General Counsel Recruitment Project: A First In-house Lawyer Case Study
Background
This was a general counsel recruitment project for a European personal care and beauty products manufacturer. The parent company was seeking to hire its first in-house lawyer in the UK and gave us an exclusive mandate to undertake the project on their behalf. Following significant growth and international expansion, including recent acquisitions and entry into new markets, the organisation had recognised the need for dedicated legal expertise to support its evolving business strategy.
The UK operation, comprising manufacturing facilities in Yorkshire and commercial offices in Greater London, had previously relied entirely on external solicitors for legal support. With three distinct business units spanning private label manufacturing, multiple brand owner partnerships, and branded products, the complexity of legal work had increased substantially. The company’s strategic focus on high-margin branded products and potential acquisitions created an imperative to appoint its first in-house lawyer in an exec-level leadership role.
Challenge
The primary challenge with first legal hires lies in defining and recruiting for a role within the business that has never existed before. It was clear that the position needed someone who could establish legal workflows and strategies from scratch whilst also managing diverse responsibilities with minimal assistance from external counsel – across commercial and intellectual property matters, corporate M&A and compliance. A related challenge was presented by the obvious lack of legal knowledge on behalf of the C-level directors to satisfy themselves on the degree of technical competence presented by each candidate. However, we have a reliable solution to that issue in most cases.
The role’s dual location at both ends of the country presented challenges for some candidates since there was a requirement for regular travel between the operational sites and fellow executive leaders in London. Additionally, the successful candidate would need to balance a level of autonomy in the UK with alignment to the parent company’s EU headquarters, where group legal functions already existed.
The organisation required someone who could contribute strategically to business growth initiatives whilst also handling day-to-day legal operations – from updating standard terms to managing complex manufacturing agreements and supporting potential acquisitions – and who would be happy to work without a team of other lawyers around them.
Solution
Following detailed consultations with key stakeholders, including the UK Chief Executive and Finance Director, we developed a comprehensive General Counsel appointment brief for an individual to serve as both strategic adviser and hands-on legal practitioner.
We executed a focused search strategy that targeted both in-house solicitors from either an FMCG or pharma background and commercial lawyers from leading regional law firms with those types of businesses as clients – each of them with significant IP experience. The company’s GC opportunity was positioned to emphasise its strategic importance and the opportunity to shape the legal function within a growing international business – which is attractive to many. The board’s lack of legal experience was dealt with, at second interview, by drafting in one of the many retired GCs in our network to steer the interview process on a consultancy basis.
The successful appointee came with a decade and half of experience as an – in-house lawyer in the pharmaceuticals industry, bringing not only a wealth of IP experience but the versatility in other areas of law to be able to handle most things on a day-to-day basis, working unsupervised. A flexible working arrangement was established, balancing permanent presence in Yorkshire with remote working and regular travel to London, enabling the organisation to secure high-calibre legal talent within a budget applicable to regional legal centres, rather than London.
The new appointee joined the business in the capacity of General Counsel & Company Secretary on the leadership team and quickly established systematic approaches to managing legal workflows and corporate governance while supporting the organisation’s growth initiatives across all three business units.
