Most SMEs have no in-house lawyer. The owner therefore signs customer contracts personally, answers formal notices alone and discovers the company’s terms of sale the day they have to be relied on. This is not negligence but a cost trade-off, and it stops making sense as the business grows.
The firm offers SMEs an outsourced legal department: a lawyer who knows the business, follows its contracts and partners, and is available for everyday questions, within a framework agreed in advance.
Running an SME without a legal team? Tell us about your business, its size and the documents you sign most often.
What an SME signs without always reading
A key customer’s purchase terms, which override yours. A commercial lease negotiated in a week. A subcontracting agreement that shifts all of the principal’s liability onto you. A shareholders’ agreement drafted at incorporation and never reread. Each of these documents decides what happens at the first disagreement.
French law nevertheless gives an SME real weapons. Your terms of sale are the sole basis of commercial negotiation, and you must provide them to any business buyer who asks (article L. 441-1 of the Commercial Code). Payment terms are capped by statute (article L. 441-10). Abrupt termination of an established relationship gives rise to damages (article L. 442-1). You still need up-to-date documents and someone to enforce them.
What the outsourced legal department covers
Drafting and updating terms and conditions and standard contracts, reviewing contracts proposed by customers and suppliers, following the commercial lease, answering the owner’s everyday questions, handling the first signs of a dispute (late payment, complaint, threatened termination), corporate housekeeping if you wish. If an unpaid invoice or a shareholder dispute arises, the same lawyer takes it on.
How the firm works
The starting point is a short audit of your documents: standard contracts, terms and conditions, articles, lease, main contracts in force. It leads to a list of priorities and a fee agreement setting the scope, the fees and how to reach the firm. A regular review with the owner deals with issues before they become urgent.
Typical matters
A service SME landing its first key account
The customer imposes its purchase terms, with unlimited late-delivery penalties and ninety-day payment. The firm identifies the clauses that can be negotiated, those that are unlawful and those best accepted, then prepares the reply.
Terms of sale copied from a competitor
They fit neither the business nor the applicable law. The firm rewrites them, adapts them to sales abroad and organises their effective acceptance by customers.
A key customer cutting its orders sharply
In the middle of the annual renegotiation, it halves its orders. Since the Act of 18 August 2026, a substantial reduction in order volumes in the course of negotiating a contract can engage the author’s liability (article L. 442-1 of the Commercial Code). The firm documents the relationship and prepares the formal notice.
Further reading
See outside corporate counsel and business law.
Frequently Asked Questions
From what size does an SME benefit from outsourcing its legal function?
As soon as contracts repeat and the stakes exceed what an owner can check alone: first key accounts, first foreign markets, a commercial lease, a fundraising. Hiring a full-time lawyer is not always justified; a lawyer who knows the business often is.
What exactly does the engagement cover?
Whatever the fee agreement sets: usually drafting and reviewing everyday contracts, terms and conditions, answers to day-to-day questions, follow-up of the lease and of relations with partners, and a regular review with the owner.
Does the firm replace the accountant?
No. The accountant keeps the books and prepares filings; the lawyer handles contracts, disputes and legal decisions. They work better together, and the firm is glad to coordinate with yours.
How do we avoid surprises on fees?
Through a written fee agreement, mandatory for every French avocat, signed before any cost is incurred. Fees are set case by case, according to the difficulty of the issues, their urgency, what is at stake and the work involved: there is no standard scale.
Can the firm work in English?
Yes, for contracts with foreign partners as well as exchanges with investors or a parent company.
Would you like an outsourced legal department? Tell us about your business, its size and your most frequent contracts.
Discuss your international matter
Briefly describe your situation, the documents you have and any urgency: we will tell you whether the firm can act and how the matter could be organised.