsel, in-house or hourly. How they compare.

Each fits a different stage. The difference is cost, availability and how well the lawyer knows your business.

*Fractional IP counsel, in-house counsel and hourly outside counsel compared*

|  | Fractional IP Counsel | In-house counsel | Hourly outside counsel |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| How you pay | A set monthly fee | Salary, benefits and overhead | By the hour, for every call and email |
| Knows your business | Yes, month after month | Yes | Only what each matter needs |
| IP depth | Patent and trademark attorneys in the same firm | Depends on the hire | Depends on the firm |
| Predictable cost | Yes | Yes, but high | No |
| Where it fits | Startups and growing companies | Companies with constant legal volume | Occasional, one-off matters |

## Monthly IP plans for startups.

Built for startups that need patentability searches and trademark filings on a steady cadence, at 20% below what the same work costs at our flat fees.

Compare every detail on the [IP plans page](https://arapackelaw.com/ip-plans/).

## One flat fee, quoted before work begins.

There is no hourly billing. Your plan is quoted as a flat fee on your strategy call, once the scope is clear, and nothing starts until you approve it.

What sets the fee is the work itself, not the time on the clock.

- **Your stage.** A one-time startup package or a monthly plan.
- **Monthly volume.** How much legal work you expect each month.
- **The mix of work.** Contracts, investor matters, IP and disputes.

Ongoing work for a growing company can run on a monthly [Fractional IP Counsel](https://arapackelaw.com/counsel-on-demand/) plan instead of one fee per document. This service is not covered by The RLG Guarantee, which applies to patentability searches, provisional patents, design patents and trademarks.

## From first call to counsel on call.

What happens at each step and who does the work.

1. **Strategy call** (Day one). Free. Walk us through the deal, the documents or the problem.
2. **Scope and flat fee** (Flat fee). What the work covers and its price, in writing, before it begins.
3. **Onboarding**. We learn the company, its documents and what is coming next.
4. **Monthly work**. Questions answered and documents drafted as they come up.
5. **Review the plan**. Move up, down or to a custom plan as the company changes.

## Questions about fractional IP counsel.

### What is fractional IP counsel?

An outside firm that acts as your company’s IP and legal team part time, usually for a monthly fee. It gives a growing company ongoing judgment from counsel who knows the business and its IP, without a full-time hire.

### What do the Fractional IP Counsel plans include?

A one-time Startup package covers formation and the first documents, and monthly Angel, Series A, Series B and IPO plans cover ongoing work. A custom plan is available too.

### How much does fractional IP counsel cost?

With us, each plan is quoted on your strategy call before any work begins, based on your stage and how much legal work you expect each month. There is no hourly billing, and larger matters outside the plan are quoted as a flat fee first.

### When does a company need fractional IP counsel?

When legal questions come up every week. Steady hiring, a stream of customer contracts, a fundraise, valuable IP or a first dispute are the usual signs. Many companies use fractional counsel for years before hiring in-house.

### Is fractional IP counsel the same as outside general counsel?

Close. Both describe an outside lawyer acting for the company on an ongoing basis. Fractional IP counsel puts the IP at the center and usually means a set share of the firm’s time on a monthly plan, rather than billing each matter separately.

### Will I still need other lawyers?

Sometimes. Specialized matters, such as a large litigation or a regulatory question outside our practice, may need separate counsel. We tell you when that is the case, and we coordinate with them.

### Can I cancel a monthly plan?

Yes. Monthly plans can be cancelled at any time. The terms, including notice, are in your engagement letter before you start.

### Does Fractional IP Counsel include patents and trademarks?

Yes. Patent prosecution, trademarks, cease and desist letters and enforcement are among the services plans cover. Filing fees charged by the USPTO are paid at cost.

## Your attorneys

- [Andrew Rapacke](https://arapackelaw.com/learn-more/the-team/andrew-rapacke/), Managing Partner, Registered Patent Attorney. Former Naval Engineering Officer. M.S. in electrical and electronics engineering.

Meet the team at https://arapackelaw.com/learn-more/the-team/

## More in Startup legal services

- [Startup legal services](https://arapackelaw.com/startups/)
- [Business formation and structure](https://arapackelaw.com/business-formation-and-structure/)
- [Contracts and agreements](https://arapackelaw.com/contracts-agreements/)
- [Cease and desist letters](https://arapackelaw.com/cease-desist-letters/)
- [FDA regulatory compliance](https://arapackelaw.com/fda-regulatory-compliance/)
- [Fundraising agreements](https://arapackelaw.com/fundraising-agreements/)
- [IP licensing agreements](https://arapackelaw.com/intellectual-property-licensing-agreements/)
- [Non-disclosure agreements](https://arapackelaw.com/non-disclosure-agreements-ndas/)
- [Privacy and data protection](https://arapackelaw.com/privacy-and-data-protection/)
- [Technology transfer agreements](https://arapackelaw.com/technology-transfer-agreements/)

## Go deeper on running the legal side.

- [Don’t Scale Without It: The Legal Playbook (By a SaaS Lawyer)](https://arapackelaw.com/startups/saas-lawyer-legal-playbook/)
- [What is a Legal Opinion and Why Do VCs Require Them?](https://arapackelaw.com/venture-capital/what-is-a-legal-opinion/)
- [Why Every CEO and General Counsel Should Be Considering Fixed-Fee IP Services](https://arapackelaw.com/intellectual-property/ceo_generalcounsel_fixedfee_ip/)

[All startup articles](https://arapackelaw.com/category/startups/)

## Next steps

- [Book a free strategy call](https://arapackelaw.com/contact-us/) with a registered patent attorney, or call (954) 951-0154
- [Take the Intelligent IP Quiz](https://arapackelaw.com/intelligent-ip-quiz/) to see what to protect first
- [The RLG Guarantee](https://arapackelaw.com/rlg-guarantee/), the refund promise on four services

General information, not legal advice.