The core answer
"No lawsuit this month" is the outcome a retainer is built to produce, not proof that it did nothing. The way to judge it is to stop looking at court and start looking at a monthly record of what the adviser caught, answered, sent and tracked.
The rule (law/agency). No Thai statute prescribes how a legal retainer must be measured or reported, so the measures are contract terms you agree with the firm. The law does matter for the dates the report should track. For example, a party who wants to rescind for non-performance usually has to give a notice setting a reasonable time to perform first (Civil and Commercial Code s.387), and an employer that dismisses without severance must state the grounds in the termination letter or tell the employee at dismissal, or it cannot rely on them later (Labour Protection Act s.119, last paragraph).
Our practical view. Agree three things at the start: what gets measured, what the monthly report looks like, and who on your side receives it. Then read it. A retainer that cannot show its month on one page is hard to defend at renewal, for the client and for the firm.
This guide builds on what to expect in the first month, which we cover in choosing corporate legal counsel. It starts where that one stops: month two onward.
1. Why is "no lawsuit this month" the right result?
A retainer pays for advice before the facts are fixed. If the adviser reads the contract before you sign, the dispute that would have followed never starts. If a demand letter produces payment, there is no claim to file. If an HR warning is written correctly, there is no labour case.
The risk is that the same quiet looks identical whether the retainer worked or the business was simply lucky. You solve that with records, not with a promise. Ask the firm to keep a log of what it did, and ask yourself whether you would know what changed if the log were missing.
We cannot put a figure on harm that did not occur, and neither can anyone else. Be cautious about any report that does.
2. What counts as evidence of value?
Use things you can count or point to in your own files.
| Evidence | What to look at | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Contracts reviewed | Number received, status (signed, pending, returned for change), turnaround | Shows the review channel is used and not a bottleneck |
| Risky clauses caught | Clauses changed before signature, with a one-line reason | Shows the review changed something, not just approved it |
| Demand letters | Sent, answered, paid or settled, still open | Shows whether collection steps ended in payment or a deal |
| HR matters before escalation | Warnings, work-rule questions, terminations checked before action | Shows HR problems handled while options were still open |
| Deadlines met | Renewals, notice periods, licence dates, replies to letters | Shows nothing lapsed unnoticed |
| Questions answered | Count by department, time to first answer | Shows the adviser is used for decisions |
| Documents improved | Template changes made after a lesson | Shows the same problem is not fixed twice |
Do not treat any one row as the score. A month with few contracts may be a good month. A month with many questions may mean the business is growing, not that it is in trouble.
3. Which measures should we agree up front?
Write these into the retainer agreement or an annex, and use your own numbers. We do not give target figures here because no law sets them and the right level depends on your business.
- Response time to a routine request and to an urgent one, from the agreed channel.
- Turnaround per document type, for example a standard NDA versus a bespoke supply agreement.
- A contract register kept current: counterparty, subject, start and end dates, renewal and termination notice, owner.
- The monthly report delivered by an agreed day, to a named person.
- A quarterly review of the above, with the right to change the targets.
- What is outside the retainer, so a missed target is not argued over scope. Litigation is quoted separately, before work starts.
If a measure cannot be checked from records, drop it.
4. What does a sample executive legal report look like?
The template below is a hypothetical layout. All entries are invented to show the format, not drawn from a real client. Keep the real version to one page, with an appendix for detail.
MONTHLY LEGAL REPORT — [Company name]
Period: [month, year] Prepared for: [name, role]
1. MATTERS RECEIVED THIS MONTH (by type)
Contracts: [n] HR: [n] Collection: [n]
Regulatory / licences: [n] Other questions: [n]
2. CONTRACTS REVIEWED
| Counterparty | Type | Status | Key change made |
| Customer A | Sales| Signed | Liability clause narrowed|
| Supplier B | Supply| Pending reply | Payment terms queried |
| Customer C | Service| Returned to us | Awaiting client decision |
3. OPEN MATTERS
| Matter | Next step | Owner (client / firm) | By when |
| Overdue invoice D | Second demand letter | Firm | [date] |
| Employee warning E| Client to confirm facts| Client HR | [date] |
4. DEADLINES AHEAD (next 60-90 days)
- Contract renewals and notice windows: [list from register]
- Licence or registration renewals: [list]
- Replies owed to letters or authorities: [list]
- Limitation dates to watch: [matter, date to be confirmed by the firm]
5. DECISIONS NEEDED FROM MANAGEMENT
- [Decision, options in one line each, firm's recommendation, date needed]
6. RISKS THAT CHANGED SINCE LAST MONTH
- Up: [item, reason] Down: [item, reason] New: [item]
7. LESSONS AND TEMPLATE CHANGES
- [What was learned, which template or work rule was updated]
APPENDIX (optional): full register, correspondence list, matter notes
Three habits make the report useful. Put decisions needed near the top if a date is close. Name an owner on every open item, on your side or the firm's. And mark what the firm could not assess because documents were missing, so the gap is visible.
Limitation dates differ by type of claim, so the firm should confirm each one for the matter. We do not give a general rule here.
5. How should we set this up by company size?
Small company (owner plus one coordinator). Pick one coordinator who sends all requests. Keep a shared folder with the register and the monthly report. Read a one-page report each month. A quarterly check is enough.
Mid-size company. Let HR, finance and procurement each submit through the same channel, so the firm sees the whole picture and the coordinator can see who asked what. Keep the register current, receive the monthly report and hold a quarterly review where targets are checked against what happened.
Group or foreign-owned company. Keep a register for each entity. Add a short bilingual summary for head office, covering what changed, what is open, what is due and what needs a decision. Agree escalation thresholds in writing, for example which disputes or regulator letters go to head office the same day. For the head-office side, see managing a Thai subsidiary from abroad. Thai documents stay in Thai, so the summary points to them instead of replacing them.
6. What if the report is thin or late?
Raise it in the first quarterly review, not at renewal. Check first whether your own side is feeding the process: requests sent outside the channel and documents not provided are common reasons a report looks thin. Then ask the firm for a written plan with dates.
If the report is regular and still shows little, ask what was reviewed and what was not. A small number of matters is not a fault. An adviser who cannot say what they saw is.
7. Checklist
- Name one coordinator on your side and one lead at the firm.
- Agree one request channel and your own response windows.
- Agree turnaround per document type and write them down.
- Start a contract register and keep it current.
- Agree the one-page monthly report layout and the delivery day.
- Put owners and dates on every open matter.
- Hold a quarterly review and change targets only in writing.
- Check what is outside the retainer so no one argues scope later.
Further reading
- Choosing corporate legal counsel: when to retain, what the agreement should say
- Managing a Thai subsidiary from abroad without a Thai legal team
- Contract review and approval without a legal department
- What affects a monthly legal retainer quotation
Judge a retainer by a monthly record of what was reviewed, answered, sent and tracked, not by whether a case reached court.
We act as a named lawyer on monthly retainer, with scope and monthly volume agreed in advance, covering contract review, day-to-day questions, demand letters and settling disputes before court. Litigation is quoted separately, before work starts. For an initial consultation, call +66 92 254 2045 or send us the details. See also retained corporate legal counsel, contracts and documents and corporate secretarial.
This guide is published by Suwanvara Law Firm — a Khon Kaen law firm established in 1986. General information only, not legal advice on a specific matter.
