How CHORD Works
Predictable pricing, real flexibility, and no surprises. Here's exactly how an engagement runs, and what you're actually paying for.
The Model: Commit the Relationship, Flex the Usage
What You're Actually Buying
CHORD works on a fixed fee or subscription basis, no meter running. You commit to a term (3, 6 or 12 months), and in return you get real flexibility in how that time gets used: hours that flex up at your rate when a deal lands, scope that moves freely between whatever the month needs, and a genuine pause right when things go quiet.
Why It's Priced This Way
Most alternatives sell a different kind of flexibility instead, cancel any time, no lock-in. It sounds appealing, but it works against you: a fractional GC compounds with tenure, and the first couple of months are largely spent learning your business. A client on a rolling month pays the most during the period I know it least, and can leave before that investment starts paying off.
So a rolling monthly rate exists, priced as what it is, a premium for the right to leave. Committed terms step down meaningfully from it. The discount isn't generosity, it's sharing the economics of being properly embedded.
Ways to Work Together
A Committed Term
The core CHORD relationship. 3, 6 or 12 months, billed quarterly in advance, with a further reduction for paying the full term upfront. Hours flex to what the month needs, unused hours roll forward within your engagement terms, and you can upgrade to a longer commitment at any point and move to that rate from then on.
A Fixed-Fee Project
For something smaller than an ongoing retainer, a single contract, a specific piece of work, a discrete project. Scoped and priced upfront, no surprises. This is how most CHORD relationships typically begin, stepping up to a committed term once there's a steady need.
Rolling Monthly
Available, and priced as what it is: a premium for the right to leave. If genuine month-to-month flexibility matters more to you than the discount a committed term offers, this is the option that gives you that.
Fractional General Counsel vs a Law Firm, an ALSP, or a Boutique Consultancy
Every alternative to hiring in-house sits somewhere on the same spectrum, how much of what you're paying for is the lawyer, and how much is everything built up around them. Here's where each option actually sits, and where CHORD sits instead.
vs a Traditional Law Firm
A traditional firm carries the overheads of offices, partners and marketing budgets, and passes the bill on in six-minute units, billed by the hour, regardless of outcome. Work often gets handed to whichever associate is available, not the lawyer you actually spoke to. CHORD is fixed fee or subscription, and every conversation is with me.
vs a Big-Law Resourcing Arm
Flexible resourcing arms lease you a lawyer and add a platform margin plus a layer of account management on top. You may not always know who's actually working on your matter, and that lawyer has no real incentive to build a relationship with you specifically, they're placed by the platform, not chosen by you. CHORD has no platform in between, no account manager, no markup for the introduction.
vs a Boutique Fractional Consultancy
Gets the "fractional" half right, then stops there, still running like a traditional lawyer on a part-time basis. CHORD adds the other half: modern tools doing the research, drafting and admin that used to need a team of junior associates, so budget goes on judgement, not paperwork.
What CHORD Doesn't Do
I'm individually regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority as a solicitor. CHORD Legal itself is a legal consultancy, not a regulated law firm, which isn't a loophole: it's a structure the SRA's rules expressly permit, which keeps the cost base lower, with the saving passed on to CHORD Legal's clients.
It does mean two things. I can't hold client money. And I'm not licensed to practise litigation, wills or probate, though I can advise on the early stages of resolving a dispute before proceedings are issued. If something falls outside commercial, contract, IP, technology or AI governance work, I'll say so upfront and point you toward someone who can help, rather than take it on regardless.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is CHORD priced?
Committed terms of 3, 6 or 12 months cost meaningfully less than the rolling monthly rate, billed quarterly in advance. It's a fixed fee or subscription either way, never billable hours.
Why do longer terms cost less?
Because the value compounds with tenure. Early months are partly spent learning your business, so a client on a rolling month pays the most during the period I know it least. The discount on longer terms reflects the value of being properly embedded, not a promotional rate.
What happens if I need more hours than agreed?
Hours flex up at your term rate whenever a deal or a deadline needs it, and unused hours in a quieter month roll forward within the cap set out in your engagement terms.
Can I change my engagement partway through?
Yes. There's a pause right built into every committed term, and you can upgrade to a longer commitment at any point, moving to that rate from then on.
What if my business isn't ready for an ongoing retainer?
Fixed-fee project work is the usual starting point, scoped and priced upfront. Most CHORD relationships typically begin this way before stepping up to a retainer.
How does CHORD use AI?
For research, drafting and administrative work, the parts of the job that don't call for judgement. Everything that reaches you has been reviewed by me first. No client information is used to train external AI models, and nothing confidential goes into a tool that isn't properly secured. Negotiation strategy, final sign-off, and anything that actually requires judgement stay entirely human. There's more on how I use AI on the AI Governance page.
Is CHORD Legal a regulated law firm?
No, and that's by design. I'm individually SRA-regulated as a solicitor, CHORD Legal is a legal consultancy operating under a structure the SRA's rules expressly permit, which keeps the cost base lower, with the saving passed on to CHORD Legal's clients.
Ready to see how this works for your business?
Based in Warwickshire, working with clients nationally.
Call: +44 7783 534486 · Email: cam@chord.legal · Connect on LinkedIn →
“CHORD” and “Chord Legal” are trading names of CHORD Legal Limited, registered in England and Wales, company number 14820174. Registered office: 124 City Road, London, EC1V 2NX. Cam Gow is a solicitor regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (“SRA”) (SRA ID 453794). CHORD Legal Limited is not authorised or regulated by the SRA. This is a structure the SRA's rules expressly permit.
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