The true cost of unfilled legal roles

In-house legal teams sit at the heart of business strategy—guiding decision-making, ensuring compliance and supporting growth. But when hiring for in-house legal teams stalls and key roles remain unfilled for extended periods, the knock-on effects across the organisation can be substantial.

Unfilled legal positions can quietly erode business performance, from delayed projects and rising external spend to compliance failures and team burnout. Understanding the real cost of legal vacancies is the first step to mitigating them — and to building a more resilient legal function.

The average time-to-hire: longer than you think

Hiring senior legal professionals takes time, often more time than anticipated. While recruitment consultants can move quickly to identify talent, progress is often slowed by internal factors: scheduling interviews, aligning stakeholders, securing budget approvals or delays in decision-making.

Some sources suggest the timeline can extend up to three to six months when factoring in notice periods, internal approvals, interviews and offer negotiations. In some sectors, particularly financial services and life sciences, background checks and regulatory clearance can cause further delays.

While these timelines may be unavoidable, the cost of leaving a legal seat vacant during this time often goes underappreciated.

1. Delayed decisions, stalled deals

When legal sign-off is delayed, deals don’t close. Business units lose momentum. Strategic initiatives pause.

Unfilled legal roles often create decision-making bottlenecks—especially in organisations where legal has a seat at the table. This is especially critical during major M&A activity, new product launches, market entry or expansion, or during litigation and regulatory investigations.

As in-house legal teams play an increasingly strategic role in driving business outcomes, gaps in resourcing can undermine their ability to support the organisation effectively. When key legal voices are absent from the room, decisions may stall, and commercial opportunities can be delayed or missed entirely.

2. Increased compliance and regulatory risk

Legal vacancies can also expose companies to regulatory breaches, missed filing deadlines, or contract lapses. These risks are particularly acute in regulated sectors such as financial services, pharmaceuticals, energy and tech.

A missing or overburdened legal team may fail to keep up with essential policy updates, regulatory change, required internal reporting or disclosures, and governance or board support.

In worst-case scenarios, these gaps can lead to enforcement action, fines, or reputational damage.

3. The cost of burnout and attrition

Perhaps the most underestimated cost of an unfilled legal position is the impact on those left behind.

When a colleague leaves or a role is frozen, the workload doesn’t go with them. Remaining team members are expected to absorb additional work—on top of their core responsibilities. This often leads to longer working hours, more reactive and less strategic work, and increased stress and lower morale.

Data shows that 63% of in-house lawyers have experienced symptoms of burnout in the last 12 months. Unfilled roles exacerbate this trend—and can trigger further attrition, creating a vicious cycle.

Burnout also reduces team effectiveness. A study by Mental Health UK notes that one in five (21%) admitted their productivity or performance was impacted by high levels of pressure or stress.

4. Risk to business continuity and institutional knowledge

Vacancies create a gap in institutional memory and continuity—particularly when senior team members exit or transition. Ongoing projects lose momentum, documentation may become fragmented, and internal stakeholders lose a trusted point of contact.

This is especially damaging during periods of change: restructuring, M&A, preparing for an IPO, or compliance reviews. Without someone in-seat who understands the organisation’s legal infrastructure, risk appetite and historic context, mistakes become more likely.

How flexibility can mitigate the costs

Recognising these risks, many organisations are looking at building more flexible legal team models. This includes:

• Interim hiring: Engaging interim in-house counsel to provide short-term continuity and specialist expertise.
• Project-based support: Bringing in lawyers for discrete initiatives (e.g. contract repapering, expansion projects).
• Fractional GCs: Appointing part-time legal leaders in high-growth or transition-phase companies.

This allows organisations to maintain service levels, manage workload, and protect team wellbeing—without the long-term commitment of a permanent hire.

Leaving a legal role unfilled may seem manageable in the short term—but the risks compound quickly. Delays, burnout, cost overruns and lost opportunity are the hidden price of inaction.

Forward-thinking legal and HR leaders are building flexibility into their hiring strategies. Interim support, agile resourcing and smarter planning can ensure business continuity, protect your legal team—and ultimately, safeguard your organisation.