Fractional General Counsel for Businesses Nationwide
The General Counsel Your Business Needs, Without the Full-Time Hire
MJK Law Corp. gives growing companies an experienced general counsel without the cost of a full-time hire. Mark J. Kayton has spent more than 30 years inside businesses as general counsel and executive, handling contracts, compliance, transactions, and disputes. Get clear answers you can act on, and keep your business moving.
“He acted as a businessperson with a legal background, not just an attorney.”
— Albert Strausser, Former Chief Financial Officer, SRR Holdings, LLC
Your Legal Department, Without the Headcount
Fractional General Counsel
You need someone who knows your business, understands the legal issues in front of you, and picks up the phone when something needs attention.
MJK Law Corp. serves as fractional or outside general counsel on an ongoing or project basis. Engagements typically include:
Contracts & Commercial Agreements: Drafting, reviewing, and negotiating the agreements that keep business moving, including master service agreements, vendor and customer contracts, NDAs, and licensing.
Corporate & Transactional Matters: Corporate governance, capital formation and financing documents, commercial transactions, and support through mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and exits.
Regulatory & Compliance Counsel: Guidance on the regulations that govern your industry, including deep experience with RESPA, anti-kickback regulations, and settlement services compliance for operations spanning all 50 states.
Disputes & Litigation Management: Resolving business disputes, handling collections matters, and directing outside litigation counsel so a lawsuit stays connected to the business decisions behind it.
Counsel Who Already Knows Your Industry
I Am a Title, Settlement, or Mortgage Services Company
Mark has served as general counsel to national title, escrow, and settlement services companies, directing licensing and compliance nationally and helping to build a title insurance underwriter from formation through multi-state launch. Areas of focus include RESPA, anti-kickback compliance, affiliated business arrangements, contracts, referral relationships, claims management and regulatory examinations.
I Am a Realtor, Broker, or Homebuilder
Practical counsel for businesses that sell, develop, finance, and close real estate, including purchase and construction contracts, referral and marketing relationships, settlement services, regulatory requirements, and business disputes.
I Am a Technology, AI, or Fintech Company
Legal guidance for funded startups, emerging companies, and established technology businesses. Among other things, Mark has led an early-stage SaaS company through more than $15 million in equity and debt financing and prepared the formation and investment documents behind angel rounds for a start-up AI firm, along with the contracts, governance, and regulatory work that follows funding. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
I Am a Small or Mid-Sized Business in Another Industry
Outside counsel for manufacturers, distributors, professional service firms, construction-related businesses, logistics companies, and other established organizations with recurring contracts, collections, compliance questions, disputes, and operational legal needs.
Legal Support That Fits How You Actually Run Your Business
Whether you operate in title and settlement services, real estate, technology, fintech, or another established industry, MJK Law Corp. provides practical outside counsel for the legal issues that come with running and growing a business.
Meet Mark J. Kayton
Our Founding Attorney
Mark has spent more than 30 years working inside businesses, advising business leaders, and helping companies solve legal problems as they arise. His experience spans fractional general counsel work, corporate matters, startups, transactions, and decades in the title and settlement services industry.
MJK Law Corp. was built around a simple idea: businesses should have access to experienced, responsive legal counsel that understands both the law and the realities of running a company.
What Working With MJK Law Corp. Looks Like
Your legal counsel should make it easier to move your goals forward. We’re here to do just that.
No Message Sits Overnight
Mark does not close out a workday until every email and call received during business hours has a response, even when that response is that he needs until tomorrow to give you a real answer. Business questions usually arrive with a deadline attached, and waiting three days for counsel creates a second problem on top of the first.
You Work With Mark. Every Time
Your matter is never handed off to an associate. Mark gets to know the business, understands the issue in context, and stays focused on the decisions that actually need to be made.
More Than 30 Years, Three State Bars
More than 30 years of legal, operational, and entrepreneurial experience inform every matter. Mark is admitted to practice in California, Florida, and Washington, and brings deep knowledge of title, settlement, mortgage, regulatory, and general business issues.
Getting Started With MJK Law Corp.
Step 1
Tell Us About Your Business
Reach out through the website and give us a little context about your company and the legal matter you would like to discuss.
Step 2
Speak With Mark
We will follow up to learn more, ask the right questions, and determine where MJK Law Corp. can help.
Step 3
Decide How We Work Together
Depending on your needs, that may mean ongoing fractional general counsel, a specific project, or legal support on an hourly or flat-fee basis.
Representative Matters
Results depend on the facts and law of each matter. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Structuring Affiliated Service Businesses to Preserve Qualified Mortgage Status
A mortgage lender wanted to launch affiliated insurance and title agencies without pushing its loans over the Qualified Mortgage points-and-fees cap. We designed a voting and non-voting ownership structure so the agencies' fees stay outside the calculation.
Obtaining Regulatory Approval for a First-of-Its-Kind Insurance Product
While serving as an insurance executive, Mark won reclassification as permissible P&C insurance for a first-of-its-kind negative equity policy that one regulator had classified as restricted financial guaranty insurance, through written submissions and direct meetings with department staff.
Clearing a Stalled Equity Round by Exposing an Expired Lien
A secured creditor threatened to foreclose on an early-stage FinTech company in the middle of its first institutional equity round. By showing that the creditor's UCC-1 filing had lapsed, Mark, as General Counsel, neutralized the threat, negotiated a debt extension, and got the round closed.
FAQs
The cost depends on the amount and type of legal support your business needs. MJK Law Corp. can work on a flat-fee or hourly basis, depending on the engagement. A company with recurring contract and compliance needs may require a different arrangement than one bringing us in for a specific transaction or project. We will discuss the expected scope of work and fee structure before moving forward.
No. MJK Law Corp. can assist with a specific contract, transaction, compliance matter, dispute, or other defined project. For businesses with recurring legal needs, the relationship can become more ongoing. Over time, we get to know the company, its operations, and the issues that tend to come up, allowing us to serve as a long-term legal resource rather than starting from scratch each time.
A good time is when a legal question starts affecting a business decision. That could be before signing an important agreement, entering a new commercial relationship, changing a business structure, responding to a dispute, or moving into an area with regulatory implications. Bringing counsel in earlier often gives the business more options than waiting until an agreement has been signed or a problem has escalated.
Same business day. Mark does not close out a workday until every email and message has a response. On a day taken up by a closing, an all-day negotiation, or back-to-back client meetings, that response may be a short acknowledgment with a time for the fuller answer, but you will hear back before the day ends. Business questions usually arrive with a deadline attached, and waiting several days for counsel creates a second problem on top of the first. The goal is a legal resource you can actually reach when a decision needs to be made.
Let’s Talk About Your Business’s Legal Needs
Tell us more about your company, the issues you’re dealing with, or what kind of legal support you’re looking for. Whether you need help with a specific project or an ongoing legal resource, we’ll review your information and be in touch.