Fractional General Counsel for Scale-Ups and High-Growth Businesses
For founders who have realised they're doing the legal work themselves, and shouldn't be.
Signs You've Outgrown Doing It Yourself
- The founder or finance lead is handling legal in between three other jobs.
- Contracts are slowing down sales.
- You're signing the other side's paper on trust.
- A larger customer's procurement team is asking for policies and terms you don't have.
- A funding round is coming, and with it, due diligence.
- A dispute or a regulator's letter has landed.
- Nobody owns legal risk, so it doesn't get looked at.
If two or three of these sound familiar, it's probably time.
When It's Too Early
If you're signing a handful of contracts a year, a retainer is more than you need. A fixed-fee project to get the essentials right is a better start, and it's how most CHORD relationships begin.
As a rough guide, ongoing fractional GC cover tends to make sense for businesses turning over £2m to £50m, or funded beyond Series A.
What You Need Changes as You Grow
Getting the Foundations Right
Customer and supplier terms, IP assignments from founders and contractors, NDAs, and the basic policies a growing business needs. More on IP, technology and confidentiality.
Scaling Commercially
Enterprise customer contracts, procurement questionnaires, and a contract playbook so sales isn't waiting on legal. More on commercial contracts.
Raising or Selling
Due diligence preparation, so that contracts and IP stand up when investors or buyers look closely. I work alongside your corporate lawyers on the deal itself.
Who I Work With
Mostly technology, fintech, infrastructure and data businesses at the point where the deals have outgrown the processes.
Why Not Just Hire a General Counsel?
Eventually you might. Until then, a permanent hire means a senior salary, recruitment fees, months of searching and a notice period, often for more lawyer than the business needs yet. Fractional cover gives you senior judgement from the start and scales with the business.
When you do outgrow it, I'll help you write the job description and hire your first full-time General Counsel. More on fractional and interim General Counsel.
What Clients Say
Frequently Asked Questions
At what stage should a start-up get a fractional General Counsel?
Usually when legal work becomes continuous rather than occasional: regular customer contracts, a funding round, a growing team, or a move into larger or regulated customers. Before that, fixed-fee project work is normally enough.
How much legal time does a scale-up need?
Often a few days a month to start. It's agreed upfront and flexes up when a deal or a deadline needs it.
Can you help with our funding round?
Yes, with due diligence preparation and the commercial contracts and IP that investors will review. I work alongside your corporate lawyers on the investment documents themselves.
We already use a law firm. Do we still need a fractional GC?
Often, yes. A fractional General Counsel handles the day-to-day work, decides when a firm is genuinely needed, and briefs them properly so you only pay for the specialist work.
What happens when we're big enough for a full-time General Counsel?
That's a good outcome. I'll help you define the role, recruit for it and hand over properly.
Find Out Where Legal Fits at Your Stage
Based in Warwickshire, working with clients nationally.
Call: +44 7783 534486 · Email: cam@chord.legal · Connect on LinkedIn →
“CHORD” and “Chord Legal” are trading names of CHORD Legal Limited, registered in England and Wales, company number 14820174. Registered office: 124 City Road, London, EC1V 2NX. Cam Gow is a solicitor regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (“SRA”) (SRA ID 453794). CHORD Legal Limited is not authorised or regulated by the SRA. This is a structure the SRA's rules expressly permit.
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