Corporate · Flexible officer
Two or three days a week. A senior in-house lawyer, not a firm associate on secondment. Live in a week, not a quarter.
Growing companies hit standing legal work before they can pay a five-day general counsel. The honest product is a days-per-week officer: typically two or three days, a day-rate, a named senior lawyer who has been a GC or deputy, owning contracts, employment and the board pack. It is not a firm sending whoever is free. It is not a contractor who has never sat with a board.
Sartori & Partners has delivered 60+ interim and fractional engagements since 2017, counted separately from 230+ permanent in-house placements. Median time from first call to start: 7 days. When the board later wants a named full-time officer, days billed credit against the retained fee on a first general counsel search. Parent flexible desk: interim legal talent.
Standing commercial paper, employment and a monthly board pack. Typical at Seed-A and early Series B, revenue still under $50 million, team size 0-1. Often the honest first legal hire.
The cadence at which a first regulated product or a US/EU expansion starts to need a named officer without yet justifying five days. Privacy and a light secretary book appear here.
Full-time cover for parental leave, a financing, a TSA or a departure is interim, billed as interim GC. Different letter. Same desk. See interim legal talent.
Team-size bands: Seed-A often fractional; Series B-C / under $50 million, one lawyer; high-growth SaaS, four to ten once the function exists. Sequencing: building in-house legal teams.
These are day rates, not salaries. Do not annualise them into a first-GC cash band without saying so.
| Engagement | US day rate | UK day rate | Typical cadence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fractional GC (2-3 days/week) | $2,800-$4,500 | £1,800-£3,200 | 2-3 days/week |
| First-GC fractional (sub-$100m revenue) | $2,200-$3,400 | £1,500-£2,400 | 1-2 days/week |
| Interim GC (defined gap) | $1,800-$3,200 | £1,400-£2,400 | Full-time cover |
| Interim CCO | $2,200-$3,800 | £1,600-£2,800 | Full-time cover |
| Commercial counsel secondment | $1,200-$2,200 | £900-£1,600 | Surge or cover |
| Privacy / AI intercept | $1,600-$2,800 | market sterling | Intercept, not standing CPO |
Days billed on a fractional engagement are credited against a later retained fee for the same seat. Abort on a later retained search: engagement instalment retained.
Source: Sartori & Partners FACTS ledger, 10 September 2026.
Related: interim versus permanent guide. Decision essay: interim versus permanent in-house counsel.
Fractional is often the right first move and the wrong last one. The conversion triggers are the same as a first-GC brief: a board that wants a named officer, a secretary book, a regulator who will ask who owns the programme, a US or EU expansion that needs a local signature. When that happens we open a retained search on GC terms — 28-33 percent of first-year cash, three instalments, 12-month replacement — and credit days already billed against that fee.
We will not pretend a two-day cadence is a five-day officer to keep the day-rate running. The Series C payments CEO in San Francisco was told fractional for two quarters, then permanent. Both were right. The fractional counsel started in a week.
San Francisco and California are the densest fractional markets we run. Interim legal talent in San Francisco, in-house recruiting in San Francisco, interim in Los Angeles, in-house in London.
Timeline: Start day 6.
Client references
We thought we needed a full-time GC. They said fractional for two quarters, then a permanent search. Both were right. The fractional counsel started in a week.
A fractional GC is a senior in-house lawyer engaged for a set number of days each week, not a full-time officer. Typical cadence is two to three days. The person owns standing work — contracts, employment, the board pack — without a five-day W-2. It is not a secondment of a firm associate.
Across 60+ interim and fractional engagements, the median start is 7 days from the first call. Those 60+ sit outside the 230+ permanent in-house placements. A Series C fintech in San Francisco needed cover through parental leave and a financing; the interim GC was live on the work on day 6. See the San Francisco interim GC.
A US fractional GC at two to three days a week bills $2,800 to $4,500 a day; UK rates run £1,800 to £3,200. First-GC fractional at sub-$100 million revenue: $2,200-$3,400 / £1,500-£2,400. Interim GC (full-time cover): $1,800-$3,200 / £1,400-£2,400. Full table: interim versus permanent in-house counsel.
Yes. Days billed on a fractional engagement are credited against a later retained fee for the same seat. The conversion is written into the engagement letter. A Chief Executive at a Series C payments company in San Francisco ran fractional for two quarters, then a permanent search; both were right.
Convert when the board needs a named officer, a secretary book, or a five-day presence the day-rate no longer covers. Triggers match first general counsel search: Series B-C, first regulated product, board formation, US or EU expansion. Guide: interim versus permanent in-house counsel.
Fractional is a standing part-time officer; interim is full-time cover for a defined gap. Parental leave, a financing, a TSA, a departure: interim. Two days a week for two quarters while the company decides: fractional. Both live on this desk and on interim legal talent.
Yes. The same desk that placed the fractional counsel can open a retained first-GC search when the company is ready. Retained GC terms: 28-33 percent of first-year cash, three instalments, 12-month replacement, days already billed credited. We do not hand the conversion to a different firm.
Days per week
Median start in 7 days. Days billed credit against a later retained search. No obligation.
