Building the first legal function: permanent hire, fractional or interim?

Short answer: Build your first legal function in stages. First establish which legal work recurs and what you spend on law firms. A steady part-time workload suits a fractional general counsel; urgent need or an unclear profile suits an interim professional; a stable full-time workload justifies a permanent first legal hire. Many companies start interim or fractional, then hire permanently.

This guide is for CEOs, CFOs and HR leads at scale-ups, mid-sized companies and subsidiaries in Switzerland and Germany who are planning their first legal hire. It explains how to recognise the right moment, how to build the function in six steps and which model suits the first role.

When a company needs its own legal function

A company needs an in-house legal function when legal questions slow down day-to-day business and outside counsel is too expensive or too distant for routine work. Typical signals are:

• Law firm spend on routine work is rising: customer contracts, NDAs, supplier agreements and employment contracts go to external counsel even though they repeat.
• Contracts stall: sales and procurement wait for feedback, and deals slip.
• Regulation is growing: topics such as DORA, NIS2, the EU AI Act or AML/KYC call for ongoing work rather than one-off opinions.
• Governance is expected: the board, investors or the parent company want clear ownership of legal and compliance matters.
• Nobody coordinates: several law firms work in parallel with no one internally steering them, building knowledge and controlling cost.

If two or more signals apply, a structured review is worthwhile. Whether a part-time role is enough is covered in our guide part-time legal counsel for SMEs.

Building a legal function in six steps

A legal function does not start with the first hire but with a clear remit. This sequence has proved useful:

1. Take stock: analyse the last twelve months of law firm invoices, count contracts and recurring questions, and list ongoing disputes and regulatory obligations.
2. Define the remit: decide what will be handled internally and what stays with law firms, such as litigation, transactions or specialist questions. Set the reporting line, usually to the CEO or CFO.
3. Estimate the workload: convert the internal volume into hours and a workload percentage. Our guide legal team capacity planning explains the method.
4. Choose the model: permanent hire, fractional general counsel or interim professional, depending on workload, urgency and how clear the profile is (see the table below).
5. Put the basics in place: contract templates, approval and signing rules, a central contract repository, a deadline calendar and a short list of preferred law firms with fee budgets.
6. Review at a fixed point: set a date, for example after the first financial year, to reassess volume, cost and model.

Permanent, fractional or interim: the three models compared

The right choice depends on three questions: how much work is there, how quickly do you need someone, and how clear is the profile? The table compares the models.

Selected profiles are usually available within 48 hours; companies and Alpinum agree the start date together. How the fractional model works in terms of contract and workload is explained in the fractional model: contract and workload. For a comparison with an outsourced legal department run by a law firm, see outsourced legal department or your own legal counsel?.

Roles and capacity: who you need first

The first person in a legal function is usually an experienced generalist. They work directly with management, set priorities and steer outside counsel. That generally points to a senior profile with seven or more years of experience.

• First role: general counsel or senior legal counsel. If the work is mainly contracts and a group legal team provides leadership, an experienced profile (3–6 years) can be enough.
• Second stage: a contract manager, legal counsel or paralegal to handle volume once the first person spends most of their time on operational work.
• Compliance: in regulated sectors, a compliance role follows early, such as a compliance officer or money laundering reporting officer. Interim professionals can take on such formal roles; for the MLRO, regulatory requirements may rule out an external mandate or require staff leasing.

Alpinum Solutions provides legal and compliance professionals at every level through staff leasing and freelancing, part time or full time, and also supports permanent hiring. When a fractional general counsel fits and when an interim head of legal is the better option is covered in fractional GC or interim head of legal?.

Switzerland and Germany: what differs

The approach is the same in both countries. The differences lie in the professional rules for in-house lawyers, the protection of legal department documents and the engagement models.

For Swiss companies, who leads the legal function is also a strategic question. Since 1 January 2025, a party in civil proceedings may refuse to cooperate and to hand over documents of its in-house legal department if the company is entered in the commercial register, the department is led by a person with a cantonal bar qualification and the activity would be specific to the legal profession if performed by a lawyer (Art. 167a ZPO). If you want this protection, appoint the head of legal accordingly. In Austria, assignments run as freelancing or as staff leasing via the German or the Swiss company.

Limits and risks

• One person is not a team: with a single lawyer there is no cover for holidays or sickness. Plan a law firm or an interim solution as a fallback.
• A remit that is too broad: expecting the first hire to handle contracts, compliance, data protection, employment law and litigation at once will overload them. Prioritise in the remit.
• Law firms remain necessary: litigation, transactions and specialist questions often stay external even with an in-house team. Keep that budget in the plan.
• Responsibility stays with the company: interim and fractional professionals work under your direction (staff leasing) or within their engagement (freelancing). Alpinum provides professionals and does not give legal advice as a law firm.

Frequently asked questions about building a first legal function

When does an in-house legal function pay off?

As soon as recurring legal work slows down the business or law firm spend on routine matters rises noticeably. There is no fixed threshold. Analyse the last twelve months of invoices and convert the share that could be handled internally into a workload. If the result is part time, a fractional or part-time model is often a better first step than a full-time hire.

What profile does the first legal hire need?

Usually a senior profile with seven or more years of experience and broad commercial law expertise. The person works directly with management, sets priorities and steers outside counsel. An experienced profile with three to six years can fit if the work is mainly contracts and a group legal team provides professional leadership.

Can a fractional general counsel or interim professional be hired permanently later?

Yes. A move into your team (temp to perm) is possible; the terms are agreed in advance. It is a common path: the person builds the legal function, and both sides decide based on the collaboration. What to consider is covered in our guide converting an interim professional to a permanent hire.

What does starting with a fractional or interim model cost?

Billing is by day rate and workload. For a senior profile, day rates are CHF 1,200–1,800+ in Switzerland, EUR 960–1,440+ via staff leasing in Germany and EUR 1,360–2,000+ via freelancing in Germany (excl. VAT, as of 18 October 2026). At a workload of, say, 40%, correspondingly fewer days are billed.

Do we still need a law firm once we have in-house counsel?

Usually yes, but in a different role. The in-house function takes on recurring work and steers the firms. Litigation, larger transactions, specialist areas and questions under other legal systems stay external. Many companies reduce external spend this way without giving up specialist expertise.

Next step

Planning your first legal function? Alpinum Solutions is the leading provider of interim legal & compliance in the DACH region. Describe the volume, urgency and profile, and you will receive suitable profiles for a fractional, interim or permanent role.

• Fractional general counsel: part-time legal leadership
• Interim head of legal
• Staffing needs & planning: all guides on capacity gaps in legal and compliance
• Fintech and crypto: legal and compliance capacity for licensing and MiCA
• German Accessibility Strengthening Act: duties for digital services and contracts
• Discuss your needs

Last updated: 10 November 2026.