Before joining R. Reese & Associates, I was the VP of Land and Legal at a private equity-backed asset management company. In that role, I effectively served as the general counsel and the entire legal department for several smaller portfolio and client companies. After we successfully packaged and sold off the underlying assets, I had to start searching for my next job.

I found the role of general counsel for these smaller companies to be both challenging and rewarding. There was a lot I could handle on my own, but I often needed to rely on specialty counsel when I lacked bandwidth or expertise. It wasn’t practical or cost-effective to hire additional full-time attorneys, but I had to carefully manage outside counsel to keep spending under control. I had thoroughly enjoyed this job, and it occurred to me that there was likely a significant underserved market of companies without a general counsel or who had a legal department that was stretched thin and pressured by budget constraints. That was something I believed I could help with by acting as a fractional general counsel or an extension of existing legal departments to cost-effectively ease the legal burden without becoming a strain on resources. My experience in the industry would allow me to take a commercial approach to legal matters, meeting my clients where they are and aligning legal outcomes with their objectives.

So, as my prior role was winding down, everyone who asked me, “What’s next for you?” got an answer in line with my thoughts above. Almost universally, the response was “Oh, you mean like Rachel Reese?”

After meeting with Rachel and hearing that our vision aligned, I joined R. Reese & Associates. The firm’s slogan: “We help build our clients’ businesses so their executives can sleep at night” resonated deeply with me. This is exactly what I was hoping to deliver and to pursue in my career.

I now lead our Outsourced Legal Department team, and, as articulated above, our goal is to meet clients where they are, understand their business, and become a trusted part of their team. For our clients without in-house counsel, we are the first call for legal matters, whether that is transactions, commercial contracts, land matters, disputes, or general legal questions. For our clients with general counsel or a fully staffed legal department, we serve as an extension of that department, providing an overflow option when bandwidth is tight and handling matters that align better with our skill set.

We keep our rates very reasonable and operate lean to ensure we are a value-added, trusted resource for our clients. To learn more about what RR&A can do for your company and your legal needs, don’t hesitate to reach out.

We joke that we are “Outhouse Counsel”, but it is a surprisingly apt phrase. We want to be your in-house counsel or a trusted member of your in-house legal team…we just do it from out of your office.