Fractional General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer
Legal leadership at the executive level, without the executive headcountGeneral counsel and chief legal officer are senior roles. The person filling one advises the board and the CEO, owns enterprise risk, manages the legal budget, and decides what gets handled internally and what goes out. It’s a strategy role, not a drafting role.
Companies use different titles for it. Some say general counsel, some say chief legal officer, and larger organizations sometimes have both. The function is the same.
Fractional means you get that function filled without carrying it full time.
Why a Traditional Law Firm Costs More for the Same Work
Traditional firms are built as separate practice areas with separate lawyers in each. Your corporate lawyer does not handle the employment question. Your employment lawyer does not handle the licensing deal. Each one bills to learn your business, and none of them owns the whole picture.
The structure works for firms. It is expensive for you, and nobody is accountable for legal strategy as a whole.
What a Single In-House Hire Can and Can’t Cover
The other option is hiring one lawyer, which carries recruiting, salary, benefits, payroll taxes, equity, and the ramp time before the person is useful.
It also carries a limit people underestimate. Any individual lawyer’s depth is in one or two functions. A general counsel with an M&A background is going to send the employment work out. One with an employment background is going to send the licensing deal out. You have paid a salary and you are still paying outside counsel.
HMLG covers the range inside a single engagement, the part a single hire structurally cannot do.
How the Engagement Works
HMLG scopes the relationship up front. Expected volume, the work covered, escalation triggers, and an estimated billing arrangement with room to grow. See how HMLG scopes projects and structures fees.
Then we operate. You get regular check-ins whether or not something is pending, because consistent communication is where the value of the model shows up.
Scope changes are normal. When the work expands, HMLG works with you proactively to reset expectations, so an unexpected invoice never arrives.
What a Fractional General Counsel Does
- Strategic advisory to leadership. Sitting in the conversations where decisions get made, not receiving documents after the fact.
- Enterprise risk management. Identifying where the business is exposed across contracts, IP, employment, and regulatory obligations, and prioritizing what needs attention.
- Legal budget and outside counsel management. Deciding what goes out, to whom, and holding it to a budget.
- Corporate governance and board support. Board materials, equity, and the governance record investors and acquirers will scrutinize.
- Board and executive reporting. Presenting legal risk and strategy in a form the board can act on.
- Major transactions. Financings, acquisitions, partnerships, and exits, from structure through close.
FAQ
What is a fractional general counsel?
A fractional general counsel is an experienced attorney filling the general counsel role on a part-time or ongoing basis instead of as a full-time employee. The company gets senior legal judgment, strategic advisory, and continuity without carrying an executive salary.
What's the difference between a general counsel and a chief legal officer?
The titles are often used interchangeably. Where a company distinguishes them, chief legal officer usually denotes a broader executive role including compliance, government relations, or corporate secretary duties, while general counsel denotes the head of the legal function. The core responsibilities overlap substantially.
What's the difference between a general counsel and in-house counsel?
General counsel is the senior legal executive responsible for strategy, enterprise risk, and the legal function overall. In-house counsel is the broader term covering lawyers handling day-to-day execution. Fractional means the role is not full time.
Can an outside firm serve as chief legal officer?
A firm can perform the chief legal officer function on a fractional basis, covering strategy, risk, governance, and outside counsel management. HMLG structures these engagements as outside counsel performing the role rather than as an employment or officer appointment.
What size company uses a fractional general counsel?
Companies with enough contract and transaction volume to need consistent legal leadership. The threshold varies widely by industry and deal complexity, and it arrives earlier for companies with significant IP or licensing activity.
What's the difference between a fractional general counsel and a law firm on retainer?
A retainer merely buys access to a firm. A fractional general counsel takes ownership of the legal function, including the work you have not thought to ask about yet.
Can a fractional general counsel help prepare for a financing or acquisition?
Yes. Diligence readiness is one of the strongest arguments for the model, because the documentation problems slowing deals down are usually created years before the deal starts.
ARE YOU READY TO TRANSFORM YOUR LEGAL STRATEGY?
Let’s connect! Whether you’re looking for an in-house legal team or need to augment your existing counsel, HMLG is ready to help you rock your business.
Contact us today to learn how we can assist you with practical, proactive, world-class legal support.
3213 Harbor Avenue SW, Ste. A2
Seattle, WA 98126
(206) 774-0879