A Modern Business Law Firm for Gulf Coast Companies
Outside Chief Legal is redefining what it means to work with an attorney. We deliver preventive, solution-driven legal guidance for Gulf Coast businesses, built into business strategy rather than bolted onto it.
FIRM RECOGNITION
Award-Winning Gulf Coast Business Attorneys
Outside Chief Legal is a Gulf Coast business law firm recognized by Inc. Regionals, Best Law Firms®, Best of Alabama, and the Nappie Awards for firm growth, legal work, and service.

No. 46 on the 2026 Inc. Regionals Southeast List
Ranked No. 46 among the Southeast’s fastest-growing private companies after 220% growth over two years.
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Five 2026 Best Law Firms® Rankings
Five Mobile regional rankings spanning corporate, construction, commercial litigation, business organizations, and insurance litigation.
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2026 Best of Alabama Winner
Named Alabama’s 2026 Best of Alabama winner in the Full Service Law Firms category.
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2026 Nappie Awards Finalist
Outside Chief Legal was named a finalist in the Best Business/Real Estate Attorney or Firm category.
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Why We Built This Firm
Jordan Gerheim spent years as a civil litigator, much of it defending businesses for their insurance carriers. The carriers wanted the claim closed for the least money. He kept wanting to ask a different question: how did this company end up here, and what would have kept it from happening?
The answer was almost always the same. The decision that caused the lawsuit had been made months earlier, in a room with no lawyer in it, because calling one meant starting a meter.
So he built a firm designed to be in that room. Not a lawyer you call when something breaks, but a legal partner who knows your business well enough to see the problem forming. He deliberately did not name it after himself, because the model had to work beyond one person.
Strategic, Comprehensive, and Customized
We tailor outside legal counsel and litigation services to your company’s needs and goals, on a single project or as an ongoing partner. Most of it runs through two rooms: the Boardroom for everything before a dispute, and the Courtroom for everything after.
Risk Management
Proactive guidance to find, manage, and reduce legal risk before it becomes a claim.
Integrated Strategy
Legal advice that starts from the business decision underneath the legal question.
Operational Efficiency
Helping the organization run smoothly, so legal is not the thing that slows a decision down.
Innovative Solutions
Practical paths to yes, including in the grey areas where no clean answer exists.
Legal Optimization
Templates, processes, and documentation that make the next matter cheaper than the last.
Financial Performance
Treating legal as an asset that protects and grows money, not only an expense that consumes it.
Our Core Values
Accountability
We own our actions and promises.
Result-Oriented
Focus on positive outcomes.
Trust
Honesty, transparency, ethics.
Synergy
Harnessing diverse expertise for optimal outcomes.
Commitment
Unwavering dedication.
Meet the Attorneys & Team Behind OCL
Over 200 years of combined boardroom and courtroom experience. The people who become your legal department.
Jordan W Gerheim
CEO | Outside Chief Legal Officer | Litigator | Strategic Business Advisor
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William R. Lancaster
Litigator | Outside Chief Legal Officer
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Benjamin H. Kilborn, Jr.
Outside Chief Legal Officer
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Robert J. Riccio
Outside Chief Legal Officer
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Benjamin N. Kearns
Litigator | Outside Chief Legal Officer
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Terri Sharpley Reynolds
Of Counsel
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Gia Ferraris
Director of Executive and Business Operations
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Vaughan Luker
Paralegal
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Kim Watson
Certified Paralegal
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Tracy Apker
Legal & Administrative Assistant
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Cait Cole
Legal Assistant
View Profile ›Where to Find Us
Mobile
56 S. Conception Street, Mobile, AL 36602 · 251-217-9733
Fairhope
300 Fairhope Ave, Suite G, Fairhope, AL 36532 · 251-217-9733
Explore the Communities We Serve
Learn how OCL supports businesses across its primary Gulf Coast markets.
Get Started with a Risk-Free Strategy Session
Take the first step toward a stronger, more confident future. Book a Risk-Free Strategy Session and spend an hour with an attorney who wants to understand your business, not just your emergency. Send your documents ahead and we will have read them.