What a fractional general counsel is
A general counsel is the senior lawyer who leads legal inside a company - the person who owns the contracts, the risk, the disputes and the judgement calls, sitting close to the leadership team. A fractional general counsel is that same role, part-time and on a fixed fee, rather than a full-time employee on a six-figure salary.
"Fractional" simply means you take the fraction of the role you actually need. A business generating a steady flow of legal work but not forty hours of it a week gets senior legal leadership sized to the real demand - a few days a month, a standing arrangement, a person who knows the business rather than a stranger you brief from scratch each time.
You will see the same idea under other names. Virtual general counsel, interim general counsel, part-time general counsel, general counsel services - the labels differ, the substance is largely the same: experienced in-house legal leadership without the full-time headcount.
What a fractional GC actually does
The value is not just answering legal questions - it is owning the legal side of the business so you do not have to. In practice that means:
- Handling the day-to-day - contracts, terms, supplier and customer agreements, the steady flow that keeps a growing business moving.
- Being the judgement in the room - the person who can say "this clause is worth fighting for, that one is not" when a deal is live and a decision is needed now.
- Managing the outside spend - instructing and coordinating specialist firms when something genuinely needs them, so you buy the right expertise at the right moment rather than a firm's default.
- Seeing round corners - spotting the risk building quietly before it becomes the emergency, which is the thing a reactive, call-a-firm-when-it-breaks setup never does.
A fractional GC is not a cheaper lawyer. It is a senior one, bought by the fraction you need rather than the full week you don't.
Fractional GC versus a full-time hire
A full-time general counsel is a large fixed cost - salary, employer's national insurance, pension, benefits, and the recruitment to find them - for one person with one set of specialisms. For a business with genuinely constant, high-volume legal need, that is money well spent.
Most growing businesses are not there yet. Their legal need is real but uneven, and a full-time salary laid over an uneven need means paying for the quiet weeks to be covered in the busy ones. A fractional GC gives you the same seniority, scaled to the actual demand, with no employment liability and the freedom to dial it up or down as the business changes.
Fractional GC versus a law firm
A law firm is the right call for the big, specialist, occasional matter - the acquisition, the serious dispute. It is a poor fit for the steady in-house work, for two reasons. It bills by the hour, so the small questions go unasked. And it sits outside the business, so nobody at the firm carries your context between matters or worries about the risk building next quarter.
A fractional GC sits inside. They hold your context, they are reachable without a meter starting, and they own the ongoing legal picture rather than picking up isolated instructions. When a specialist firm is genuinely needed, they are also the person who briefs it well - which usually saves more than they cost.
When a growing business needs one
The trigger is rarely a single event. It is a step up in complexity - a funding round, a jump in headcount, bigger customer contracts, expansion into a new market - that lifts legal from an occasional errand to a standing part of running the company, while the volume still falls short of a full-time salary.
A useful test: if legal decisions are increasingly landing on a founder or finance lead who is guessing, or getting quietly deferred because ringing a firm feels like overkill, you have outgrown the reactive setup. That gap is exactly what a fractional GC fills - and if you are not certain you are in it yet, it is a quick, honest conversation rather than a leap.
Frequently asked questions
What is a fractional general counsel?
A fractional general counsel is a senior lawyer who leads a company's legal function part-time, on a fixed fee, rather than as a full-time employee. The business gets the seniority and judgement of an experienced general counsel, sized to the legal work it actually generates.
What is the difference between a fractional, virtual and interim general counsel?
The terms overlap heavily. Fractional and virtual general counsel both mean ongoing senior legal leadership on a part-time basis. Interim usually means covering a defined gap, such as maternity leave or between hires. All three give you general counsel seniority without a permanent full-time salary.
How much does a fractional general counsel cost?
Far less than a full-time general counsel, whose all-in cost runs well into six figures. A fractional arrangement is typically a fixed monthly fee scaled to the days of support you need, so you pay for the fraction of the role you use rather than a full-time salary and benefits.
When should a business use a fractional general counsel?
When legal has become a standing part of running the business - through funding, growth or bigger deals - but the volume does not yet justify a full-time hire. If legal decisions are being guessed at or quietly deferred, you have likely reached that point.
Need a general counsel, not a full-time one?
Silva's retainer works as your fractional general counsel - senior legal leadership inside your business, on a fixed monthly fee, scaled to what you actually need. Take a look, or get in touch and we will tell you honestly whether it fits where you are.