A Fractional General Counsel gives you senior in-house legal judgment part time, without a law firm meter running. Rates, scope, and how to start.
A Fractional General Counsel costs $5,000 to $15,000 per month, most commonly $5,000 to $10,000 for embedded support, with overage hours billed at $150 to $400 per hour. That puts the model at roughly $60,000 to $180,000 a year against $350,000 to $600,000 or more for a full-time in-house GC once salary, bonus and benefits are counted. The 2024 ACC report put median GC cash compensation at $414,000 before benefits and incentives.
MSAs, DPAs, NDAs and vendor paper turned around fast enough to stop holding up revenue.
Board minutes, cap table hygiene, entity filings and the diligence file investors ask for.
Offer letters, contractor classification, terminations and policy that keeps you out of trouble.
Trademarks, IP assignment, GDPR and CCPA obligations, and customer data commitments.
Demand letters and disputes triaged early, before they become litigation budgets.
Specialist firms scoped, budgeted and held to it, which is usually where the savings come from.
The first quarter clears the contract backlog and closes the gaps that would surface in diligence, so legal stops being the thing that slows a deal down.
Deals sit in redlines for weeks because nobody owns legal review.
Financing or an acquisition means diligence, and your documents are not ready.
New states, new data, or a regulated customer base changed your obligations.
A monthly retainer with defined response times covers the everyday commercial load, and specialist matters get routed out on a managed budget.
A set block of hours for contract review and questions, suited to a small team with steady paper.
Standing counsel for contracts, employment, governance and outside counsel management.
Financing, M&A, multi-state or regulated work, with board and diligence support.
Overage and project hours run $150 to $400 per hour depending on seniority and practice area. Ranges reflect published 2026 US market data and the 2024 ACC compensation report, not a Hey CMO rate card. A Fractional General Counsel is not a substitute for specialist counsel on litigation or regulatory matters.
| Fractional General Counsel | Law Firm by the Hour | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost shape | Predictable monthly retainer | Variable, and highest when you need help most |
| Context | Knows your business, contracts and history | Re-briefed on every matter |
| Scope | Commercial judgment plus risk calls | Deep specialist expertise, matter by matter |
| Speed | Same-day answers on routine paper | Queued behind other clients |
| Best for | Ongoing business-as-usual legal work | Litigation, regulatory and specialist matters |
The two work together. A Fractional GC handles the daily commercial load and decides when a specialist is genuinely needed, which is what keeps outside counsel spend down.
Define included work, response times and an hours cap. Ambiguity is what makes GC retainers unprofitable.
Anchor on a monthly retainer with a clear overage rate. The market pays $5,000 to $10,000 for embedded support.
Fractional CFOs, accountants and venture funds refer counsel work constantly. Be the name on their list.
Got Fractional pulls Fractional, interim and advisory legal roles from company career pages, job boards and professional communities into one searchable feed. Access is included for active Hey CMO Fractional Network members.
A Fractional General Counsel acts as your in-house lawyer part time: contract drafting and review, corporate governance and board support, employment matters, IP and privacy obligations, early dispute triage, and management of specialist outside counsel.
Expect $5,000 to $15,000 per month, most commonly $5,000 to $10,000 for embedded support, with overage hours at $150 to $400. Annual cost lands around $60,000 to $180,000 against $350,000 to $600,000 or more for a full-time GC.
For ongoing commercial work, usually yes, because the retainer is predictable and the person already has context. Specialist litigation and regulatory matters still go to a firm. The saving typically comes from a Fractional GC scoping and supervising that firm work.
When legal volume needs daily attention, or when regulatory exposure, deal flow or headcount makes an always-available executive necessary. Many companies run fractional until legal work reliably fills a full week.
That depends on the individual lawyer, their bar admissions and the matter. Most Fractional GC engagements deliberately exclude litigation and route it to specialist counsel, with the GC managing scope and budget.
Hey CMO connects business builders with vetted Fractional leaders, and gives Fractionals the systems to run the practice behind the role.
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