An outsourced general counsel retainer gives a UAE business a senior external lawyer who knows the business and handles an agreed scope of ongoing work, typically contracts, commercial advice, compliance, board matters, employment and early disputes, for a fixed monthly fee, with larger projects quoted separately.
When ad hoc advice stops working
The signs are familiar. Contracts are signed without review because getting a lawyer involved takes too long. Each new matter goes to a different firm, which spends the first hours learning the business. Compliance obligations are tracked by whoever has time. Decisions about partners, pricing and hiring are made without anyone asking what the contracts say. At that point the business needs a general counsel, and for most it does not yet need a full-time one.
What a retainer should cover
Day-to-day contracts
Customer, supplier, partner and employment contracts, NDAs and amendments, drafted, reviewed and negotiated without a separate quote each time, plus a template library that lets the business handle routine contracts itself. See our contract drafting practice.
Commercial advice
A sounding board on pricing, channel strategy, partner selection and deal structure, with a view on what to do rather than a list of risks.
Compliance
Regulatory watch, licence renewals, data protection and, for regulated firms, AML/CFT programme maintenance and MLRO support. Our AML compliance practice covers the regulated side.
Board and shareholders
Resolutions, minutes, registers, beneficial ownership filings and advice to directors.
People
Employment contracts, policies, incentive plans, senior hires and difficult exits.
Early disputes
Letters before action, responses to claims and settlement before a disagreement becomes litigation.
What it usually excludes
Large projects with their own scope: acquisitions and fundraisings, licence applications, litigation and arbitration, restructurings. These should be quoted separately as fixed fees, with the retained lawyer coordinating so that nothing is lost between teams.
How retainers are priced
A good retainer is a fixed monthly fee for a defined scope with agreed response times. It should be set after a scoping conversation that looks at the size of the business, the volume of contracts and whether it is regulated. Be wary of retainers that are simply a block of prepaid hours: they recreate the incentive to count time rather than solve problems.
Outsourced or in-house?
A single in-house hire gives presence and familiarity, but one person cannot be expert in contracts, employment, regulation, corporate and disputes at once, and the cost includes salary, visa, benefits and recruitment. An outsourced general counsel gives a senior lead who knows the business plus a bench of specialists, at a fixed cost that scales with the business. The tipping point to in-house usually comes when the volume of day-to-day work justifies a full-time role; many businesses then keep an outsourced counsel for senior and specialist work.
How to tell if it is working
Contracts move faster. Problems are spotted before they become disputes. Management asks the lawyer before deciding, not after. The quarterly review shows a clear list of what was handled and what is coming. If none of that is happening, the scope or the adviser needs to change. Neo Legal's outsourced general counsel service starts every retainer with a legal health check for exactly this reason.
Frequently asked questions
What is a legal retainer?
A legal retainer is an ongoing arrangement under which a law firm provides an agreed scope of legal work to a business, usually for a fixed monthly fee. A general counsel retainer adds a senior lawyer who knows the business and acts as its head of legal. Neo Legal provides general counsel retainers to UAE businesses for a fixed monthly fee.
How much is a legal retainer in Dubai?
Retainer fees depend on the size of the business, the volume of contract work and whether it is regulated. Neo Legal sets a fixed monthly fee after a scoping call and does not publish fees.
When should a business hire an in-house lawyer instead?
When the volume of day-to-day legal work justifies a full-time role and the business needs someone physically present. Until then, an outsourced general counsel usually provides broader and more senior expertise at a predictable cost.
This article is general information on the position at the date shown and is not legal advice. The answer for any contract or deal depends on its terms, the parties and the governing law; speak to us before relying on it.
