Lawyer
Trần Việt Tùng
Managing Partner
Civil & Corporate
10 years of experience
Outsourced Legal Department for Companies in Vietnam
Justix provides an outsourced legal department for companies operating in Vietnam. The service combines day-to-day legal advice with organised legal work across contracts, governance, employment, receivables and business compliance. The engagement includes a request-tracking process, defined deliverables and periodic reporting within an agreed scope. The service suits Vietnamese businesses, foreign-invested companies and overseas headquarters seeking coordinated legal support for their Vietnam operations. The publicly stated service fee range is VND 15–30 million per month; work volume, response arrangements, exclusions and the final quotation are agreed in writing.
Who this service is for
- Foreign-invested companies operating in Vietnam that need Vietnamese-law advice coordinated with overseas management or regional counsel.
- Vietnamese SMEs with repeated contract, employment, receivables and internal governance matters but no dedicated legal department.
- Growing businesses adding staff, branches, distributors or suppliers and needing consistent documents and approval procedures.
- Companies with an existing legal or administrative officer that require lawyer-led review of complex matters or extra capacity.
- Management teams that need a traceable process for legal requests, decisions and outstanding issues rather than occasional verbal advice.
- Businesses assessing whether an outsourced legal function is more suitable than a stand-alone hourly advisory package.
Common problems we solve
Head office cannot obtain a reliable view of Vietnamese legal risks
A foreign parent receives fragmented updates from finance, HR and sales in Vietnam. Material contract amendments and approvals are not documented consistently, making it difficult for management to decide which issues require attention.
Contract terms are negotiated without operational review
Sales and purchasing teams agree to delivery dates, acceptance criteria, penalties or credit terms without checking how their departments can perform those commitments. Disputes then arise from documents that do not reflect actual operations.
Employment documents and management practices have diverged
The workforce has grown, but employment contracts, internal policies, authorisations and termination processes have been updated at different times. Managers need a coordinated review before applying new procedures.
Unpaid invoices are discovered too late
A business has outstanding receivables, but customer correspondence, delivery confirmations, invoices and payment evidence are held by different teams. Legal involvement begins only after evidence has become difficult to retrieve.
No one maintains a calendar of recurring legal obligations
A company holds licences, handles customer or employee data and may have investment or employment-related filings. Each team follows its own deadlines, leaving management without one consolidated list of legal tasks.
Internal legal staff cannot cover every specialised matter
The existing team handles routine administration but requires outside counsel for substantial contracts, complex labour situations or an emerging dispute. The work needs clear allocation rather than duplicate reviews.
Legal questions have no agreed priority or owner
Employees submit requests through multiple channels with incomplete documents. Urgent matters compete with routine drafting, and management cannot see what was completed, what is pending and why.
What Justix does for you
- 01
Initial legal workplan and risk mapping: Review key business processes, documents and upcoming decisions; agree on a prioritised register of legal matters and responsible company contacts.
- 02
Commercial contracts and negotiations: Draft or review agreed customer, supplier, distribution, service and confidentiality agreements; identify legal positions requiring commercial approval.
- 03
Management and departmental legal advice: Advise directors and designated departments on the Vietnamese-law implications of decisions; provide written opinions for significant or record-sensitive matters.
- 04
Corporate governance and employment support: Review internal decisions, delegations, policies, employment documentation and compliance procedures within the agreed engagement.
- 05
Receivables, claims and pre-dispute work: Assess available documents, draft notices and responses, and support early-stage negotiations or dispute strategy where included.
- 06
Regulatory changes and staff guidance: Monitor legal developments directly relevant to the identified operations and provide targeted guidance or training according to an agreed plan.
- 07
Request management and reporting: Maintain a matter list showing priorities, responsible contacts, requested decisions, deliverables and unresolved items; report progress on an agreed schedule.
What you receive
- An initial legal workplan identifying priority issues, required documents and company contacts.
- Reviewed contracts, drafted clauses, written advice and other agreed legal documents for individual requests.
- A matter register or work tracker with status, pending inputs, key risks and decisions required from management.
- Selected templates, governance documents or operating guidance produced within the agreed work scope.
- Periodic reports covering completed work, outstanding issues, risks and proposed next actions.
- A separate scope and fee proposal for litigation, major transactions, specialist licensing or other matters outside the monthly engagement.
