Service
Part-Time General Counsel for Australian SMEs
The in-house GC role, sized to the business — a senior lawyer at the leadership table one or two days a week, on a fixed monthly fee.
Part-Time General Counsel is the in-house GC role, sized to the business. Instead of hiring one full-time, you engage a senior commercial lawyer for a defined block of time each week or month. The angle here is presence: for established SMEs, being in the business — attending meetings, walking the floor, sitting next to the CFO — matters more than raw hours.
Who This Fits
- Established SMEs with 30–200 employees and $10m+ in revenue
- Family businesses professionalising their governance
- Businesses whose CEO wants a lawyer at the leadership table, not down the phone
- PE-backed portfolio companies that need GC-level presence between reporting cycles
What "Part-Time" Looks Like in Practice
Most Part-Time GC arrangements settle into one of three shapes:
- One day a week, on-site — usually the same day each week, sitting in the office alongside the leadership team
- Two half-days a week — split between on-site work and remote contract turnaround
- Blended — monthly on-site presence with responsive remote coverage in between
The retainer covers hours, attendance and continuity. When something urgent lands outside the on-site day, we pick it up.
Scope
- Leadership team member for legal — attends ELT / SLT meetings
- Board papers, board briefings and governance calendar
- All ordinary-course contract and commercial work
- Employment matters, including sensitive terminations and restructures
- Privacy, consumer law and industry compliance oversight
- Insurance renewals and risk register maintenance
- Managing external specialists — litigation, tax, transactions
How It Differs from a Consultant or a Firm
A consultant leaves when the project ends. A firm bills every conversation. A Part-Time GC is the same lawyer, every week, at a fixed monthly fee — with the same accountability as an employee GC. The relationship is designed to last years, not matters.
Pricing
Part-Time GC retainers typically sit in the $5,000–$15,000 + GST per month range depending on days per week and business complexity. See the tiered pricing on our Fractional General Counsel service page.
Related
- Fractional General Counsel — the canonical service page
- Outsourced General Counsel
- Fractional Legal Counsel
- What is a Fractional General Counsel?
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