Fractional General Counsel to the Recruitment Sector

Your on-call General Counsel built for recruitment businesses

I work with founder-led recruitment businesses as their fractional General Counsel giving you a senior legal partner who understands the sector, knows what good looks like, and is on the end of the phone when it matters. All without the commitment of a full-time hire.

Why a sector-specialist matters

Recruitment is an increasingly regulated, contract-heavy, people-heavy business, and most generalist lawyers don't see enough of it to advise quickly or commercially. The same issues come up again and again across recruitment firms, but the answers depend on which side of the deal you're on, which engagement model you use, and where the risk actually sits.

My deep sector knowledge means faster answers, fewer second opinions, and advice that's already pressure-tested against how recruitment businesses actually run.

What this looks like for recruitment founders

Recruitment founders typically come to me at the point where their business has outgrown a model that depends on them for every legal and people decision. When you're trying to scale, that's the last thing you want on your plate.

Here's what shifts when I'm your fractional GC:

  • Founder bandwidth comes back.

    You stop being the person redrafting the latest client MSA at 10pm. You stop being the person handling the difficult biller conversation single-handed. You focus on growing the business.

  • Your management team operates with confidence.

    Your finance lead can negotiate a complex client contract knowing they have me to call. Your ops lead can tackle a contractor compliance question without freezing. Your managers handle people issues without panicking.

  • Difficult moments stay calm.

    A biller leaves and takes clients. A contractor disputes their IR35 status. A client refuses to pay a placement fee. These things stop being crises and start being processes.

  • Your team grows up around you.

    I mentor your managers through each decision so the capability stays inside your business. You're not building a legal dependency. You're building a business that handles its own questions intelligently, with senior expert backup when needed

Where I can help you

Workforce engagement and compliance

  • IR35 status determinations, processes, and disputes

  • Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) compliance

  • Conduct Regulations and EAA exemptions

  • Umbrella, PSC and PAYE engagement structures

  • MSP, RPO and neutral vendor arrangements

Contracts and commercial

  • Client terms of business: drafting, negotiating, and pushing back on aggressive procurement positions

  • Candidate and contractor agreements

  • Master Services Agreements and framework contracts

  • Introduction fees, opt-outs, rebate clauses, and temp-to-perm conversions

  • PSL applications and tender support

People

  • Employment contracts and consultant agreements for your internal staff

  • Restrictive covenants: drafting, enforcement, and defence

  • Team moves, garden leave, and protecting your client and candidate data

  • Settlement agreements and senior exits

  • Performance, grievance and disciplinary issues

  • Commission and bonus disputes

Growth and exit

  • Investor due diligence and exit-readiness reviews

  • M&A: buy-side and sell-side legal support, including bolt-on acquisitions

  • Equity and incentive schemes for billers and leadership

  • International expansion: entity set-up, contractor compliance overseas, and localised client terms

  • Restructures and integration post-acquisition

Disputes and difficult conversations

  • Client non-payment, fee disputes and debt recovery strategy

  • Restrictive covenant breaches

  • Employment tribunal claims and pre-claim resolution

  • Regulator engagement (HMRC, FWA, ICO)

Who I work with

My clients are typically:

  • Founder-led recruitment businesses, from start-up through to mid-sized: usually £2m to £50m turnover

  • Firms scaling fast and feeling the strain on contracts, compliance and HR

  • Recruitment groups preparing for investment, acquisition, or exit

  • Recruitment-adjacent businesses: umbrellas, payroll providers, funders, RPOs, and back-office service providers

If you have a permanent GC already, I can also work alongside them on capacity-strain workstreams or special projects.

Let’s talk about your business

If you run a recruitment business and you've been wishing you had someone senior in your corner without the cost of a full-time hire that's exactly what I do.

Book a 30-minute call and let's see if it's a fit.

Get in touch