[Video] Not Ready For In-House Counsel? Here's What High-Growth Companies Do

13 minutes ago

2 min read

Alternatives to Hiring a General Counsel for a Fast-Growing Company

Fast-growing companies do not always need to hire a full-time general counsel immediately. In this video, Zach Griffin explains how businesses can access specialized legal expertise through flexible outside counsel arrangements that match their current needs, contract volume, and budget.

The best alternative to hiring a general counsel is not trying to handle every legal issue with one generalist provider. Instead, companies should engage specialized firms, structure flexible arrangements, and pay for the level of support they actually need. This approach gives growing businesses access to experienced attorneys while avoiding the fixed cost of a full-time hire or the potentially high hourly rates of a large law firm.

Key Takeaways

Choose specialists for specific legal needs. Companies should work with firms that focus on the areas where they need help, such as employment law, intellectual property, or customer and vendor agreements.
Avoid paying for unnecessary legal overhead. Large generalist firms may provide broad expertise, but they can be more expensive and less efficient for recurring, specialized work.
Use volume-based or flat-fee arrangements. Instead of paying solely by the hour, companies can structure agreements around the number of contracts handled each month or use predictable flat fees.
Get support for customer and vendor agreements. Growing companies may need experienced legal help but lack the consistent contract volume required to justify hiring in-house counsel.
Match legal support to the company’s growth stage. Flexible outside counsel can support a business handling a few agreements per month or a much larger volume, then scale as the company grows.
Bring legal work in-house when the timing is right. Eventually, a company may reach a size where hiring an internal attorney makes financial sense. That transition represents growth and success, not failure.