About Law Soda

Why Law Soda

Law Soda is a legal management enterprise founded by Attorney Kevin F. McDaniel. Headquartered in Jonesboro, Georgia, Law Soda serves clients across the United States and internationally through remote legal services, with in-person representation as needed. Law Soda is planning a second office in Busia, Uganda, alongside the proposed KFM Films Studio, as part of its broader international expansion strategy. Law Soda was created to give startups and small and medium-sized businesses access to ongoing legal support without the cost and structure that can come with maintaining a full-time in-house legal department or relying on a traditional law firm only when a legal problem arises. Many businesses do not need a full-time attorney, but that does not mean they should have to wait until a contract needs to be signed, a dispute develops, an employee issue arises, or another legal problem becomes urgent before they have access to legal counsel.

The central idea behind the Law Soda model is that legal support can be more valuable when it is part of the business's ongoing operations. Through an ongoing relationship, an attorney can become familiar with the company's structure, contracts, operations, goals, and recurring legal needs. This allows the attorney to help address immediate matters while also identifying and addressing legal issues that may arise as the company grows. In that respect, Law Soda is designed to function as an extension of the business's team, much like having access to an in-house attorney without the expense of maintaining a full-time in-house legal position.

Outside General Counsel

Much of the work Law Soda facilitates is consistent with what businesses commonly seek from outside general counsel. Outside general counsel provides ongoing legal support to a business on a part-time or as-needed basis rather than serving as a full-time employee of the company. Depending on the business and the attorney's applicable practice areas and jurisdiction, this can include reviewing, drafting, and negotiating contracts; advising on corporate structure and governance; reviewing business policies and procedures; addressing employment-related legal questions; assisting with intellectual property matters; researching legal questions; advising on transactions and business relationships; helping management evaluate potential legal risks; participating in company meetings when legal input would be useful; and assisting with negotiations and other matters that arise during the ordinary operation of the business.

The value of this arrangement is not limited to the individual legal tasks being performed. An attorney who works with a business on an ongoing basis can develop an understanding of how the business operates and what its owners and management are trying to accomplish. That familiarity can make legal support more efficient because the attorney does not have to approach every matter as though it were the first interaction with the company. The relationship can also allow legal questions to be addressed earlier, when there may be more options available and before a relatively manageable issue develops into a substantially more expensive problem.

Law Soda works primarily through remote legal support, allowing businesses to work with attorneys without requiring the attorney to maintain a physical office in the same location as the business. When a matter requires local involvement, in-person assistance, specialized counsel, or another professional service, those needs can be coordinated as appropriate. The objective is to provide the business with access to legal support while maintaining the flexibility that makes the outside general counsel model practical for companies that are not ready to maintain a full-time legal department.

Legal Service Plans

Law Soda's legal service plans are designed to provide businesses with a predictable monthly approach to obtaining ongoing legal support. Rather than requiring a business to treat every legal question as a separate engagement and begin the relationship again each time a new issue arises, the plans are structured around an ongoing relationship with legal counsel. The business can budget for legal support as part of its ordinary operating expenses while working with its attorney to determine how the available support should be used throughout the month.

The purpose of the plans is not simply to provide a business with a predetermined number of hours that must be used without regard to priority. Legal needs naturally change from month to month, and an effective ongoing relationship allows the attorney and client to address the most pressing matters first while also planning for other work that can be handled as time permits. Depending on the business's circumstances, that work may include reviewing or preparing a contract, researching a legal question, addressing a compliance issue, reviewing corporate documents, discussing a proposed transaction, evaluating a potential dispute, preparing a business policy, assisting with an expansion, or advising management regarding a legal issue affecting the company.

The plans are month-to-month rather than long-term contracts, allowing a business to maintain ongoing support without committing to a lengthy relationship before it knows how much legal support it will need. As the business grows or its legal needs change, the business can also move to a different plan when additional support becomes appropriate. The specific services, structure, and available support associated with each plan are explained separately in the Legal Service Plans information linked at the bottom of this website's homepage.

