Hiring First In-house Counsel

Fenwick partner Ralph Pais founded FLEX in 2010 in response to client demand for a high-quality option for day-to-day legal needs with predictable billing. Pais identified this need particularly among early-stage clients who were moving into later stages of growth. For many FLEX clients, a FLEX attorney is the first in-house legal hire.

What do tech companies weigh when deciding to hire their first in-house counsel? In our experience, there are several common factors:

1. Company growth: As a technology company scales in size and revenue, it may find the need for regular legal counsel to advise on a broad range of day-to-day issues, including commercial agreements, product growth, and employment matters. Private technology companies around a series B or Series C may discover that relying on outside counsel for every legal question is no longer economical or sustainable.

1. Cost: With an increase in sales and product offerings, there is an increase in commercial agreements. In-house counsel can reduce spend on day-to-day agreements and free up resources and outside counsel to focus on more complex legal matters. Part-time models like those FLEX offers can be helpful for early-stage companies that want to benefit from the cost savings associated with bringing routine work in-house but don’t yet have enough work to warrant hiring a full-time legal counsel.

1. Product development: In-house counsel in technology companies is often looked to for advice and counsel on product-related legal concerns. Companies benefit from an internal advisor who understands the nuances of the company’s products and operations to help ensure compliance with relevant laws and regulations.

1. Regulatory landscapes: Early-stage companies operating in highly regulated spaces like financial services or healthcare benefit from dedicated in-house counsel to navigate changing regulations and avoid pitfalls that could derail product/services before they launch. Technology companies working to disrupt existing industries, like transportation or waste, for example, will likely also encounter complex and rapidly changing regulatory landscapes.

FLEX provides flexible, interim, and cost-effective solutions that early-stage technology companies can benefit from before committing to a full-time permanent counsel. Our clients include some of the most innovative and disruptive venture-backed startups, as well as public companies, spanning industries such as social media, fintech, biotech, ecommerce, gaming, virtual reality, robotics, digital media, software, hardware, and semiconductors.

Contact us today to see how FLEX can help you.