Interim & On-Demand Counsel · USA & International
Interim & Contract Counsel
When a company can't wait for an 11-week general counsel search — the median to an accepted offer on 52 GC and CLO mandates — we place interim and fractional counsel on a day-rate. Law firms use the same bench for deal overflow and leave cover.
Legal capacity, deployed at the speed of the matter.
A generalist staffing agency sends résumés; we read the matter. We know which interim counsel can stand up a data room under deal pressure, which can run a regulatory remediation or a carve-out separation to a hard filing date, and which can slot into an in-house team mid-leave without a long ramp.
Interim legal talent is a separate book from permanent search. Across 60+ interim and fractional engagements since 2017, the median from first call to start is 7 days. That book is not inside the 400+ placements (230+ in-house). A Series C fintech in San Francisco had an interim general counsel live on day 6, covering parental leave and a financing. US interim GC day-rates on that file are $1,800-$3,200. Days billed credit against a later retained fee. A later permanent GC search, if the company still wants one, is 52 of those 400+ placements: shortlist in 24 days, median accepted offer in 11 weeks.
The clocks are mandate telemetry from closed files, the instrument described in the research programme. The running order of a search is in our methodology. Firm background, including the founding in early 2017, is on about the firm. A London company hiring interim counsel starts at interim legal talent in London. A Hong Kong company hiring interim counsel starts at interim legal talent in Hong Kong. A Singapore general counsel, chief compliance officer or chief operating officer hiring day-rate cover starts at interim legal talent in Singapore. A Dubai company hiring interim counsel starts at interim legal talent in Dubai. A Sydney company hiring interim counsel starts at interim legal talent in Sydney. A Dublin general counsel, chief compliance officer or chief operating officer hiring day-rate cover starts at interim legal talent in Dublin.
From first call to active matter — median 7 days.
A deliberately short runway. We compress sourcing, conflicts and onboarding so the engagement starts while the need is still acute. The median from first call to start is 7 days across 60+ interim and fractional engagements since 2017. The stage labels below are the running order, not separate measured averages.
- I First call
Brief & calibrate
Scope, seniority, jurisdiction and start date defined on the first call — we read the matter, not just the job title, so the shortlist is calibrated to the gap from the outset.
- II Shortlist
Shortlist
Pre-vetted interim counsel mapped to the matter from our active bench — lawyers we already know can stand up a data room under deal pressure or run a regulatory remediation to a hard date.
- III Clearance
Clear & onboard
Conflicts cleared and access provisioned in parallel, not in sequence — so the engagement starts while the need is still acute.
- IV Median: 7 days
Live on the work
Counsel on the matter. The median from first call to start is 7 days across 60+ interim and fractional engagements since 2017. A Series C fintech in San Francisco was live on day 6.
Four modes of flexible capability.
Each engagement is sized to the gap and scaled on your terms — a single counsel or an embedded team, for a sprint or a season. Every interim placement is a contract or temporary engagement, billed by the day.
Transactional Overflow & Due Diligence
Deal-ready counsel who absorb the spike in M&A, financing and diligence work — running data rooms and workstreams alongside your core team until the transaction closes, then released cleanly afterward.
Carve-Outs, Integrations & Specialized Projects
Defined-scope mandates — post-deal integration and TSA exit, carve-out separation, regulatory programs, remediation, contract migrations, investigations — staffed at the right seniority and stood down on delivery.
Practice-Area & Jurisdiction Coverage
On-demand depth in the disciplines your team does not carry full-time, parachuted in for the duration of the matter and across the US and international jurisdictions where the work actually sits.
Fractional GC & Team Augmentation
A fractional general counsel for a scaling company without a full-time legal budget, or embedded interim lawyers and secondees who hold a leave or a surge. US interim GC day-rates are $1,800-$3,200. A fractional GC at two to three days a week is $2,800-$4,500 a day on the days worked. Days billed credit against a later retained fee.
A named general counsel on a day-rate is an interim general counsel search. Hiring across the wider legal department too? See in-house & general counsel recruiting and legal operations recruitment, or start from the legal talent acquisition hub for companies. London companies start at interim legal talent in London. Hong Kong companies start at interim legal talent in Hong Kong. Singapore companies start at interim legal talent in Singapore. Dubai companies start at interim legal talent in Dubai. Sydney companies start at interim legal talent in Sydney. Dublin companies start at interim legal talent in Dublin.
60+ engagements. Median start in 7 days.
Interim and fractional work is a separate book from permanent placements. One published file beat the 7-day median.
- 60+
- Interim and fractional engagements since 2017, outside the 400+ placements (230+ in-house).
- Sartori corporate track record, 2017-2026
- 7 days
- Median from first call to start across those 60+ engagements.
- Sartori corporate track record, 2017-2026
- Day 6
- Series C fintech in San Francisco: interim general counsel live on the work, parental leave and a financing.
- Sartori case study, September 2026
- $1,800-$3,200
- US interim general counsel day-rate. Days billed credit against a later retained fee.
- Sartori corporate terms, current
Source: Sartori & Partners corporate track record, 2017-2026, as published on the Series C fintech interim general counsel case study. The 7-day figure is the median from first call to start across 60+ engagements. Offer acceptance of 96% applies to permanent corporate offers, not to a day-rate start. Of placed in-house leaders on permanent seats, 97% remain at 12 months and 91% at 24 months.
Coverage for the moment the gap opens.
The situations that bring law firms and in-house teams to us — and how an interim engagement answers each.
