INTERIM LEGAL · GENERAL LEGAL · IN-HOUSE COUNSEL
Interim in-house counsel for the day-to-day work of your legal department
Alpinum Solutions provides companies in Switzerland, Germany and Austria with interim in-house counsel who take on the broad day-to-day work of a legal department: contracts, requests from the business, everyday corporate housekeeping and the management of external law firms. The professionals range from junior to senior legal counsel and work via staff leasing or freelancing, part-time or full-time; your company sets tasks and priorities.
What is needed here is not a specialist in a single area of law but a generalist who quickly learns your business and keeps the legal department running. Alpinum selects by industry, languages, governing law and seniority and provides the professional; Alpinum does not provide legal advice itself.
Example scenarios, not individual client cases – except for the marked case example.
Typical assignments for generalists in the legal department
Securing a small legal team
When the legal department consists of one or two people, every absence leaves a gap. An interim legal counsel keeps contract review, requests and deadlines moving. Duration: a few weeks to several months. Workload: often part-time on fixed weekdays.
Day-to-day work during a major project
When a transaction, a restructuring or a dispute ties up the core team, a generalist takes over the ongoing requests from the business. Duration: as long as the project, often several months. Workload: usually full-time.
Legal counsel for a subsidiary or division
A country subsidiary or business unit needs a legal contact on site, but a permanent headcount has not been approved yet. Duration: several months, often extended. Workload: part-time or full-time, depending on volume.
Someone in the team is absent
If a lawyer is away on parental leave, ill or has resigned, the interim professional takes over their files. These occasions have their own pages: parental leave cover for legal counsel and interim cover for a legal vacancy.
Case example (anonymised)
An internationally active industrial company in Germany brought in a senior legal counsel as parental leave cover: nine months including one month of overlap, full-time, via staff leasing, reporting to the head of legal. The professional handled ongoing legal advice to the business, contract management and support for operations. The legal department stayed fully operational, and spending on external lawyers fell by around 40–50%.
Interim in-house counsel: what a generalist covers in your legal department
Everyday contracts
Reviewing, commenting on and helping to negotiate customer, supplier, lease and service agreements. For large contract volumes or backlogs, see contract review lawyers.
Requests from the business
First point of contact for HR, procurement, sales and marketing: triaging questions, answering them directly or passing them to a law firm with a clear brief.
Corporate housekeeping
Preparing resolutions and minutes, coordinating commercial register filings, keeping powers of attorney and signing authorities up to date.
Managing external law firms
Scoping mandates, comparing quotes, checking invoices and keeping an eye on the budget. A generalist in-house decides what stays internal and where a law firm adds value.
Generalist or specialist?
A generalist fits when tasks are broad and change often. If one area clearly dominates, such as compliance obligations or a contract backlog, a professional from that practice area is the better choice. If the department has no head, you need a leadership role: the Interim Head of Legal.
Interim in-house counsel from junior to senior and what you direct
- Junior (0–2 years): standard contracts and NDAs based on templates, research, preparing minutes and register documents, maintaining the contract repository.
- Mid-level / experienced (3–6 years): independent support for business units, contract negotiations, everyday corporate work, coordination of external law firms.
- Senior (7+ years): legal counsel for a company or division, complex negotiations, point of contact for management and the board, onboarding of junior team members.
Your company sets tasks, priorities, reporting line and signing rights. In staff leasing, the right to give professional instructions generally lies with you and the professional is integrated into your legal department. In freelancing, they deliver the agreed services independently within the scope of the mandate.
Engagement models for in-house counsel in Switzerland, Germany and Austria
For generalists in the legal department, staff leasing and freelancing fit equally well, at a workload of 20 to 100%, as an individual or alongside further professionals. Someone who works with your systems, email address and signing rules is usually engaged via staff leasing; a clearly defined mandate also suits freelancing.
Switzerland
Staff leasing (Personalverleih) via Alpinum Solutions AG, or freelancing.
Germany
Temporary agency work (Arbeitnehmerüberlassung) via Alpinum Solutions GmbH, or freelancing. Market details are on the page interim lawyers in Germany.
Austria
Freelancing, or staff leasing via Alpinum's German or Swiss company.
Limits
Alpinum is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. Responsibility for legal decisions, signatures and powers of attorney stays with your company. If the role requires admission to the bar, include this in the requirements profile.
Process: from task profile to first working day
01 · Collect the tasks
We discuss which requests and contracts are currently left undone, which business units need support and how many days per week are required.
02 · Receive selected profiles
Within 48 hours we propose selected profiles. You hold the interviews and decide; we agree the start date together, and it is not guaranteed.
03 · Onboarding
Access, templates, signing rules and a list of key contacts make the first days productive.
04 · Support and adjust
Workload and term can be adjusted when your needs change. Alpinum remains your contact for contract, extension and administration.
What interim in-house counsel costs
Daily rates by level, excl. VAT, as of 18 October 2026. The German ranges apply to Austria.
- Junior: Switzerland CHF 600–800 · Germany and Austria EUR 480–720 in staff leasing, EUR 720–960 in freelancing
- Experienced: Switzerland CHF 800–1'200 · Germany and Austria EUR 720–960 in staff leasing, EUR 960–1'360 in freelancing
- Senior: Switzerland CHF 1'200–1'800+ · Germany and Austria EUR 960–1'440+ in staff leasing, EUR 1'360–2'000+ in freelancing
For a part-time generalist, only the agreed days count. How this compares with permanent hiring or law firm hours is explained in the guide cost models in interim legal and compliance.
FAQ on interim in-house counsel
How does interim in-house counsel differ from an external law firm?
The interim professional works inside your organisation, knows your processes and contacts and is billed by agreed days, not per matter. Law firms remain responsible for specialist questions and proceedings; the interim lawyer manages them.
Can interim in-house counsel act as admitted lawyers?
If the role requires bar admission, include this in the requirements profile; we clarify with you before the start whether it is possible in the chosen engagement model. Alpinum does not give legal advice on this.
How many days per week make sense?
That depends on volume. A workload of 20 to 100% is possible; many small legal departments start with fixed weekdays and adjust later.
Can the professional join the team permanently later?
Yes, a move into your team (temp-to-perm) is possible. We discuss it as soon as it becomes relevant for you.
We need someone to lead the legal department. Is that the same?
No. This page describes lawyers within the team. For leadership there is the Interim Head of Legal, and for leadership on certain days the Fractional General Counsel. All services at a glance: interim legal support.
Related services: Interim Head of Legal · contract review lawyers · staffing shortage in the legal department
Discuss your needs: support for your legal department
Briefly describe what is being left undone, which business units need support and how many days per week you need. Selected profiles follow within 48 hours.