Licensed Attorneys and Professional Independence

Legal advice and legal services are provided by licensed attorneys who maintain their professional independence and responsibility for the legal services they provide. Law Soda's attorney network allows businesses to access attorneys with different backgrounds and areas of experience while providing a consistent administrative and client-support structure around those relationships. The attorney remains responsible for providing the legal advice and services for the matter, while Law Soda provides the organizational infrastructure that helps make an ongoing legal relationship practical for the client.

The attorney providing legal services must be authorized to provide those services for the particular matter and jurisdiction involved. This is especially important for businesses that operate in multiple states or across international borders, because the legal requirements affecting a business can vary depending on the jurisdiction and the nature of the matter. Additional information about the attorney network, including the role of Network Attorneys and how the network operates, is available through the Network Attorney information linked at the bottom of this website's homepage.

Business Law and Related Areas

Law Soda focuses on business law and legal matters that directly interact with the operation, development, and growth of a business. Depending on the business's circumstances and the attorney involved, this can include corporate and business law, contracts, corporate governance, employment matters, intellectual property, tax-related business matters, international trade, and U.S. business immigration matters. These areas frequently overlap with the ordinary decisions a business must make as it develops, enters into relationships, hires people, protects its intellectual property, enters new markets, raises or deploys capital, or expands into new jurisdictions.

For international entrepreneurs and companies, legal support can also extend to planning and coordinating a U.S. business expansion. This can include matters such as business formation, contracts, office arrangements, operational planning, staffing considerations, and coordination with attorneys and other professionals in the relevant jurisdiction. A company does not necessarily have to wait until it has a large U.S. operation or a full-time American management team before beginning to establish its business presence. Depending on the circumstances, a company may be able to begin organizing its U.S. operations and addressing the legal and practical requirements of expansion while developing its longer-term plans for staffing and immigration.

Law Soda can also assist businesses that are expanding into jurisdictions where their owners or existing management are not physically present. Through its attorney network and professional relationships, Law Soda may be able to help coordinate local legal and operational matters, including matters associated with establishing an office, negotiating an office arrangement, coordinating with local professionals, and helping the business establish the foundation for its operations. Where appropriate, local attorneys and other professionals can provide the local presence necessary to assist with matters that cannot reasonably be handled remotely. The objective is to help a business make its expansion plans practical without requiring the owner to personally handle every step of the process before the business has established a local team.

When a Matter Requires Litigation or Specialized Counsel

An ongoing outside general counsel relationship does not mean that every conceivable legal matter is included within a legal service plan. General business counsel and litigation counsel serve different functions, and businesses that maintain in-house or outside general counsel commonly engage separate litigation counsel when a dispute proceeds into formal litigation. Law Soda follows the same general approach.

Outside general counsel can often play an important role before litigation becomes necessary. This may include evaluating the legal issues, reviewing and organizing documents, identifying and preserving relevant evidence, communicating with opposing counsel, negotiating a potential resolution, evaluating settlement options, participating in mediation or other forms of alternative dispute resolution, and helping the business determine whether litigation is necessary. These steps can be valuable because they may resolve a matter before litigation becomes necessary or, if litigation ultimately cannot be avoided, can leave litigation counsel with a more organized and developed matter when the case is transferred.

If litigation becomes necessary, the actual litigation and trial work would generally require a separate arrangement with outside litigation counsel rather than being treated as ordinary work under a Law Soda legal service plan. Some attorneys within the Law Soda network have litigation experience, and when appropriate, Law Soda can also help coordinate with qualified litigation attorneys outside the network. The purpose of that coordination is to make the transition as efficient as possible and, where circumstances permit, reduce the amount of duplicative work that litigation counsel must perform to understand the business, the dispute, the documents, and the underlying legal issues.

