What we do · Companies first

Legal Recruitment & Executive Search

Company mandates first: general counsel, compliance, legal operations and interim cover. Law-firm partner and associate search uses the same retained method.

Hire legal talent For companies
01 The standard

Company seats first. One standard on every mandate.

Sartori & Partners runs specialized executive search for the legal sector only — for companies and for law firms, across the United States, the European Union and the Gulf.

We lead with the seats a company briefs. Since 2017 the firm has completed 400+ placements (230+ in-house), including 52 GC and CLO searches: shortlist in 24 days, median accepted offer in 11 weeks (range 8-16). Corporate offer acceptance is 96%. Of placed in-house leaders, 97% remain at 12 months and 91% remain at 24 months.

A NASDAQ-listed medtech in Boston hired its successor general counsel from a shortlist of four on day 24, with the accepted offer in week 11. The six corporate case studies publish these clocks. The market map is the research programme: close to 1.5 million lawyer profiles, and a quarterly survey running since 2019.

Boston medtech succession ↗ Case studies ↗ Research programme ↗ About the firm ↗ Hiring for companies ↗

02 Company

Company mandates.

Parent disciplines a company hires: general counsel, compliance, legal operations, interim cover, staffing and the board.

01

In-House & General Counsel

General counsel, chief legal officer and senior in-house counsel. Since 2017: 400+ placements (230+ in-house), including 52 GC and CLO searches: shortlist in 24 days, median accepted offer in 11 weeks (range 8-16).

Explore in-house and general counsel search
02

Compliance & Regulatory

Chief compliance officers and regulatory leaders. 36 compliance and regulatory leadership placements since 2017. A NYSE-listed payments company in New York: shortlist in week 3, accepted offer in week 10.

Explore compliance and regulatory recruitment
03

Legal Operations

Legal operations and legal-technology leaders. 12 legal-operations placements since 2017. A listed software company in Austin: shortlist in 21 days, accepted offer in week 9.

Explore legal operations recruiting
04

Interim & Contract Counsel

Interim and fractional counsel for a vacancy, a deal or a leave. 60+ interim and fractional engagements since 2017, counted separately from the 400+ placements (230+ in-house). Median from first call to start is 7 days. A Series C fintech in San Francisco was live on the work on day 6.

Explore interim and fractional counsel
05

Attorney Staffing Agency

Contract and project lawyers for leave, surge and a defined matter, when a permanent seat is the wrong tool.

Explore attorney staffing
06

Legal Recruiters

Retained search for in-house counsel and for law firms. Company work sits in the 400+ placements since 2017 (230+ in-house).

Explore legal recruiters
07

Legal Recruiters in London

Retained search for London companies and London law firms: in-house seats and firm mandates.

Explore legal recruiters in London
08

Board & Advisory

Non-executive director search and board advisory, sourced against a composition matrix the board can defend.

Explore board and advisory search

The technology seat inside firm management, CIO, CTO, or head of innovation, is a law firm CIO search.

03 Named seats

Specialist searches a company briefs.

Named seats, in company order: first counsel, the GC or CLO, succession, compliance, privacy, and the cover around a deal.

01

First General Counsel

A company's first general counsel, from growth stage to pre-IPO. A venture-backed SaaS company in California: shortlist on day 24, accepted offer in week 10, still in post at 24 months.

Brief a first-GC search
02

Real Estate General Counsel

General counsel for a REIT, a developer, or a real estate fund: transactions, financing, land use and fund qualification.

Brief Real Estate General Counsel
03

General Counsel Search

Retained GC and CLO search: brief, market map, slate, assessment, offer and onboarding. 52 GC and CLO searches since 2017: shortlist in 24 days, median accepted offer in 11 weeks (range 8-16).

Brief a general counsel search
04

Legal Search Firm

How a company or a law firm picks a retained search partner. The fee is 25-30% of total first-year compensation; the retainer is 30% of the fee. GC, CLO and CCO searches carry a 12-month replacement term.

How to choose a legal search firm
05

Life Sciences General Counsel

General counsel for biotech, pharma and medtech, scored on FDA, licensing, intellectual property and compliance. The published medtech succession is a NASDAQ-listed company in Boston.

