Building a legal team? Why an interim General Counsel could be your first hire
Key insights
- Interim GCs are becoming the first legal hire for growing businesses that need senior legal expertise without committing to a permanent structure too early
- Flexibility is driving demand – interim legal leaders help organisations manage growth, investment, expansion and regulatory change while shaping long-term legal strategy
- The role is about building, not maintaining – the strongest interim GCs establish governance, improve legal operations and define future legal team requirements
- ‘Try before you hire’ is gaining momentum – businesses are using interim appointments to assess what legal capability they need before making a permanent hire
- Employers increasingly value legal builders over legal managers – experience creating legal functions from scratch is becoming a key differentiator in the market
For many growing businesses, hiring General Counsel and Legal Directors is a significant milestone. The challenge is knowing exactly when the business is ready for a permanent legal leader, understanding the difference between a General Counsel or Chief Legal Officer, and what that role should ultimately look like.
Rather than recruiting immediately, an increasing number of organisations are appointing an interim General Counsel first. Whether supporting rapid growth, international expansion, private equity investment or wider organisational change, interim legal leaders are helping businesses establish the legal foundations they need while giving leadership teams the flexibility to shape a permanent role over time. For organisations investing in In-house legal recruitment, this approach offers an opportunity to build legal capability while taking the time to define the long-term structure of the legal function.
Across Europe, we’re seeing interim appointments evolve well beyond traditional maternity cover or short-term absence. Increasingly, businesses are bringing in experienced legal leaders to build legal functions, strengthen governance and provide strategic leadership at pivotal moments in their growth.
Why more businesses are appointing an interim General Counsel first
For founder-led businesses, scale-ups and companies experiencing rapid change, legal requirements can evolve faster than organisational structures. Leadership teams may recognise the need for senior legal expertise but remain uncertain about the long-term scope of the role or what the legal function should become.
An interim General Counsel provides immediate senior legal support while giving the business time to assess its longer-term needs.
Five signs you may be ready for an interim General Counsel
Common signs include:
- Contract values are increasing and negotiations are becoming more complex
- The business is expanding into new jurisdictions
- Regulatory obligations are increasing
- You are acquiring businesses or preparing for investment
- External legal spend is becoming difficult to control
These pressures do not necessarily justify an immediate permanent hire. An interim appointment allows the business to address them while determining the right long-term legal structure.
Where ongoing strategic legal support is needed but a full-time role is not yet justified, some organisations may instead consider a fractional GC model.
How an interim General Counsel can build your legal department before a permanent hire
One of the biggest advantages of appointing an interim General Counsel is that they are often expected to build, not simply maintain.
This often includes establishing corporate governance frameworks, reviewing commercial contracts, improving legal operations, managing relationships with outside counsel, controlling legal spend and introducing practical ways of working that allow the business to scale more effectively.
Just as importantly, interim legal leaders can help define what the future legal department and legal team should look like. By working closely with founders, CEOs, CFOs and boards, they can identify where permanent legal capability will add the greatest value and help shape the remit of the role. Rather than simply solving today’s legal challenges, they help businesses prepare for tomorrow’s.
Why the “try before you hire” approach is gaining momentum
Appointing an interim GC gives organisations time to understand where legal resource is most needed before committing to a permanent structure. The difference between a GC role in a public, private or PE-backed business in Europe can be significant, with ownership structure shaping the responsibilities, priorities and experience required.
Consider a PE-backed software business that has historically relied on external counsel. Following investment, it acquires businesses, enters new markets and begins negotiating larger enterprise contracts. Legal issues can quickly become part of almost every strategic initiative.
An interim GC can assess risk, establish governance, support acquisition integration and bring the specialist knowledge needed for expansion. Crucially, they can also determine whether the long-term requirement is for a standalone GC, a commercial legal team or a broader legal and compliance function.
In some cases, the interim becomes the permanent hire. In others, an experienced interim establishes the function before handing it over to a permanent legal leader once the long-term structure is clear.
What we’re seeing across the European legal hiring market
We’re increasingly speaking to businesses looking for experienced senior lawyers who have built legal functions before, rather than simply managed established corporate legal departments. Clients are looking for professionals who are comfortable operating in ambiguous environments, balancing strategic advice with hands-on delivery and building credibility quickly with senior stakeholders.
This is particularly common in founder-led businesses, fintech companies, private equity-backed organisations and businesses operating across multiple European jurisdictions. European regulatory change is reshaping legal hiring in private equity, with growing regulatory complexity leading many organisations to reassess the legal expertise they need.
Rather than asking, “Who can manage our legal team?”, employers are increasingly asking, “Who can help us build the right legal function?”
What makes a successful interim General Counsel?
Successful interim GCs quickly understand the business, prioritise risk and put practical structures in place. International experience can also be valuable for organisations operating across multiple European jurisdictions.
For PE-backed businesses in particular, getting the first 90 days right as a General Counsel requires an early understanding of both business and investor priorities.
In the first 90 days, businesses should typically expect an interim GC to:
- Review legal risk exposure
- Audit external legal spend
- Establish contract approval processes
- Assess governance and board reporting
- Map upcoming regulatory requirements
- Identify legal resource gaps
- Build a business case for future hires
An effective interim GC should also leave the business with stronger foundations, including:
- A clear governance framework
- More effective contracting processes
- An appropriate outside counsel panel
- Legal technology recommendations
- An organisational design for the legal team
- A hiring plan for future lawyers
- A defined specification for the permanent GC role
The aim is to leave the business with a stronger legal function and a clear roadmap for what comes next.
When is the right time to hire a permanent GC?
An interim appointment should not delay permanent hiring indefinitely. Instead, it should help businesses make a more informed decision.
For many organisations, the right time to appoint a permanent General Counsel comes once governance structures have been established, legal priorities are better understood and leadership teams have greater clarity on the long-term scope of the role.
At that point, businesses are far better placed to recruit a legal leader whose experience genuinely matches the organisation’s future needs, rather than simply responding to immediate pressures.
Increasingly, we’re seeing businesses treat interim legal leadership as part of a wider legal recruitment strategy rather than simply a temporary solution. Used in the right way, it enables organisations to build a stronger legal function today while making better permanent hiring decisions for the future.
It depends on how clearly you’ve defined your long-term legal needs. If your business is still growing, entering new markets or shaping its legal function, an interim General Counsel can provide immediate leadership while helping determine whether and when a permanent hire is needed.
This approach is becoming increasingly common across Europe, particularly among founder-led businesses, private equity-backed companies and organisations expanding internationally.
Because they need experienced legal leadership without committing to a permanent role too early. Interim General Counsel are increasingly being appointed to build legal functions, establish governance frameworks and support organisational growth while businesses assess their long-term legal requirements.
Most businesses hire their first General Counsel when legal work becomes too complex to manage externally or alongside other responsibilities. This often coincides with rapid growth, international expansion, increased regulatory obligations or greater board-level legal involvement. For many organisations, an interim General Counsel is the first step before creating a permanent role.
Yes. Many interim appointments lead to permanent roles once both the organisation and the legal leader have a clearer understanding of the business’s long-term needs. In other cases, the interim helps define the role and supports the recruitment and onboarding of a permanent successor.
Look for someone who has built legal functions before, not just managed established teams. The strongest interim General Counsel combine technical legal expertise with commercial judgement, experience introducing corporate governance and legal operations, and the ability to influence senior stakeholders across multiple European jurisdictions.
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