General Counsel - Big Law

Our client is a leading international law firm with over 1500 employees spread across US, Europe, Asia and other jurisdictions. As the firm evolves, they are looking to hire their first General Counsel to establish and develop the general counsel function. This is a rare chance to build a legal function from the ground up and shape how a global partnership manages legal, reputational and commercial risk.This is a hybrid role requiring minimum 2 days in office per week. The ideal candidate is either a current General Counsel, Deputy General Counsel or Associate General Counsel in a mid-large size global law firm.Responsibilities Build the firm’s first General Counsel's Office from a blank page: define its scope, structure, priorities and ways of working, and decide what to handle in-house versus externallyAdvise leadership and governance bodies on significant legal, ethical, reputational and commercial mattersLead the response to professional liability and malpractice claims, material litigation, investigations and regulatory inquiries, working with insurers and brokersDefine the working relationship with the Global Risk & Compliance Director, agreeing where legal and risk responsibilities sit and how the two functions work togetherManage external counsel relationships and legal spendBuild trust and credibility across a partnership that has not had a general counsel before, positioning the function as a pragmatic, commercially minded partnerRequirementsUS-qualified attorney10+ years experience in a law firm general counsel functionComfortable operating without a playbook, setting priorities in ambiguous situations and creating structure and process as you goExcellent judgment, integrity and commercial acumen, with the ability to turn complex issues into clear, practical adviceA global outlook, resilience and adaptability