Business Counsel A Lawyer On Call. Without a Lawyer on Payroll. At some point your business outgrows Googling it. You're signing contracts you only half understand. Hiring people. Taking on an investor. Arguing with a vendor who stopped returning emails. None of it feels big enough to justify a call that starts a meter running. So you guess, and deal with it later. Later is expensive. We litigate those moments for a living, and almost every one started as a five-minute question nobody wanted to pay to ask.
Free Consultation (212) 913-0217
What you actually get:
→ A fixed monthly fee, not a meter → Levi or Shaya on the phone, same day → Contract review without a new engagement → Someone who already knows your business → Litigation handled in-house if it comes
An in-house GC runs about $250,000 a year before benefits. Under fifty employees, that math never works.
Scope What We Handle as Your Outside Counsel. We become the lawyer your team calls first. The one who already knows your contracts, your cap table, your vendors, and the thing your co-founder did in 2021 that you're still cleaning up.
01 Commercial Contracts Vendor and supplier agreements, customer contracts, MSAs, NDAs, contractor agreements, leases. We draft what you need, review what you're handed, and say which terms are worth fighting over.
02 Corporate Governance Operating and shareholder agreements, board resolutions, entity formation, annual maintenance. Your records stay in the shape they need to be in the day a buyer or lender asks to see them.
03 Employment & Workforce Offer letters, employment agreements, contractor classification, confidentiality and non-compete terms under New York's current rules, handbook review, and separation agreements when someone goes.
04 Ownership & Partners Buy-sell provisions, equity grants, bringing in a new partner, structuring an exit. Ideally before it becomes the kind of dispute we litigate elsewhere on this site.
05 Dispute Prevention Demand letters, responding to the ones you receive, pre-litigation strategy, and a straight read on whether something is worth fighting. Including when it isn't.
06 Deals & Transactions Financing rounds, asset purchases, acquisitions and sales. When a deal is big enough to need its own attention, we scope it separately so it never eats your retainer.
Fit This Isn't Right for Everybody. Better to hear that now than three months into a retainer you didn't need.
Probably a fit if… → You have 5 to 100 employees and legal questions come up monthly, not annually → You're signing contracts regularly and nobody on your team is qualified to read them → You've taken outside money, or you're about to → You're in a contract-heavy industry: real estate, finance, tech, healthcare services → You've already had one legal surprise and you'd rather not have another
Probably not if… → You sign one contract a year and have no employees → You need a specialist in IP prosecution, immigration, or tax more than a generalist → You're pre-revenue and pre-hire → You already have in-house counsel handling day-to-day matters → You want a lawyer for one specific deal, not an ongoing relationship
If you're in the right column, you don't need a retainer. You need us for that one thing. We'll say so on the call.
Fees What It Costs, Before You Ask. We won't quote a number on a webpage, because it depends on how much you'll actually use us. But here's how it works, and you'll have your number before we start.
01 Monthly Retainer A fixed fee covering an agreed scope: calls, emails, routine contract review, general guidance. You know the number every month, and the reason to avoid calling disappears.
02 Hourly, Against the Retainer For work outside the routine scope. Same transparent rate, explained before we start, with a heads-up before costs move.
03 Project Fees A transaction, a policy overhaul, a specific filing. Flat where the scope is clear, so a heavy month doesn't turn into a surprise.
04 Free Initial Evaluation Every new relationship starts free. An honest read on what you need, including "not this," before you commit to anything.
Why Ainsworth Gorkin You Get Levi or Shaya. Every Time.

Business owners usually stop calling their lawyer for one reason, and it isn't the hourly rate. It's the sense that every call is being metered, and that whoever answers won't remember the last one.

We started this firm in 2019 to be the other thing. When you call, you speak with Levi Ainsworth or Shaya Gorkin, not a junior associate learning your business on your dime.

We represent businesses and their owners, and nothing else. No personal injury, no criminal defense. That focus means we've likely seen your problem before, in your industry, at your stage.

We Litigate, So We Draft Differently

Shaya heads our litigation practice. Every agreement we write is drafted by people who spend their week arguing about agreements other people wrote. We know which clauses get tested and which ones never come up, and we don't bill you for the ones that don't matter.

1
Partners Handle Your Matter DirectlyNo associates, no handoffs. Levi or Shaya works your matter start to finish.
2
A Fixed Number Every MonthYou know the retainer before we begin. No surprise bills.
3
Annoyingly AvailableWe pick up the phone. We return emails. You stop weighing whether a question is worth a call.
4
Business-Only FocusWe represent businesses and owners exclusively. That focus means deeper expertise in exactly what you face.
5
Litigation Stays In-HouseIf a matter goes to court, we handle it. No referral out, no new firm getting up to speed on your business.
★★★★★ 5.0 on Google Go Ahead, Ask Around.
★★★★★ "I hired Shaya to help defend a litigation matter. He was highly knowledgeable, responsive, reasonably priced, and efficient. I can't recommend him enough for all small business matters." — Leibel W.
★★★★★ "He's knowledgeable, professional, and always available to answer my questions. I feel confident in his ability to represent my interests, and I would not hesitate to recommend him to others." — Leah R.
★★★★★ "They demonstrated a solid understanding of the legal issues at hand and handled my case with professionalism and competence. Communication was clear, and they kept me informed throughout the process." — David G.
Read all our Google reviews → Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Attorney advertising.
Questions What People Ask Before They Sign On.
How is this different from just hiring a law firm when I need one?

Continuity and cost predictability. A firm you call twice a year bills you to relearn your business every time. Outside counsel already knows it. And because the retainer is fixed, you stop weighing whether a question is worth a phone call, which is where the expensive mistakes usually start.

Do I still need a separate firm for litigation?

No. If a dispute goes to court, we handle it. That's the practice we built the firm on. Litigation is scoped separately from the retainer, and we'll tell you upfront what it's likely to run.

Can you work alongside our existing lawyers?

Yes. Some clients keep a specialist for IP, immigration, or tax and use us for everything else. We coordinate rather than compete.

What's the minimum commitment?

We start with a three-month term so both sides can tell whether it's a fit. If it isn't, we'll say so.

We're a startup. Is this too early?

Possibly. If you haven't raised, haven't hired, and haven't signed anything significant, our startup and venture counsel work is the better entry point. Call and we'll give you a straight answer, including "not yet."

What happens if we outgrow you?

Then you hire in-house counsel, and we help you scope the role and hand off cleanly. We'd rather tell you when that moment arrives than keep billing a retainer you've outgrown.

Serving
Brooklyn Queens Manhattan
Related Practice Areas Startup & Venture Counsel → Partnership Agreements → Breach of Contract →
Let's talk before something breaks. Free consultation. No commitment. An honest answer about what you need, including whether that's us.
Schedule a Free Consultation (212) 913-0217