Team in charge
Thạc sĩ Luật
Nguyễn Phúc Mạnh
Trưởng Phòng Pháp chế & Hợp đồng
Tư vấn doanh nghiệp, hợp đồng
10 years of experience
Jurist
Trần Thanh Nhàn
Head of Corporate Legal Department – Licensing and Administrative Procedures
Intellectual Property & Corporate
9 years of experience
How it works
- 1
Step 1 — Assess operations and legal workload
Discuss the company structure, sector, contract volume, employee matters and current legal responsibilities. Identify urgent issues and the likely recurring workload.
- 2
Step 2 — Agree service scope and working rules
Set the included work types, monthly capacity or limits, responsible contacts, priority categories, response expectations, reporting frequency, fees and exclusions in writing.
- 3
Step 3 — Receive records and establish the work register
Review essential corporate and contractual records, register immediate requests and agree how confidential documents and approvals will be exchanged.
- 4
Step 4 — Deliver advice and legal documents
Handle agreed requests in priority order. The company supplies relevant facts, reviews recommendations and approves business decisions or documents through authorised persons.
- 5
Step 5 — Report and adjust priorities
Provide a periodic record of completed work, unresolved matters and approaching deadlines; consider scope adjustments if the number or complexity of requests changes.
What you need to prepare
- Enterprise registration information, ownership and management structure, and details of designated contact persons.
- Existing material contracts, standard templates, internal regulations and approval or signing authority documents.
- A list of current or anticipated legal requests, including the decisions and dates involved.
- Relevant correspondence and records for receivables, complaints, employment matters or potential disputes.
- Information on business licences, recurring reporting obligations and planned changes in operations.
- Applicable group policies or instructions from overseas headquarters, where relevant to the Vietnam entity.
Timeline
The outsourced legal department operates on a monthly engagement or another contract period agreed by the parties.
There is no single statutory turnaround time applicable to every legal advice request. Response arrangements should be agreed by category, such as routine advice, contract reviews and urgent matters. A response acknowledgement, a preliminary assessment and a completed legal document may require different timelines. Where essential facts or approvals are missing, the parties should identify the outstanding inputs before setting the completion date. The monthly service does not automatically mean round-the-clock availability or unlimited work. Any out-of-hours work, on-site sessions or urgent escalation must be expressly agreed.
Fees
Publicly stated fee: VND 15–30 million per month. The actual quotation depends on the type of legal work, workload, the number of departments involved and any specialist requirements. The engagement specifies what is included, capacity or utilisation rules where applicable, how extra requests are approved, the reporting and payment arrangements, and whether VAT and disbursements are included. Court or arbitration representation, substantial transactions, due diligence, specialised licences and third-party expenses are quoted separately unless specifically included in writing. Justix will not treat the published range as a promise of unrestricted legal services.
How our fees workA company operating in Vietnam may need legal input when negotiating a supplier contract, dismissing an employee, responding to a customer complaint or preparing a management decision. When these matters involve several departments, isolated legal answers are often insufficient: management also needs to know what has been approved, who will implement the advice and which risks remain open.
Justix's outsourced legal department service is intended for recurring work of this kind. It combines legal advice with a workplan, allocation of requests, document review and progress reporting. The agreed service scope determines what is handled as monthly work and what requires a separate engagement.
When is an outsourced legal department suitable?
The model is suitable where legal issues arise regularly and require coordination between sales, finance, operations, HR and management. It can also support a foreign-invested subsidiary that must explain Vietnam-specific legal risks to its overseas headquarters.
A business with only occasional questions may be better served by an hourly legal advice arrangement. A company already employing lawyers may instead use Justix for specialist matters, complex contracts or periods of high workload.
How monthly legal work is organised
At the outset, the company identifies its main products or services, typical contracts, employee structure, approval procedures and pending matters. Justix and the company agree which workstreams require continuing support and which projects should be managed separately.
A shared request register records the issue, documents supplied, priority, responsible contact, advice delivered and next decision required. This helps managers distinguish between work completed by counsel and actions still awaiting the company's approval.
Contract review must be linked to actual performance
For a sales or procurement agreement, legal review should address the transaction rather than isolated clauses. Delivery or service milestones, acceptance evidence, pricing changes, payment deadlines, remedies and dispute resolution terms should be consistent with the way the business operates.
Justix may prepare drafting comments, propose alternative clauses or support negotiation within the agreed scope. Commercial concessions, financial risk appetite and final contract approval remain decisions for the company.
