Retainers, outside counsel, and work that does not fit a standard engagement.

Whatever we agree in writing before it starts. Usually it is the advice a business needs regularly and cannot justify hiring for: the questions that come up in a week, reviewing what someone is about to sign, and being reachable when something happens. Litigation is not included unless the retainer says so.

It depends on what you want covered and how much of it there is, so we scope it with you. We agree the fee in writing before anything starts, and we say what falls outside the retainer and how that would be charged.

Acting for two businesses in the same sector is not by itself a conflict. The test the rules apply is whether, for one client, it would be our duty to fight for a position that it is our duty to oppose for another. Where that is so we cannot act for both except with the written informed consent of everyone concerned, given after we have disclosed the facts. We run that check before taking anything on, and we ask you to hold back documents until it is done.

Special projects is where those matters go. Some sit across several practice areas at once and need one team holding the whole picture, and some are unusual. Tell us what happened and we will tell you whether we can take it on.

We conduct internal investigations and advise the body that has to decide afterwards. What is asked, of whom, in what order, and what is recorded all determine whether the conclusion will hold if it is challenged, so involve us before the first interview.

We review what you collect, why, who can reach it, how long you keep it, and what your contracts with suppliers say about it, and we tell you where the gaps are. If a breach has already happened, the first hours matter, so call before deciding on your own whether it is reportable.

Often, substantially. Cooperatives, foundations, associations, schools, and religious and non-profit organizations answer to different rules, different regulators, and different internal constitutions from a stock corporation, and governance advice written for a company can be wrong for them. We review the documents that govern your organization.

Yes. A defined project with a defined scope and a defined end is a normal way to work with us: an audit, a single mandate, a piece of work with a deadline.