Can you cover a deal surge when our corporate team is at capacity?
Yes. When an M&A or financing wave lands, we place due-diligence and transactional counsel onto the deal, running data rooms and workstreams alongside your core team until close. The median from first call to start across 60+ interim and fractional engagements since 2017 is 7 days. A Series C fintech in San Francisco needed cover for a financing and a parental leave; the interim general counsel was live on day 6. The named-officer seat is an interim general counsel search.
Do you provide cover for parental or medical leave?
Yes. When a senior lawyer steps out and the workload does not, an interim secondee holds the seat — full- or part-time, with a fixed or open end date. The published file is parental leave plus a financing at a Series C fintech in San Francisco: live on day 6, against a median of 7 days across 60+ interim and fractional engagements since 2017. We stand the engagement down when your lawyer returns. See the San Francisco interim GC case study.
Can interim counsel run a regulatory project or a post-deal integration to a hard deadline?
Yes. When new rules, a filing, an internal audit, a carve-out separation or a TSA exit arrives with a fixed date, we place project counsel who run the workstream end to end and stand down on delivery. The resource is scoped to the project, not the org chart — specialist regulatory, compliance and transactional lawyers brought in for the duration of the program only. The same 7-day median from first call to start applies.
How does this work during a headcount or budget freeze?
Interim counsel adds senior bandwidth on a day-rate, not as a percentage of salary, and without a permanent headcount. The median from first call to start is 7 days across 60+ interim and fractional engagements since 2017. If the seat should stay, a permanent GC search is a separate book: 52 GC and CLO placements inside 400+ placements since 2017 (230+ in-house), shortlist in 24 days, median accepted offer in 11 weeks. Days billed on the interim engagement credit against that later retained fee. The retained fee is 25-30% of total first-year compensation, with 30% of the fee paid as a retainer, and a 12-month replacement on a retained GC search.
Can a scaling company use a fractional GC instead of a full-time hire?
Yes, when the work is a standing part-week seat rather than cover with an end date. US interim general counsel day-rates are $1,800-$3,200. A fractional general counsel at two to three days a week is $2,800-$4,500 a day on the days worked. A first-GC fractional seat for a company under $100 million of revenue is a different band, $2,200-$3,400, and a different brief. Days billed credit against a later retained fee. The named-officer product is interim general counsel. The published file — parental leave plus a financing, live on day 6 — is the San Francisco case study.
What if a matter falls outside our team's core practice areas?
We parachute in the specialist for the duration of the matter, then release the seat. That is on-demand expertise across jurisdictions and disciplines — the niche capability your team does not carry full-time, deployed only while the work is live. It is the same interim book: 60+ engagements since 2017, median start in 7 days, counted outside the 400+ placements (230+ in-house).
Interim work, on your terms.
The same flexibility that lets a client scale up is what lets an experienced lawyer choose the work — defined-scope mandates, secondments, fractional GC days, deal-overflow sprints, between permanent roles or as a deliberate way of practicing.
We place vetted interim counsel into US and international matters: M&A and diligence surges, leave cover, carve-outs and integrations, regulatory programs, and fractional general-counsel mandates. You set your availability, rate and jurisdictions; we bring the briefs that fit. Every engagement is treated in confidence, and the hiring firm pays the fee — joining our network costs you nothing.
Build the permanent team, too.
When the gap should become a hire, our specialist searches place the lawyer for the long term. A permanent GC search median is 11 weeks to an accepted offer, across 52 GC and CLO placements since 2017.
Interim General Counsel
A named general counsel on a day-rate for a vacancy, a parental leave, or a financing. Median start in 7 days across 60+ engagements; one Series C fintech was live on day 6.
Interim general counselIn-House & General Counsel
When interim cover proves the role should stay, we run the permanent general-counsel and senior in-house search. Shortlist in 24 days; median accepted offer in 11 weeks.
Explore in-house & GC recruitingLegal Operations
Legal-ops and legal-tech leaders. 12 legal-operations placements since 2017; median shortlist in 20 days; median accepted offer in 9 weeks.
Explore legal operations recruitingCompliance & Regulatory
Chief compliance officers and regulatory leadership — the permanent counterpart to a regulatory project hire.
Explore compliance recruitmentThe published file: interim general counsel for a Series C fintech in San Francisco, live on day 6. Building a corporate legal department? Start with our work for companies. A senior lawyer open to interim and project work? Join our interim & secondment network. A London brief is on interim legal talent in London. A Hong Kong brief is on interim legal talent in Hong Kong. A Singapore brief is on interim legal talent in Singapore. A Dubai brief is on interim legal talent in Dubai. A Sydney brief is on interim legal talent in Sydney. A Dublin brief is on interim legal talent in Dublin.
Where we run this search.
One page per market: the local bench, the employers hiring, the pay and how the process actually goes.
Interim & contract counsel35 pages
Amsterdam
Atlanta
Austin
Baltimore
Boston
Brussels
Charlotte
Chicago
Dallas
Denver
Dubai
Dublin
Frankfurt
Hong Kong
Houston
London
Los Angeles
Miami
Milan
Minneapolis
Munich
New York
Paris
Philadelphia
Phoenix
San Diego
San Francisco
Seattle
Singapore
Sydney
Tampa
Tokyo
Toronto
Washington
Zurich
Tell us where the gap is
Median start in 7 days across 60+ engagements.
Tell us the scope, seniority and start date. Interim and fractional work is a day-rate, counted outside the 400+ placements (230+ in-house).