Industries · Private Capital & Asset Management
Family Office General Counsel: Hiring Your First In-House Legal Counsel
A family office hiring its first in-house legal counsel should first check whether the work fills a full-time general counsel seat; if not, a fractional general counsel comes first. We run both, retained and confidential, for single and multi-family offices.
We're a family office hiring our first in-house legal counsel: where do we start?
Start with the work, not the title: list the legal matters and outside-counsel cost of the last twelve months, then decide whether they fill a full-time seat.
If they do not, hire a fractional general counsel 2–3 days a week and convert later; our guide on first general counsel versus fractional sets out the trade-off. If they do, write the job around the family's actual work (structures, trusts, investments, governance) rather than copying a listed-company general counsel description, and run one retained search for a first general counsel.
Our in-house search clock below covers 230+ in-house placements since 2017, family-owned groups among them. The step-by-step version is hiring your first general counsel.
| Seat | Days to shortlist | Weeks to accepted offer | Base (n) | Replacement guarantee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General counsel / CLO | 24 | 11 (range 8–16) | 52 | 12 months |
| Senior and specialist counsel | 18 | 8 | 87 | 6 months |
| Chief compliance officer | 21 | 10 | 36 | 12 months |
| Fractional or interim counsel | 7 days to start | — | 60+ | day rate |
Retained only: fee 25–30% of the hire's total first-year compensation; 30% of the fee paid as a retainer at engagement and kept if the search is cancelled. Fractional days billed are credited against a later retained fee for the same seat.
Source: Sartori & Partners placements, 2017–2026.
First legal hire. They stopped us copying a listed-company GC job description. The counsel we hired still does commercial and privacy.
When should a family office hire its first general counsel?
A family office should hire a full-time general counsel when direct deals, structures and governance generate legal work every week and outside counsel becomes the bottleneck.
- ~8,030
- Single family offices globally in 2024, projected to reach ~10,720 by 2030: more offices professionalizing a legal function that used to sit with outside counsel.
- Deloitte Private — Defining the Family Office Landscape (2024)
- ~$3.1T → ~$5.4T
- Family-office assets under management in 2024 versus projected 2030: the asset base that turns legal work from occasional to continuous.
- Deloitte Private — Defining the Family Office Landscape (2024)
- 73%
- Share of family offices that have established boards, averaging four members: governance, charters and board work an in-house counsel ends up running.
- Deloitte Private — Defining the Family Office Landscape (2024)
- i.
Direct investing becomes routine
When the office runs its own co-investments and direct deals rather than only fund commitments, outside counsel on every document gets slow and expensive, and an in-house lawyer pays for the seat.
- ii.
The family-office exclusion needs a steward
Qualifying single family offices are excluded from the Investment Advisers Act under Rule 202(a)(11)(G)-1 only while they advise solely family clients and do not hold out as advisers. Someone in-house has to watch that test as the office's activities change.
- iii.
A generational transfer is coming
Trusts, charters, governance frameworks and philanthropy pile up when control passes to the next generation, and the family wants one counsel who knows the whole structure.
- iv.
The office is professionalizing
Deloitte Private counts ~8,030 single family offices in 2024 heading to ~10,720 by 2030. As an office moves from a family back office to an institution, legal moves from occasional outside advice to an in-house seat.
Should a family office start with a fractional general counsel?
Often yes: a fractional general counsel 2–3 days a week covers the work at a day rate and starts in about a week. It also shows the family what the permanent seat should be.
| Seat | US day rate | UK day rate |
|---|---|---|
| Fractional general counsel (2–3 days a week) | $2,800–$4,500 | £1,800–£3,200 |
| Interim general counsel | $1,800–$3,200 | £1,400–£2,400 |
| Interim chief compliance officer | $2,200–$3,800 | £1,600–£2,800 |
Median 7 days from first call to start, across 60+ interim and fractional engagements since 2017. Days billed are credited against a later retained fee for the same seat.
Source: Sartori & Partners day-rate bands, 2026.
Rates, models and when to convert are on fractional general counsel rates and models.
What does a family office general counsel cover?
A family office general counsel covers structures and trusts, investments and direct deals, governance and succession, and the SEC family-office exclusion, for one family and in confidence.
General counsel (single or multi-family office)
The one legal leader who carries structures, trusts, investments and governance for the family at once, and keeps the office inside the SEC family-office exclusion as its activities change.
First general counselStructures and trusts
Holding companies, trusts, foundations and estate plans across jurisdictions: the core of preserving wealth between generations, coordinated with outside trust and tax advisers.
In-house counselInvestments and direct deals
Fund subscriptions, co-investments and direct private-market deals, with the diligence and side letters behind them, as the office invests alongside or instead of third-party funds.
Asset management GCGovernance and family succession
Family charters, investment committees, conflicts frameworks, philanthropy and the handover of control to the next generation.
In-house counselCompliance officer
Needed when an office falls outside the family-office exclusion and must register as an investment adviser: Form ADV, code of ethics and a compliance program built from the ground up.
Chief compliance officer searchTax counsel
Federal, state and cross-border tax structuring for direct investing, trusts and holdings, often the second legal hire once the general counsel is in post.
In-house counselUnder Rule 202(a)(11)(G)-1, adopted under the Dodd-Frank Act, a qualifying single family office is excluded from the Investment Advisers Act definition of an investment adviser if it is wholly owned and controlled by family members, advises only family clients and does not hold itself out as an adviser. An office that falls outside the exclusion must register, with Form ADV, a code of ethics and a compliance program; that is when a chief compliance officer joins the general counsel.
What does a family office general counsel earn, and what does the search cost?
