Fractional General Counsel or a law firm?
A fractional general counsel sits inside the business, makes the everyday commercial legal calls and decides what goes to outside lawyers. A law firm handles litigation, specialist matters and formal opinions, billed by the hour. The fractional GC costs £6,133 to £10,733 a month at two days a week, and the usual saving comes from sending a firm less work, not none.
Below is what each one actually owns, what they cost on the same basis, how each one fails, and when to pick the other one.
| A fractional General Counsel | A law firm | |
|---|---|---|
| Who owns the outcome | The commercial judgement about which risks are worth taking | Specialist depth in a jurisdiction or a field of law |
| Commitment | One to three days a week, flexing with the work, no end date assumed | Per matter, billed by the hour or by the piece of work |
| How it is priced | £800 to £1,400 a day | Hourly rates, often three figures and sometimes four, with the meter running from the first email of a matter to the last. |
| Typical monthly cost | £6,133 to £10,733 a month at two days a week | No like-for-like monthly figure is published here; see how it is priced |
| How it fails | Being used as a cheaper law firm, asked for formal opinions on matters that genuinely need a specialist and an insurer behind them. | Paying hourly rates to make ordinary commercial decisions, which produces careful advice about questions the business had already answered. |
| Pick it when | Ordinary contracts and commercial calls are piling up at hourly rates | The matter is litigation, or anything with a court date attached |
What a law firm actually is
An external firm instructed on specific matters, billing by the hour or by the piece of work.
What each one owns
| A fractional General Counsel | A law firm |
|---|---|
| The commercial judgement about which risks are worth taking | Specialist depth in a jurisdiction or a field of law |
| Contracts that get signed, rather than contracts that get perfected | Litigation, and anything that ends up in front of a court |
| Knowing when to instruct a firm and when not to bother | The formal opinion an investor or an acquirer will accept |
| Being inside the business when a decision is being made, not after | Insurance, in the sense that the advice is underwritten |
What neither of them does
Neither replaces a compliance function in a regulated business. That is its own seat with its own reporting lines, and treating legal advice as compliance cover is how firms end up explaining themselves to a regulator.
How each one fails
The fractional General Counsel: Being used as a cheaper law firm, asked for formal opinions on matters that genuinely need a specialist and an insurer behind them.
A law firm: Paying hourly rates to make ordinary commercial decisions, which produces careful advice about questions the business had already answered.
What they cost, on the same basis
A fractional General Counsel charges £800 to £1,400 a day, which is £6,133 to £10,733 a month at two days a week. Hourly rates, often three figures and sometimes four, with the meter running from the first email of a matter to the last. The monthly and annual arithmetic for the fractional side, against a full-time equivalent, is on the cost page for this seat.
Pick a law firm when
- The matter is litigation, or anything with a court date attached
- You need a formal opinion that a third party will rely on
- The question is deep specialist law in one jurisdiction, asked once
We would rather say that plainly than win an engagement that was the wrong shape. Nobody pays us to list on the bench, so there is nothing in it for us either way.
When you want both
The usual arrangement. The fractional seat runs the day to day and decides what goes out to a firm, which is normally what brings the legal spend down.
Common questions
Should I hire a fractional General Counsel or a law firm?
A fractional general counsel sits inside the business, makes the everyday commercial legal calls and decides what goes to outside lawyers. A law firm handles litigation, specialist matters and formal opinions, billed by the hour. The fractional GC costs £6,133 to £10,733 a month at two days a week, and the usual saving comes from sending a firm less work, not none.
Is a fractional General Counsel cheaper than a law firm?
On a like-for-like basis it usually is, because you buy the days you need rather than all of them. A fractional General Counsel runs £800 to £1,400 a day, most often one to three days a week. Hourly rates, often three figures and sometimes four, with the meter running from the first email of a matter to the last. But cheaper is the wrong question if the work genuinely needs the other one.
When is a law firm the better choice than a fractional General Counsel?
The matter is litigation, or anything with a court date attached. You need a formal opinion that a third party will rely on. The question is deep specialist law in one jurisdiction, asked once.
Can I use a fractional General Counsel and a law firm at the same time?
The usual arrangement. The fractional seat runs the day to day and decides what goes out to a firm, which is normally what brings the legal spend down.
How does a fractional general counsel differ from a full-time GC?
The same seat for fewer days. A full-time general counsel is employed, in the building every day, and often manages a legal team; a fractional general counsel holds the seat one to three days a week, at £800 to £1,400 a day in the UK, often across two or three companies. Full-time starts to make sense once contracts, disputes and regulatory work fill most of a week.