In our conversations with businesses across the UK, a number of themes consistently recurred in connection with legal services. First, there was an overwhelming concern that legal advice is simply priced too high. Second, the methods used to determine the cost of legal advice – typically, time-based billing – are inflexible, promote inefficient working practices and are out of touch with the modern business world. Finally, lawyers in private practice tended to provide advice which is not always as commercially focussed as their clients would want. In some cases, recruiting an in-house lawyer can address these concerns. However, many businesses couldn’t employ a dedicated in-house lawyer and even those that do still need to supplement that capability from time to time.

We identified a clear demand for high quality and pragmatic legal advice, delivered by experienced in-house lawyers and keenly priced using a model which suited our clients. So Ortolan Legal was established to do exactly this. We employ highly experienced lawyers with considerable in-house legal experience. They get to know our clients’ businesses and they ensure that all their advice is provided on time and in a manner reflecting the commercial realities and risk profile of the matter in question. In short, they provide solutions to your problems.

When it comes to price, we ask firstly what works best for you. We are prepared to accommodate any reasonable suggestion including retainers, allowing you the flexibility of access to a lawyer throughout the year but without the costs of employing someone directly, to fixed fee arrangements. If you prefer an hourly rate, we are happy to offer that and at a level significantly lower than you might expect, but without compromising quality by using junior staff. Furthermore, we won’t add any unexpected extra costs to your bill. We take the view that phones, copying, faxes and even routine travel to your premises should form part of our overhead. That is why it’s our experience that our clients can slash the cost of their external legal advice by 50% or more while increasing their level of satisfaction at the service being provided.