Service
Temporary Legal Counsel for Australian Businesses
Senior in-house cover for a fixed period — starting in days, at a fixed monthly fee, with a clean handover at the end.
In short
Temporary legal counsel is senior in-house legal cover engaged for a fixed period — a month, a quarter, a half year — at a fixed monthly fee, with no recruiter, no payroll and no notice period at the end.
Next step: tell us the dates you need covered and what is live, and we will scope the cover and the monthly fee. Start here.
Legal work does not pause because the person who handles it has stopped. A resignation, a secondment out, a long illness, a contract lawyer whose term ended — the contracts still land, the disputes still run, and the board still asks the questions. Temporary legal counsel puts a senior lawyer in that seat for as long as the gap lasts, and then steps back out.
When businesses call us for temporary cover
- The in-house lawyer has resigned and the replacement search will take months
- Extended sick leave, carer's leave or long service leave
- A fixed-term legal hire has finished and the work has not
- The legal function is being restructured and someone needs to hold the line meanwhile
- A founder or operations lead has been handling contracts personally and cannot keep doing it through a busy quarter
What the cover includes
We scope this to the seat we are covering, not to a fixed menu. In practice it usually means:
- Reviewing, drafting and negotiating the commercial contracts that come in during the period
- Being the point of contact for the leadership team's legal questions
- Holding the live matters — disputes, renewals, deadlines — so nothing lapses
- Employment and compliance questions as they arise
- A written handover at the end, so the permanent hire inherits a clear picture rather than a mystery
Why this is faster than hiring
A permanent in-house hire is a four to six month exercise once you count the brief, the shortlist, the interviews, the offer and the notice period. A recruiter-placed contractor is faster, but you still absorb the placement fee, the onboarding and the employment administration for someone who will leave. Temporary counsel skips all of it: one conversation, an agreed scope, an agreed monthly fee, and someone senior working on your matters the same week.
What it costs
A fixed monthly fee against an agreed scope and availability. You know the number before the month begins, and you can change it at each monthly review point as the gap shortens or the workload shifts. We do not bill in six-minute units, and we do not charge for the phone call where you ask whether something is a problem.
For a sense of the range across our counsel engagements, see what a fractional general counsel costs in Australia.
Temporary cover, or something else?
- Temporary legal counsel — covering a seat for a known period, then out. This page.
- Interim General Counsel — the same idea at GC level, including board reporting and ownership of the legal function.
- Overflow support — your team stays in place; we take the excess volume.
- Parental leave cover — a defined cover period with a planned return.
- Fractional General Counsel — ongoing, not temporary: a standing senior legal resource at a fraction of a full-time load.
Frequently asked questions
How quickly can you start?
Usually within days. There is no recruitment process and no notice period to work through — we scope the cover, agree the fee and begin.
What is the shortest engagement you will take?
One month. Most temporary cover runs one to six months, reviewed monthly so you can extend, reduce or stop.
Do you work on site?
On site in Sydney or Melbourne where the role needs it, remote otherwise. Most temporary cover works well remotely with a regular standing call.
Is this the same as a locum lawyer?
The intent is the same, but a locum is usually placed by a recruiter as a contractor on your books. We engage directly as your external legal adviser — no placement fee, no payroll, no employment risk.
What happens at the end?
You get a written handover: the live matters, where each one sits, the deadlines ahead, and anything the permanent hire should pick up first.
Two ways to start
Get a fixed fee before any work starts.
Answer a few short questions, attach your documents if you have them, and a senior lawyer replies with the scope and the price.
Know what you need? Request a fixed-fee quote and upload your documents. Not sure of scope? Book a short call with a senior lawyer instead.