Legal help is the one area on this site where the difference between a consultant and a fractional executive is partly set by law. Only licensed lawyers can give legal advice. That shapes what each kind of provider can do.
Three kinds of legal help
A law firm handles matters. You send a contract, a dispute or a financing; the firm does the work and bills by the hour or by a fixed fee for the matter. Each lawyer may know your company only through the documents in front of them.
A legal or compliance consultant who is not acting as your lawyer can help with process: contract management systems, compliance program design, policy drafting under a lawyer’s review, training and document organization. They cannot give legal advice, and their communications are generally not privileged. Some are former lawyers; check whether they are acting as counsel or as a consultant, because the protections differ.
A fractional general counsel is a licensed lawyer acting as your in-house counsel for part of the month. They give legal advice, their advice is generally privileged, and they own the legal function on an ongoing basis.
Deliverable and ownership
A law firm and a consultant both deliver work products: a reviewed contract, a set of policies, a compliance plan. A fractional GC owns outcomes. They keep templates current as your business changes, decide which deals need negotiation and which can be signed, track obligations in signed contracts and know which risks the company has already accepted. Retainers typically run $3,000 to $15,000 a month.
Project and retainer
Law firms bill by the matter or the hour, with experienced lawyers often above $500 an hour. Consultants bill by project. Fractional GCs bill a monthly retainer for a set number of hours, typically 10 to 40, with an hourly rate above it, often $250 to $500.
Who signs off on decisions
Legal risk decisions belong to the CEO and board, advised by counsel. A law firm advises on the matter in front of it. A fractional GC advises across the business and is usually given authority to approve standard contracts, agree routine changes within a playbook, instruct outside counsel and set legal policy. Write that authority down: which contracts the GC can approve, which need the CEO and which need the board.
When a law firm or consultant is enough
If your legal needs are occasional, a law firm on call is enough. If you need a contract management system implemented or staff trained on compliance, a consultant can do that work, with a lawyer reviewing anything that amounts to advice. Litigation, patents and large transactions belong with specialist firms in any model.
When you need a fractional GC
You need one when legal work is steady and nobody owns it. The signs: the founder negotiates every contract; customer agreements sit for weeks; templates are years old; nobody can say which contracts have change-of-control clauses; and law firm bills arrive with no one checking them.
Working together
A good fractional GC manages the rest: choosing firms, setting the scope of each matter, reviewing bills and working with consultants on process. Ask candidates which firms they have worked with and how they decide what to send out.