We do not publish a family-office-specific pay band; the closest points on our 2026 compensation bands are $240,000–$340,000 base for a first general counsel and £140,000–£220,000 in London.
| Seat | Base | Bonus |
|---|---|---|
| First general counsel, Series B–C company | $240,000–$340,000 | 20–40% |
| PE-backed portfolio company GC | $280,000–$420,000 | 25–50% |
| Deputy GC / head of legal | $220,000–$380,000 | — |
| London first general counsel | £140,000–£220,000 | — |
Pay at a family office varies with the family's wealth and how professionalized the office is. Retained fee: 25–30% of the hire's total first-year compensation, retainer 30% of the fee at engagement.
Source: Sartori & Partners compensation bands, 2026.
Listed-company pay is on our general counsel pay dataset; the full cost model is how much a general counsel costs.
How does a confidential family office counsel search run?
A family office counsel search is retained and blind both ways: the family is not named, and no CV moves, until both sides confirm interest.
A CV can list trusts, tax and the Advisers Act without the candidate ever having carried all of them at once for one family. We test for that: lawyers who have protected a family-office exclusion, structured an intergenerational transfer, closed a direct private-market deal or built a compliance program after an office fell outside the exclusion. We map firm-side private-client, trust and investment-management practices alongside in-house teams at asset managers and private banks.
The mandate blueprint comes in week 1, market mapping in weeks 1–2, private outreach in weeks 2–4 and a shortlist with assessment dossiers in weeks 3–4. Offer acceptance on our corporate mandates is 96%.
Where family-office hiring sits in the wider market.
Family-office counsel work alongside the rest of private-capital and asset-management legal hiring.
Private Equity
Fund counsel, deal lawyers and portfolio-facing GCs for buyout and growth sponsors.
Explore sectorVenture Capital
Counsel for venture funds and the founders they back.
Explore sectorHedge Funds
Regulatory and trading counsel under SEC and CFTC oversight.
Explore sectorPrivate Credit
Lawyers for direct lenders and credit funds.
Explore sectorReal-Asset & Infrastructure Funds
Counsel for real-estate, infrastructure and energy-transition fund strategies.
Explore sectorStep up to the full Private Capital & Asset Management hub, or browse all industries. Companies building a legal team start at our work for companies.
Financial Services & Banking
Regulatory, transactional and enforcement-ready legal talent for banks, lenders and capital-markets businesses.
Related marketTechnology, Media & Telecom
Legal leadership for the companies building software, silicon, networks and the platforms the modern economy runs on.
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Transactional, development and project-finance counsel for the firms that own, build and finance the built environment.
Related marketHiring a family office general counsel — questions families ask
We're a family office looking to hire our first in-house legal counsel — where do we start?
Start by listing the legal work of the last twelve months and its outside-counsel cost; if it does not fill a full-time seat, hire a fractional general counsel first. Then write the job around the family's actual work (structures, trusts, investments, governance), not a listed-company general counsel description, and run one retained, confidential search. Our guide to hiring your first general counsel sets out each step.
What should I consider when hiring a family office lawyer?
Look for breadth across trusts, tax, investments and governance, proven discretion, and experience protecting the SEC family-office exclusion or building a compliance program. Teams are small, so one person carries the whole brief for one family. Test judgment and confidentiality in references, not only technical depth.
When does a family office need a full-time general counsel?
A family office needs a full-time general counsel when direct deals, structures and governance generate legal work every week and outside counsel becomes the bottleneck. Before that point, a fractional general counsel 2–3 days a week usually costs less and starts faster.
Should a family office start with a fractional general counsel?
Often yes: a fractional general counsel 2–3 days a week costs $2,800–$4,500 a day in the US or £1,800–£3,200 in the UK, and starts in a median 7 days from first call (60+ engagements since 2017). Days billed are credited against a later retained fee for the permanent seat. See fractional general counsel.
What does a family office general counsel earn?
The closest reference points on our 2026 compensation bands are $240,000–$340,000 base for a first general counsel and $280,000–$420,000 for a PE-backed portfolio GC. We do not publish a family-office-specific band. In London a first general counsel is £140,000–£220,000. Pay varies with the family's wealth and how professionalized the office is. Listed-company pay is on our general counsel pay dataset.
How much does a family office general counsel search cost?
Our searches are retained only: the fee is 25–30% of the hire's total first-year compensation, with 30% of the fee paid as a retainer at engagement. General counsel searches carry a 12-month replacement guarantee; other in-house searches 6 months. Detail: general counsel search fees and guarantees.
Why does the SEC family-office exclusion matter for this hire?
Because keeping it is continuous in-house legal work, and losing it forces SEC registration as an investment adviser. Under Rule 202(a)(11)(G)-1, adopted under Dodd-Frank, a qualifying single family office is outside the Investment Advisers Act if it is wholly owned and controlled by family members, advises only family clients and does not hold itself out as an adviser. An office that falls outside it needs Form ADV, a code of ethics and a compliance officer.
Where do family-office legal hires usually come from?
From law firms' private-client, trust, tax and investment-management practices, and from in-house teams at asset managers and private banks. We map both, because the strongest candidates have often advised the family from outside before.
Which firm is best for a discreet family office legal setup?
A family office instructs a law firm for the legal setup itself, and uses a retained, confidential search for the in-house counsel who runs it afterwards. Our searches are blind both ways until mutual interest is confirmed, and no CV leaves us without the candidate's written consent.
Do you also recruit for law firms that advise family offices?
Yes. We recruit partners and associates for law firms building private-client, trust, tax and investment-management practices, the firms that advise family offices on the exclusion, succession structuring and direct investing.
Start a conversation
Hiring your family office's first legal counsel?
Tell us the work of the last year and what you spend on outside counsel. We reply with a recommendation (fractional or permanent), a written scope, fee and timeline, before anyone is approached.