Brief a life sciences GC search
06

Healthcare General Counsel

A general counsel for a hospital system, payer or health-services company, scored on HIPAA, Stark, payer contracts and M&A.

Brief Healthcare General Counsel
07

General Counsel Succession

A successor general counsel, searched while the sitting counsel remains. A NASDAQ-listed medtech in Boston: shortlist of four on day 24, accepted offer in week 11, with a 12-month replacement term in the letter.

Brief a succession search
08

Chief Legal Officer Search

A chief legal officer who reports to the chief executive and sits with the board. Counted inside the 52 GC and CLO searches since 2017.

Brief a CLO search
09

Deputy General Counsel & Head of Legal

The second chair who runs the legal function day to day. 47 deputy and Head of Legal placements since 2017. A PE-backed industrial company in Houston: shortlist in 18 days, accepted offer in week 8.

Brief a deputy-GC search
10

Chief Compliance Officer Search

A chief compliance officer who can brief an audit committee. 36 compliance and regulatory leadership placements since 2017. A NYSE-listed payments company in New York: shortlist in week 3, accepted offer in week 10.

Brief a CCO search
11

Chief Privacy Officer & DPO Search

Chief privacy officer and data protection officer seats under the GDPR and US state privacy law.

Brief a CPO or DPO search
12

Data Protection Officer Search

Statutory data protection officer seats under the GDPR and the UK GDPR, distinct from a US chief privacy officer.

Brief a DPO search
13

AI Governance Counsel

In-house counsel for AI products, model risk and the EU AI Act.

Brief an AI-governance search
14

Head of Sanctions, MLRO & AML

Head of sanctions, money-laundering reporting officers and BSA/AML officers for banks, payments, crypto, energy and defense.

Brief a sanctions or MLRO search
15

Fractional General Counsel

A general counsel for set days each week, until a full-time seat is justified. 60+ interim and fractional engagements since 2017, counted separately from the 400+ placements (230+ in-house). Median from first call to start is 7 days.

Brief a fractional GC
16

Interim General Counsel

Full-time interim general counsel for a vacancy, a deal or an investigation. 60+ interim and fractional engagements since 2017, counted separately from the 400+ placements (230+ in-house). Median from first call to start is 7 days. A Series C fintech in San Francisco was live on the work on day 6.

Brief an interim GC
17

PE Portfolio Legal Hiring

Operating counsel and group legal leads for private-equity portfolio companies. The PE-backed file is a deputy general counsel at an industrial company in Houston: shortlist in 18 days, accepted offer in week 8.

Brief a PE-portfolio search
18

Private Equity Portfolio GC Search

The general counsel of a private-equity portfolio company: first lawyer, sponsor reporting and the exit file.

Brief a portfolio-company GC search
19

Corporate Secretary & Governance Counsel

Corporate secretary and governance counsel for listed and large private groups, as a combined GC seat or a split seat.

Brief a corporate-secretary search
20

Post-Merger Legal Integration

Counsel who merge entities, contracts and legal teams after close, as interim cover or a permanent seat.

Brief a post-merger integration
21

Chief Litigation Officer

The lawyer who owns the dispute portfolio, outside-counsel spend and settlement authority.

Brief a head-of-litigation search
22

Insurance General Counsel

General counsel for carriers, reinsurers and managing general agents, briefed against the state regulator, the NAIC and Solvency II.

Brief an insurance GC search
23

Head of IP Search

Chief intellectual property counsel or head of IP: patents, licensing, portfolio value, AI inventorship and open source.

Brief a head of IP search
24

Bank General Counsel Search

General counsel for banks, broker-dealers and payments firms: examiner relations, the Dodd-Frank Act, Basel, and the line with the chief compliance officer.

Brief a bank GC search
25

Energy General Counsel

General counsel for utilities, oil and gas, and cleantech: regulatory dockets, project finance, the transition book, and FERC.

Brief Energy General Counsel
26

Fintech General Counsel Search

General counsel for payments, crypto and embedded-finance companies: money transmission, MiCA, PSD3, and the partner bank.

Brief Fintech General Counsel Search
27

Asset Management General Counsel

General counsel for asset managers, hedge funds and family offices: Advisers Act, FCA, fund formation, side letters, and combined CCO seats.

