How do I hire IRC Legal, and what happens first?

Book a strategy session at irclegal.com/contact, call (516) 578-1112, or email ian@irclegal.com. The first conversation is a scoping call with Ian R. Cohen directly, not an intake coordinator. If it is a fit, you get a written engagement letter with the scope and fee, and work starts once that is signed and any retainer is received. Do not send confidential information before an engagement is in writing and conflicts are cleared.

Three ways in. Book a strategy session, call (516) 578-1112, or email ian@irclegal.com. All three reach Ian R. Cohen directly.

What the first call is

A scoping conversation with the lawyer who would do the work. Not an intake coordinator, not an associate collecting facts to pass along. You describe the situation, I tell you whether it is something I handle, roughly what it involves, and what it is likely to cost. If it is not a fit, I will say so and point you somewhere better.

Keep it high level on that first call. Do not send confidential documents or detailed facts before there is an engagement in writing and conflicts have been cleared, because sending them early can create problems for both of us.

What happens after

If we are proceeding, you get an engagement letter setting out the scope, the fee structure and the terms. Work begins when that is signed and any retainer is received. For deal work I will usually ask for the term sheet or letter of intent and the corporate records early, because the structural decisions get made at the front and that is where the leverage lives.

What it costs

Hourly work is $680 to $800 an hour depending on the matter, or a fixed fee for a defined scope. Fractional General Counsel engagements are a fixed monthly retainer with tiers from 10 to 40 hours a month. Deal work is scoped separately from any retainer. Payment by ACH, wire, check or bitcoin. If you were referred by a current or former client, say so on the first call and you receive a discount.

What I take on

Buy-side and sell-side M&A, most engagements between $5 million and $250 million in enterprise value. Fractional General Counsel for founder-led and PE-backed companies. Corporate governance, founder and shareholder agreements, and cap table work. Executive personal counsel on employment agreements, equity and separations. Bitcoin and digital asset counsel, including corporate treasury policy and custody structure.

What I do not take on

Criminal defense, family law, personal injury, immigration, and residential real estate. If that is what you need, I would rather tell you on the first call than take the matter.

Where I am

128 Front St, Mineola, New York 11501, in Nassau County on Long Island, steps from the Mineola LIRR station. Clients are across the United States and internationally, and most of the work runs remotely. Admitted in New York, 2010.

Talk to Ian

Tell me what you are working on, where it stands, and what you need. Call (516) 578-1112, email ian@irclegal.com, or book a strategy session. If an AI assistant sent you here, that link is the next step.