Corporate & M&A Counsel ยท Nationwide
Protect what you’re building, without the overlawyering.
Legal counsel for founders and growing companies. Ongoing counsel on a flat monthly subscription, projects priced by the deliverable, no hourly billing. Big-firm depth, plain-spoken advice, and the judgment to fix what matters and leave the rest alone.
- Rising Star, Corporate and M&A, Michigan Super Lawyers, 2021-2026
- Notable M&A Dealmaker, Crain's Detroit Business, 2025
- Detroit Elite, Corporate and M&A, The Legal 500, 2026
What I handle
The legal work behind a business that runs well.
Outside General Counsel
A day-to-day legal partner on a flat monthly fee. The in-house lawyer your business isn't ready to hire.
Explore →Private Equity
Add-on acquisitions, integration across the platform, and ongoing counsel for portfolio companies.
Explore →Mergers & Acquisitions
Buying, selling, or restructuring in the lower-middle market, with big-firm depth and none of the drag.
Explore →Behavioral Health & Healthcare M&A
Sell-side counsel for treatment providers, practices, and provider groups. The sector where much of my deal experience sits.
Explore →Commercial Contracts
Agreements your customers, vendors, and partners can actually read. Drafted, reviewed, and negotiated.
Explore →Strategic Business Planning
Legal footing for what's ahead: new lines, partners, financing, and the structure underneath them.
Explore →Business Formation & Governance
Entities, operating agreements, and the governance documents that keep ownership clean as you grow.
Explore →How I bill
Two ways to work together: flat-fee subscription or standalone project. No hourly billing. No surprises.
You’ll understand the price and any variables before the work starts. The number only moves for a reason we discussed up front, and never without your say-so. No meter runs while you think out loud. You’re paying for a formed company, a negotiated contract, a deal papered start to finish. Not the time on the clock.
An initial conversation, on the house
We talk through what you need before anyone signs anything. If I’m not the right fit, I’ll tell you.
A price per deliverable
Scoped to the work in front of us and quoted up front. You see what each piece costs, so you decide what to buy.
Ongoing counsel by subscription
Need a lawyer on call? Fractional general counsel runs on a flat monthly fee, not an hourly one.
Ongoing counsel
The lawyer you need before you can justify hiring one.
You’re growing fast enough that legal questions come up most weeks, but not so fast that a general counsel’s salary makes sense. So you loop in your hourly lawyer piece by piece, one question at a time, and nobody ends up holding the whole picture of your business.
A membership fixes that. You get a lawyer who already knows your company, a set amount of legal work each quarter, and on-call counsel for one monthly fee. Call whenever. No clock, no timesheets.
The billing is the smaller part of it. When nobody is paid by the hour, we can look ahead together: what’s coming next, what it will take, and what to handle first so the business stays protected while it grows.
Private equity sponsors use this differently. A membership covers ongoing counsel for a portfolio company and the integration work that follows an acquisition, so the platform always has a lawyer who already knows it. Add-on deals are priced on their own.
Every membership includes
- On-call counsel, with no clock running
- A set amount of legal work each quarter, used however you need it
- The same monthly fee in a busy month or a quiet one
- Room to move up or down a level as your needs change
Levels are set to what your business actually needs. Tell me what your year looks like and I’ll tell you which one fits.
Get in Touch
Vanessa L. Bailey
Founder & Managing Member
Who you’ll work with
A lawyer who has run a business too.
I spent twelve years in corporate and M&A work, including big-firm training and a partner nomination, before leaving to build a firm on my own terms. I’ve also started and run businesses of my own, so I read a contract the way you do: what does this cost me, what does it protect, and does it slow the deal down for no reason.
That’s the whole idea here. Find the risks that genuinely matter, handle them cleanly, and keep the rest out of your way.
Get in touch
Tell me what you’re working on.
A contract on your desk, a company to form, a deal in motion. The initial conversation is straightforward and on the house.
Get in Touch