Brief Asset Management General Counsel
28

Legal Executive Search

Retained search for a company's legal officers, with law-firm leadership on the same desk. Company side first: 400+ placements since 2017 (230+ in-house).

Read legal executive search
29

Technology General Counsel

A general counsel for software, AI and platform companies, scored on commercial contracts, AI governance, IP and privacy.

Brief Technology General Counsel

Sitting general counsel staffing a team start at legal hiring for companies. The retained practice, company side first, is legal executive search.

04 How we work

A smaller, data-led approach to legal search.

The same three principles sit under every mandate, from a single in-house hire to a practice-group move.

01

Proprietary data

Our in-house engine maps the relevant universe directly — not a rented, recycled contact list shared across the market.

02

Story-driven outreach

Every approach is specific and built on a crafted opportunity — never a mass send that risks a candidate's confidentiality.

03

Strategic insight

We curate fit, not volume — assessing platform, economics and culture so a placement holds years on, not just to close.

06 Every market

Our services, market by market.

A page for each search we publish in each market: the local bench, the employers hiring, and how the process runs.

Associate & attorney recruiting140 pages
Board & advisory20 pages

Atlanta

Austin

Baltimore

Boston

Charlotte

Chicago

Dallas

Denver

Houston

Los Angeles

Minneapolis

New York

Philadelphia

Phoenix

San Diego

San Francisco

Seattle

Washington

Compliance & regulatory43 pages

Amsterdam

Atlanta

Austin

Baltimore

Boston

Brussels

Charlotte

Chicago

Dallas

Denver

Dublin

Frankfurt

Hong Kong

Houston

Kansas City

Las Vegas

London

Los Angeles

Madrid

Minneapolis

Munich

New Orleans

New York

Newark

Philadelphia

Phoenix

Pittsburgh

Sacramento

San Diego

San Francisco

Seattle

Singapore

St. Louis

Sydney

Toronto

Washington

Zurich

In-house & general counsel426 pages
Interim & contract counsel35 pages

Amsterdam

Atlanta

Austin

Baltimore

Boston

Brussels

Charlotte

Chicago

Dallas

Denver

Dublin

Frankfurt

Hong Kong

Houston

London

Los Angeles

Minneapolis

Munich

New York

Philadelphia

Phoenix

San Diego

San Francisco

Seattle

Singapore

Sydney

Toronto

Washington

Zurich

Lateral partner recruiting149 pages

Kansas City

Las Vegas

New Orleans

Newark

Orlando

Pittsburgh

St. Louis

Sydney

Tel Aviv

Law firm management20 pages

Atlanta

Austin

Baltimore

Boston

Charlotte

Chicago

Dallas

Denver

Houston

Los Angeles

Minneapolis

New York

Philadelphia

Phoenix

San Diego

San Francisco

Seattle

Washington

Legal operations36 pages

Amsterdam

Atlanta

Austin

Baltimore

Boston

Brussels

Charlotte

Chicago

Dallas

Denver

Dublin

Frankfurt

Hong Kong

Houston

London

Los Angeles

Madrid

Minneapolis

Munich

New York

Philadelphia

Phoenix

San Diego

San Francisco

Seattle

Singapore

Sydney

Toronto

Washington

Zurich

07 Common questions

How we work with companies, firms and candidates

What does Sartori & Partners recruit for?
Do you work with both hiring companies and candidates?

Yes. Companies build a legal team or brief a search. Law firms brief a firm search. Senior lawyers explore a move.

What makes your approach different from a contingency database recruiter?

We go beyond recycled databases and static networks. By combining proprietary data, story-driven outreach and strategic insight, we reach high-performing legal talent — including those who are not actively looking, but are worth moving. Data finds the names; experienced consultants make the calls that matter. See our full methodology. The map is the research programme.

Where do you run searches?

The firm was founded in early 2017 by Lorenzo Sartori. We serve companies and law firms across the United States, the European Union and the Gulf, with hubs in New York, California and Texas and an international network in Brussels, Dubai and Riyadh, after the Brussels opening in 2019. See locations and about the firm.

Start a conversation

Name the seat. Then we map the field.

Companies brief a general counsel, a compliance leader or interim cover here. Law-firm mandates use the same retained letter.