Fractional vs. Full-Time Counsel: What Growing Employers Actually Need

The Traditional Options (And Why They Fall Short)

For most of the last few decades, businesses without in-house counsel had two choices: hire a law firm and pay by the hour, or hire a full-time lawyer and put them on staff.

Both have real limitations.

External law firms are expensive and reactive by design. You call when something goes wrong, you pay for what it takes to fix it, and you go back to operating without legal support until the next problem. For ongoing, operational legal work, this is an inefficient and costly model.

Full-time in-house counsel solves the access problem but creates a cost problem. A senior in-house lawyer in Ontario or BC typically costs $150,000 to $300,000 or more per year when you factor in salary, benefits, and overhead. That's a fixed cost that doesn't flex with your legal volume. In quieter periods, you're paying for capacity you're not using. And if that person leaves, you're exposed until you replace them.

There is a third option, and it's the one that fits most growing businesses far better than either of the above.

What Fractional General Counsel Actually Is

A fractional general counsel is an experienced lawyer who provides ongoing, embedded legal support to your organization on a part-time or subscription basis, without the overhead of a full-time hire.

The model is built around operational legal work: the recurring, day-to-day legal needs that most businesses have but that don't warrant the cost of a dedicated full-time resource. That includes:

• Employment and HR matters, including terminations, accommodation, discipline, and contracts
• Commercial contracts, including reviewing, drafting, and negotiating supplier, customer, and vendor agreements
• Workplace policies and compliance programs
• Human rights and accommodation guidance
• Corporate governance and general business legal questions
• Risk identification and proactive legal advice before problems escalate

The fractional model gives you access to that expertise consistently, at a predictable monthly cost, without the commitment of a full-time hire. It's legal support that scales with your business.

Why the Fractional Model Is Growing

The fractional GC model isn't new, but it's growing significantly as businesses look for smarter ways to manage legal costs without sacrificing access to expertise.

The shift is being driven by a few things. First, the cost of reactive legal support (calling a firm every time something goes wrong) has become increasingly difficult to justify when the alternative is predictable, embedded access. Second, growing businesses are recognizing that most of their legal exposure isn't in litigation or major transactions. It's in the operational decisions they're making every week: who they're hiring, how they're terminating, what their contracts say, how they're responding to complaints.

Third, and perhaps most importantly, the talent now exists to make the fractional model work. Experienced lawyers who have worked in large firms and senior in-house roles are increasingly choosing fractional engagements, which means businesses can access genuinely senior expertise without paying for it full time.

The Real Comparison

When Full-Time In-House Counsel Still Makes Sense

There are organizations where a full-time hire is the right call. If you have a large, existing legal team and need a dedicated employment or commercial specialist alongside them, that's a different conversation. If you're running dozens of simultaneous legal matters across multiple jurisdictions and practice areas, dedicated in-house capacity may be warranted.

But for most employers with 20 to 500 staff, without an existing legal function, the volume of day-to-day legal work doesn't justify the fixed cost. What it justifies is reliable, accessible support that's there when you need it and doesn't carry a fixed overhead when you don't.

When Fractional General Counsel Makes Sense

The fractional model is the right fit when:

• You're scaling. More employees and more commercial activity means more legal complexity. Fractional support grows with you without a step-change in cost.
• You don't have in-house counsel. You're relying on ad hoc law firm calls or handling legal matters without consistent input. That gap is where most preventable legal costs live.
• You want cost predictability. Hourly billing with no ceiling creates budget uncertainty. A monthly subscription means you know what you're paying.
• Your legal needs are operational. Contracts, employment matters, policies, compliance, HR guidance: this is the bread and butter of what most growing businesses need legal support for. That's exactly what the fractional model is built around.
• You operate in Ontario or British Columbia. Achkar Law's Fractional General Counsel program is available to employers in both provinces, with lawyers who understand the legal landscape in each jurisdiction.

What to Look for in a Fractional GC

Not all fractional GC programs are built the same way. A few things worth evaluating before you commit:

• Employer-side focus. If your primary legal exposure is employment and HR, you want a program staffed by lawyers who work exclusively for employers, not one that also represents employees.
• Transparent scope. Understand clearly what is and isn't included. Operational guidance, contract review, policy advice, and HR support are typical inclusions. Litigation, formal investigations, and complex transactions typically sit outside a fractional scope.
• Predictable pricing. The whole point of the fractional model is cost certainty. If the pricing structure is opaque or hourly, it's not really a fractional engagement.
• Genuine seniority. Fractional value comes from experienced lawyers who can give you a direct answer, not junior associates escalating every question.