The same principle applies to other highly specialized matters, including bankruptcy and certain matters requiring specialized court representation. A business may be able to receive meaningful assistance from its general counsel in evaluating the situation, organizing information, understanding available options, and coordinating with specialized counsel, but the specialized representation itself may require a separate engagement and fee arrangement. The legal service plans are therefore intended to provide ongoing business legal support rather than unlimited representation in every type of legal proceeding.

Personal Legal Matters Outside Business Law

Law Soda's legal service plans are designed primarily to provide legal support for the business and matters related to its operations. They are not intended to function as unlimited personal legal coverage for the business owner or every legal issue that may arise in the owner's personal life. For example, a business owner may have a separate personal matter involving estate planning, a trust, a personal injury, a criminal matter, or a family-law issue. Those matters are different from providing outside general counsel to the person's business and would not ordinarily fall within the business's legal service plan.

That distinction does not mean that Law Soda cannot assist when a client has a separate legal need. Where appropriate, Law Soda may be able to coordinate a separate engagement with an attorney who can handle the particular matter. In some circumstances, the same attorney who provides business legal services may also be qualified and willing to handle a separate personal matter, while in other circumstances another attorney may be more appropriate. The important distinction is that the personal matter would be handled separately from the legal service plan established for the business.

Personal Injury Matters

Personal injury matters fall outside the business-focused legal services available through Law Soda's legal service plans. When someone contacts Law Soda about a personal injury matter, however, we may be able to help connect that person with an attorney who handles personal injury matters and can evaluate the circumstances. Rather than simply directing someone to conduct their own search, Law Soda may be able to contact attorneys with whom it has professional relationships who may be willing to discuss the matter directly with the person.

Criminal Matters

People sometimes encounter legal issues that have nothing to do with their businesses, and when that happens, Law Soda may be able to help connect someone with an appropriate criminal defense attorney who can evaluate the matter. Any such representation would be separate from the person's business legal service relationship and would be handled under a separate arrangement with the attorney providing the criminal defense representation.

Law Soda also recognizes that individuals who have completed a sentence or otherwise moved beyond a past mistake may face significant difficulties finding employment and rebuilding their lives. For some people, starting a legitimate business can provide an opportunity to become financially independent and establish a productive future. Law Soda is willing to work with people who are genuinely seeking to establish legitimate businesses and move forward in a lawful and productive direction, because helping someone build a legitimate business can be part of helping that person build a different future.

Family Law and Mediation

Many attorneys in the Law Soda Attorney Network are skilled mediators and may be able to assist couples who wish to make one final attempt at reconciliation before proceeding with a divorce. A separate agreement outside Law Soda's legal service plans would be necessary for such mediation services. Attorney-led mediation can offer a different perspective from traditional marriage counseling because, in addition to helping the couple address the issues affecting their relationship, the attorney can explain the potential legal implications of a divorce under the couple's particular circumstances and help them understand what the divorce process could involve. Having that legal perspective may help a couple make more informed decisions about whether to pursue reconciliation before moving forward with divorce.

Law Soda also provides educational resources for business owners dealing with challenges within their marriages and families, including The Marriage & Family Stability Guide for Business Owners available at our Resource Center linked at the bottom of this website's homepage. When a marriage cannot be reconciled or a matter ultimately requires divorce representation, custody representation, child support representation, or other family law services, Law Soda may be able to help connect the individual with an appropriate family law attorney. Any such representation would be separate from the business legal service plan and would be handled directly with the attorney providing those services.

Growing With Your Business

Legal expenses can become particularly difficult for startups and growing businesses when every legal question results in a separate engagement, a new intake process, and a new bill. An ongoing relationship through Law Soda's legal service plans allows the business and its attorney to develop familiarity with one another, address legal needs in a more organized manner, and keep legal costs practical and manageable. We want to become an extension of the businesses we serve and help them address legal issues before they become unnecessarily expensive or disruptive. When the relationship is a good fit, our hope is not to handle one isolated legal matter and disappear, but to grow alongside the business and provide a continuing legal resource for years to come.