General counsel recruitment · In-house lawyer recruitment
General counsel recruitment · hire a general counsel (GC), in-house or part of the week
General counsel recruitment starts with scope: whether you need a legal leader on the executive team, a head of legal to run the day-to-day work, or senior legal cover for part of the week. To hire a general counsel, fix that first, then test candidates on your real contracts and risks, and check their standing with the regulator.
We recruit permanent, interim, fractional, part-time and temporary legal leaders. On every brief we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after five-stage vetting.
How a brief runswhat we undertake
- 01Brief30-MINUTE SCOPING CALLDay 0
- 02Shortlist of 3–5VETTED · RATE BENCHMARK · IR35After the brief
- 03InterviewsYOU MEET THE SHORTLISTYour diary
- 04Scoped startFIRST-MONTH OUTCOMES AGREEDYou set the date
- 05Fractional, interim and permanentIR35 POSITION SET OUTOn every brief
Shortlist3–5
In the press
Law Society Gazette (Ireland) Fractional legal roles grow in appeal – US survey · 28 Sep 2026
Reports a US survey showing fractional legal roles growing in appeal. Useful if you are weighing a part-time general counsel against a permanent hire.
15 minutes · video or phone
Book 15 minutes to hire a general counsel
Tell us the scope and the days a week. We come back with General Counsel candidates, their day rates and availability.
- 0115 minutes, video or phone
- 02We scope the role and the days a week
- 03A shortlist of 3–5 after the call
- 04Fractional, interim and permanent briefs
Pick a day that suits · live availability
Live roles · last 3 months
Live General counsel jobs
Live legal leadership roles
How fractional recruitment agencies compare is set out in one place, including how we work: a General Counsel brief and a shortlist of three to five.
01/ the role
What a general counsel does, and when you need one
A general counsel (GC) is the most senior lawyer in the business. The GC advises the CEO and the board, runs the legal team or the panel of outside firms, and owns the big legal risks: commercial contracts, disputes, regulation, data protection, employment, and deals such as fundraising or an acquisition.
When a company needs a general counsel
The usual triggers: outside legal spend keeps climbing; contracts wait days for a lawyer; the business enters a regulated market; a fundraise, acquisition or sale is coming; or the board wants one person accountable for legal risk. If the need is contract volume rather than leadership, a senior legal counsel may be the better hire.
What a solicitor GC owes the regulator
Most general counsel in England and Wales are solicitors, and the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s guidance for organisations that employ in-house solicitors is worth reading first. It says in-house solicitors must follow the SRA Principles, including acting with independence and integrity, and that those duties can outrank your instructions. The SRA will ask the most senior solicitor to account to it for the legal work in your organisation. Legal advice from an in-house solicitor attracts privilege in the same way as any other solicitor’s, though the SRA notes privilege is more complex in-house, because in-house roles mix legal and business advice.
If the general counsel also joins the board, the seven general duties of a company director come with the seat, alongside their professional duties.
02/ scope
How to hire a general counsel
1. Scope the seat before the search
Write down what the general counsel will own (contracts, disputes, regulation, governance, deals, the outside-firm budget), who they report to, whether they join the board or act as company secretary, and how big the legal team should be in two years. A first GC for a scale-up and a GC for a regulated group are different hires.
2. Choose the route: permanent, interim or fractional
A permanent general counsel suits a business with steady legal work every day. If the seat is empty or a deal needs full-time cover for a fixed term, hire an interim general counsel. If you need senior legal judgement for part of the week, hire a fractional general counsel.
3. Check standing and test the work
Check a solicitor on the SRA’s Solicitors Register, and ask whether they hold a current practising certificate: the SRA says a solicitor employed as a solicitor needs one. Then test the work: give candidates one of your own contracts or a live risk and ask how they would handle it, and take references from a CEO or board member who relied on their advice.
4. Set the pay and run the checks
Robert Half’s 2026 salary guide gives a general counsel in commerce and industry £127,000 at the 25th percentile to £173,250 at the 75th, with a median of £145,500. Robert Walters’ salary survey puts a London in-house general counsel, head of legal or legal director at £160,000 to £330,000 permanent, or £800 to £1,100 a day on a PAYE contract. For an employee, you must check their right to work before they start. More pay detail sits on the general counsel salary page.
What we do on a general counsel brief
We send a shortlist of 3–5 candidates, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out. Every candidate goes through our five-stage vetting first.
03/ comparison
Legal counsel vs head of legal vs general counsel
Three in-house legal seats that overlap. Choose by what the person will own and who they answer to.
04/ vetting
How we vet general counsels
What we undertake on every brief, before a candidate reaches you.
- 01
Qualification screen
Verify General Counsel tenure, sector context and stage fit.
SOURCING - 02
Mandate fit
Match to your situation — stage, board dynamics, timing.
MATCHING - 03
Reference deep-dive
We take references ourselves, from recent past clients — real outcomes, not titles.
VERIFY - 04
Shortlist
Three to five candidates with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
SHORTLIST OF 3–5
05/ general counsel recruitment
General counsel recruitment: how the search runs
General counsel recruitment follows the same fair process as any senior hire. Acas says there is no set process the law requires, but employers must recruit fairly and follow discrimination and data protection law throughout. For a GC, the brief should say which areas of law matter most, what the regulator expects, and whether the role is on the board.
If a search firm runs the search, the same law covers it as any recruitment agency: GOV.UK guidance on the Conduct Regulations says the Employment Agencies Act applies to executive search consultants and that agencies may not charge work-seekers for finding them work. Get the terms you will pay in writing before the search starts. What we undertake: a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, and five-stage vetting.
For other board-level searches, see non-executive director recruitment and finance director recruitment.
06/ in-house lawyer recruitment
In-house lawyer recruitment: building the team under the GC
In-house lawyer recruitment below the general counsel usually means a head of legal, senior legal counsel or legal counsel. Hire the GC first where you can, so that they shape the team. A GC who inherits a team they did not choose often spends the first year rebuilding it.
The Law Society’s In-house Network publishes a template job description for in-house solicitors and a protocol for employing organisations on reporting lines, independence and resourcing. Both help you write a brief that a good in-house lawyer will take seriously.
If an in-house lawyer will work through their own company, as an interim or fractional GC often does, the off-payroll working rules (IR35) may apply. A medium or large client decides the worker’s status; for a small client outside the public sector, the worker’s own company decides. Status turns on how the engagement runs in practice. Our IR35 guide sets out the tests.
07/ general counsel jobs
General counsel jobs
We recruit permanent, interim and fractional general counsel. If you are a GC or head of legal looking for your next role, the board below lists the legal leadership roles we hold, and fractional general counsel jobs covers part-week roles.
08/ questions
General counsel recruitment FAQ
The questions people ask before bringing in a general counsel.
Book 15 minutes · shortlist of 3–5
Bring the brief. We architect the team.
A shortlist of 3–5 with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after five-stage vetting.
