The Right Time to Hire a General Counsel

By: Leslie White

Not too long ago we posted an article titled ‘Hiring A General Counsel‘, we talked about the ability to hire an in-house counsel that obtains the best legal recruiting specifications like acting as a strategic business partner, a legal advisor, as well as being able to lead, manage, organize, and so on. In this article however, we explore the following: When Is It The Right Time to Hire a General Counsel For Your Company?

Like many factors within law and business, there isn’t one right answer to this question. The answer is as different as your company is to another, and the best time to hire an in-house attorney will depend on your company’s strategic condition.

Business Growth

Not surprisingly, many business owners find expediential growth within their company only after a few months. This then becomes more cost-effective to simply have an on-staff legal department, complete with attorneys, legal secretaries, and paralegals. With this in mind, you can simply pay these legal professionals a flat salary, rather than the exorbitant hourly rates billed by large law firms. This tactical approach will not only save expenditure within your company budget but will also allow your company’s growth to continue without any delay.
Liability Advisors

All companies obtain a certain degree of responsibility within their business with their co-workers and employees. However, if your business upholds larger amounts of liabilities such as accounts payable to any suppliers accrued expenses or accrued Interest, it is highly beneficial to hire an in-house attorney to attain to these accountabilities. It is also worth stating that when seeking out to employ a general counsel for your company, make sure a thorough background check has taken place beforehand. Such evaluation of the potential employee’s legal knowledge and business understanding can lead to high levels of productivity and profit with your company.

Half-Hearted Commitment

Then there is the situation where a full-time legal recruit isn’t really necessary, but only a specific legal staff who can be flexible in some of the area of expertise for your business. The complication with this kind of legal consultancy is that you have to find each attorney for each specialty, which can be hard to come by. If this what you might be experiencing in your company, there are legal recruiting firms, like ESQ Recruiting, who are better positioned to evaluate the options for appropriate in-house general guidance for you.

Cost–Benefit Analysis

If it is an outside attorney that you have been using, the best way to systematically work what could be best for you is to estimating the strong points and weaknesses of substitutes that satisfy your Business. Adapting this cost-benefit analysis on your business will expose the undertakings of your transactions, activities or functional requirements for a business.
It is important to note that if you’re spending only a little in legal fees, it’s probably not the right time to hire, unless you are battling legal issues within your company then we suggest you find the appropriate In-house counsel for your business.