The A to Z of General Counsel Roles

A General Counsel, referred to ‘GC’, chief legal or compliance officer, or corporate counsel, is a company’s main legal advisor and primary source of legal advice. Many new business owners are unsure of the added value that a General Counsel can bring to their growing business. This article seeks to demystify the important role of GCs, what their responsibilities include and what skills you should look for when finding the best fit for your business.

What does a GC do?

A General Counsel’s role is a mighty one. Any lawyer granted the title of ‘GC’ will certainly earn a well-respected place amongst his peers. The average GC will typically report to the CEO or higher management within an organisation and will act as a key stakeholder in the decision-making process for major projects in any given organisation. A GC often handles crises rather than dealing with day-to-day or minute tasks. The GC will also usually head a team of legal professionals charged with overseeing specific parts of the business or lawyers specializing in specific areas of the law. Aside from managing a talented pool of lawyers, they also manage specialist teams and often work cross-functionally with other team members to resolve complex issues. A GC wears different hats, they oversee the organisation’s liabilities and risks and are responsible of allocating budget for internal projects to ensure that the right resources are available to the business at any given time. A GC will be called upon to resolve internal glitches and will assist in improving internal processes and facilitating workflows.

Furthermore, your chosen GC will become indispensable when it is time to resolve a major legal escalation that cannot be resolved by the legal team or business leads, especially when it comes to first-of-kind problems or decisions that widely impact the business as an organisation or deliver a blow to the revenue.

Legally speaking, a major aspect of the General Counsel’s job is to also stay on top of legal developments that might affect the organization and industry. He is also often charged with staying atop of all company matters, which means attending board meetings and committee meetings. Depending on the role, his or her expertise may encompass many areas of the law to deal with commercial, finance and even employment law issues. The bottom line is that your ideal GC will have to combine legal expertise with business acumen.

What makes an exceptional General Counsel?


General Counsel positions are highly sought-after and involve a lot of responsibility, so that those with the right mix of attributes generally land the best positions first. Typically, a GC will have significant years of experience practicing law under their belt. You should look for a candidate with more than 10 years of experience either in a law firm or as an in-house lawyer combining diverse experiences in various key areas of law. Ideally you want your GC to have a solid grounding in a legal field that is relevant to your business, thereby allowing you to save substantially on outsourced legal help.

While your General Counsel should be well-versed and firmly embedded in your company mission and strategy, their expertise will not extend to every legal issue that arises. The range in a company’s legal needs makes it impossible for one lawyer or one general law firm to advise and handle everything. Therefore, it is essential to look out for someone with solid leadership skills, integrity, sound judgment and excellent communication skills. Your GC will have to be a strong strategist in terms of being able to prioritize and allocate workload to the right resources and mitigating risk overall. To top it off, a great GC will also have a wide personal network of high calibre legal partners that can be called upon for assistance when needed.

Which organisations need a GC?

It is true that most global businesses will have a General Counsel overseeing legal operations and coordinating legal projects across jurisdictions. However, you may think that high-growth start-ups and scaleups might not be large enough to have an established corporate hierarchy, but they may nevertheless be at a critical point of their growth such that having a sole point of contact for legal issues is immensely beneficial. Some businesses of this size often prefer to have a legal professional that is proficient in the area of law most relevant to their business. For example, a recruitment company might have an employment specialist who acts as their GC and an insurance service provider might have an expert insurance lawyer overseeing the legal aspect of their business.

If you are still not sure about when or if a GC is needed, there are some general guidelines that can prove helpful throughout the process.

While every company and industry require a slightly different strategy, it is generally time to consider hiring in-house legal experts when your operation is between 40-100 people. If you have complex or more extensive legal needs, you might consider hiring in-house counsel sooner. In the meantime, having an out-sourced option or an external in-house lawyer service can be the perfect solution!

If you are still not convinced, an in-house General Counsel may become one of your most important cost-saving investments. According to an EY report, 82% of global businesses are savings costs by reimagining their internal governance by challenging the efficiency and structure of their legal support and internal structure.


Do you want to explore outsourced legal services options such as General Counsel or in-house Counsel? Contact Us!

Article by Anthi Pesmazoglou, November 2021.