Corporate governance, employment and compliance
Changes in management authority, hiring practices, employee records, internal decisions and business licences may create recurring legal tasks. Justix can help identify which documents need review and provide drafting or legal advice for the matters included in the engagement.
Where employee or customer data is involved, the company should assess applicable personal data obligations. Vietnam's Law on Personal Data Protection No. 91/2025/QH15 took effect on 1 January 2026. A full data compliance programme or specialist assessment should be separately scoped if the work is substantial.
Receivables, complaints and potential disputes
A timely review of invoices, acceptance records, correspondence and payment obligations may help the business prepare a reasoned demand or response before a dispute escalates. Justix can assess the available materials, identify missing evidence and assist with the agreed pre-dispute documents or negotiations.
Proceedings before courts or arbitral tribunals are handled under a separate scope unless specifically included in the engagement.
Fees, working arrangements and exclusions
Justix currently publishes a monthly fee range of VND 15–30 million for the outsourced legal department. The final fee depends on expected workload, complexity, participating departments and any agreed service limits.
The engagement should identify response categories, channels, working hours, utilisation or workload limits where applicable, reporting frequency and rules for approving additional fees. There is no general promise of unlimited assignments or 24-hour service. Under Articles 55 and 56 of Vietnam's Law on Lawyers, legal remuneration and related costs are determined using permitted fee methods and the parties' engagement agreement.
Documents needed to assess the service scope
A practical starting point is a brief description of the business, its main contracts, departments requiring support, recent legal matters and upcoming deadlines. Justix can use this information to propose priority workstreams, the collaboration process and a written fee quotation.
For occasional advice limited to individual issues, see Justix's monthly legal advisory service. For an external function that also plans, coordinates and tracks legal work, the outsourced legal department is the more relevant service.
Frequently asked questions
Is an outsourced legal department different from a monthly legal advice package?
Yes. A recurring advice package mainly addresses individual legal questions and document reviews within purchased hours. An outsourced legal department adds planned legal work, coordination across departments, a matter register and periodic follow-up within its agreed scope.
Can a foreign-invested company use this service for its Vietnam subsidiary?
Yes. The company can designate a local point of contact and, where appropriate, an overseas management contact. Justix advises on Vietnamese law and helps record issues and decisions relevant to Vietnam operations. Cross-border or foreign-law advice requires a separately defined scope.
Does the retainer include unlimited contracts and legal requests?
No. The included types of work and any hours, volumes or complexity limits are defined in the engagement. For significant additional work, Justix will explain the implications and obtain approval before proceeding.
Is the monthly fee VND 15–30 million?
That is the range currently published on Justix’s Vietnamese service page. The final fee is quoted after reviewing the expected workload and service scope, with VAT and excluded costs clearly identified in the written proposal.
Can Justix replace our internal legal department completely?
Justix can perform an agreed external legal function, including advice, drafting and coordination. The company must still provide information, designate responsible staff, exercise management authority and fulfil its own statutory responsibilities.
Who signs contracts and makes commercial decisions?
The company or its duly authorised representatives make business decisions and sign documents. Justix identifies legal consequences and recommends options. Representation of the company is performed only within valid authorisation and the engagement scope.
Does the fee include going to court or arbitration?
Not automatically. Litigation, arbitration and substantial separate disputes need their own scope and fees unless expressly included. Preliminary assessment, notices or pre-dispute negotiation may be included when agreed.
How do we measure the service each month?
Compare the request register, completed legal documents, issues awaiting client decisions, critical deadlines and recurring problems. Reporting frequency and the level of detail are agreed during onboarding.
Can Justix support employment and personal data protection matters?
Yes, within the agreed scope and subject to the facts of each matter. Larger system-building projects, formal impact assessments or incident response may require a separate engagement. Relevant requirements include Vietnam’s Law on Personal Data Protection No. 91/2025/QH15, effective 1 January 2026.
How quickly will Justix respond to an urgent request?
The contract should state the response categories, communication channel, working hours and escalation procedure. A fixed universal response time or 24/7 service should not be assumed from the service description.
What happens if we already have in-house counsel?
The in-house team can own routine issues and internal approvals while Justix handles agreed specialist reviews, transaction support or overflow. A responsibility matrix prevents duplicated work.
What information is required for a quotation?
Provide the business sector, company structure, number of departments needing support, common contracts, typical monthly matters, current disputes and any important upcoming deadlines. A first assessment can often be made from a concise description and sample documents.
Need a lawyer for your situation?
Talk to a Justix lawyer about your options, timeline and fees before you decide.