Executive search for a general counsel or a chief legal officer

An executive search firm general counsel mandate is a retained search for a general counsel or a chief legal officer. Sartori & Partners has completed 52 GC/CLO searches since 2017, inside 400+ placements (230+ in-house). The clock on those 52 files is 24 days average to a shortlist and 11 weeks median to an accepted offer, range 8-16 weeks. The method is on how we run a search and in how to run a general counsel search. The seat pages are general counsel search and chief legal officer search.

Yes. A venture-backed SaaS company in California hired its first general counsel on a retained search: shortlist on day 24, accepted offer in week 10, still in post at 24 months. That file is one of 52 GC/CLO searches since 2017. The product page is first general counsel. The long form is hiring your first general counsel. The file is the California case study.

Across 52 GC/CLO searches since 2017, the average shortlist is 24 days and the median accepted offer is 11 weeks, range 8-16 weeks. The Boston succession matched the shortlist average (a shortlist of four on day 24) and closed in week 11. The California first-GC file also shortlisted on day 24 and accepted in week 10, inside the 8-16 week range. Offer acceptance on corporate mandates is 96%. Retained corporate mandates complete at 92%.

We do. Alongside general and commercial counsel, we place chief compliance officers, MLROs, regulatory counsel and risk leadership — people who can withstand supervisory scrutiny and brief a board with credibility. With regulatory change cited among the top concerns of chief legal officers (ACC 2025), demand for proven compliance leaders is intense. Explore compliance & regulatory recruitment, including a chief compliance officer search and a chief privacy officer search.

Yes. A NYSE-listed payments company in New York hired a chief compliance officer on a retained search, assessed against the U.S. Department of Justice Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs (updated 2024). The shortlist arrived in week 3 and the accepted offer closed in week 10. Programme CCO searches reach a shortlist in 21 days and an accepted offer in 10 weeks, across 36 compliance leadership placements since 2017. Those 36 sit inside the 400+ placements (230+ in-house). The seat page is chief compliance officer search. The parent line is compliance recruitment.

The San Francisco file is the worked example. A Series C fintech needed cover for parental leave and a financing. The interim general counsel was live on the work on day 6. Across 60+ interim and fractional engagements since 2017, the median from first call to start is 7 days. That book is separate from the 400+ placements (230+ in-house) (52 of those are GC/CLO). US interim GC day-rates on that file run $1,800-$3,200. Fractional GC at two to three days a week runs $2,800-$4,500 a day. A later permanent search, if briefed, runs on the GC/CLO clock: 24 days to a shortlist and 11 weeks median to an accepted offer. See interim general counsel and fractional general counsel.

The published files keep each band in its own lane. A first GC at Series B-C, on the California file, is a $240,000-$340,000 base with a 20-40% bonus. A mid-cap listed GC, on the Boston file, is a $450,000-$650,000 base, 60-100% bonus. Deputy and Head of Legal cash, on the Houston file, is $220,000-$380,000, and PE-backed portfolio GCs on that file run $280,000-$420,000 base with a 25-50% bonus. Proxy statements show median total compensation of $4.76m for sitting general counsel who are named executive officers at 236 of the largest US-listed companies, 2026 proxy season (Sartori & Partners analysis of SEC proxy filings). That $4.76m figure is large-cap total pay. Stage bands are on the salary benchmarks.

Companies engage us on a retained basis only. The fee is 25-30% of total first-year compensation, with 30% of the fee paid as a retainer at engagement. Retained GC, CLO and CCO searches carry a 12-month replacement. Deputy GC, Head of Legal and legal-operations searches carry a 6-month replacement. Off-limits on the client's legal department run 24 months after the mandate. Fee, replacement and off-limits are in the letter before outreach. Terms are written up in in-house search fees, the guarantee and off-limits. To brief a seat, start a conversation.

The seven case studies name sector, stage and city only. Company files: a venture-backed SaaS company in California; a NASDAQ-listed medtech in Boston; a NYSE-listed payments company in New York; a PE-backed industrial group in Houston; a listed software group in Austin; a Series C fintech in San Francisco. The seventh file is a confidential lateral partner search in Houston energy, on the law-firm desk. The firm was founded in early 2017 by Lorenzo Sartori, with an international network in Brussels in 2019, then Dubai and Riyadh, and US hubs in New York, California and Texas (about the firm).