Why Your Growing Business Needs a Fractional General Counsel in 2026

You're scaling. Your team is growing. The decisions you're making are bigger, the stakes are higher, and suddenly you realise you need legal support, but you can't justify hiring a full-time in-house lawyer. You're not alone. Most growing businesses face this exact challenge, and it's one of the most common reasons SMEs stumble just as they're gaining momentum.

The question isn't whether you need legal support. It's how to get it smartly, affordably, and in a way that actually fits your business.

That's where a fractional general counsel comes in.

What is a Fractional General Counsel?

A fractional general counsel is director-level senior lawyer support that is embedded in your leadership team, without the overhead of a full-time hire. Instead of paying for a full-time salary, benefits, and office space, you get expert legal guidance on the hours and projects you actually need, tailored to your business's specific goals and culture.

It's strategic, commercial, and pragmatic. Think of it as having access to the same expertise you'd get from a traditional law firm, but with someone who genuinely understands your business because they're part of your leadership conversation.

Why 2026 is the Perfect Time to Get This Right

January is when most businesses take stock. You're planning for growth, thinking about your team, considering new products or services, maybe preparing for investment. These are the moments when legal decisions matter most.

When you have a fractional general counsel embedded from the start, you're not making those decisions in a vacuum. You're making them with strategic legal input, grounded in real-world business understanding. That changes everything.

It means your growth plans are built on solid legal foundations. Your employment contracts actually reflect your culture and protect your business. Your compliance policies support your revenue and manage risk in equal measure. Your commercial decisions are made with confidence, not crossed fingers.

The Cost Problem: Why Full-Time Hires Don't Make Sense for Growing Businesses

Let's be honest about numbers. A senior full-time in-house lawyer typically costs upwards of £100,000+ per year, plus benefits, training, and employment oncosts. That's a significant fixed cost for support you might not need consistently.

Traditional law firms offer another route, but they come with their own problems. You're paying premium rates for every hour. There's no continuity, you might work with different lawyers on different matters. And there's often a disconnect between the legal advice you get and your actual business context. They're optimising for legal perfection, not business reality.

A fractional general counsel sits in the middle. You get director-level expertise without the full-time overhead. You get continuity and real understanding of your business. And you only pay for the support you actually need.

How Embedded Legal Support Transforms Decision-Making

Here's what changes when you have a fractional general counsel embedded in your leadership team:

Strategic Input on Every Big Decision - When you're considering a product launch, restructuring, hiring fast, or preparing for investment, you have legal expertise in the room. Not after the fact, scrambling to fix things. Before you commit, when you can actually shape the outcome.

Risk Management That Doesn't Strangle Growth - The best legal advice isn't about saying "no." It's about identifying options, understanding trade-offs, and helping you make informed decisions that balance risk with opportunity. That's commercial thinking, not just legal thinking.

Legal Support That Reflects Your Values - You're building a values-driven business. Your people are important to you. A fractional general counsel who understands that helps you build practices that protect your team, manage risk, and genuinely reflect who you are as a business, not just tick boxes.

Continuity and Business Understanding - Your fractional general counsel is part of your leadership conversation. They understand your culture, your goals, your challenges. They see the bigger picture. That context means better advice, faster decision-making, and real partnership.

Real-World Business Pressures: Where a Fractional General Counsel Makes the Difference

Consider the pressures you face as a growing business:

Rapid Hiring - You need to bring people on board fast. Are your employment contracts fit for purpose? Do your onboarding processes protect your business and set your team up for success? A fractional general counsel helps you build scalable, robust hiring processes.

Performance Management - Your first few hires become senior team members. Someone underperforms. You need to manage it carefully, fairly, legally, and in a way that preserves your culture. This is where pragmatic legal support makes all the difference.

New Legislation - 2026 will see an increase in legislative changes impacting your business. You need to understand what applies to you, what you need to do, and what risks you're managing. You don't need a lengthy legal report. You need pragmatic, timely advice.

Commercial Contracts - You're signing supplier agreements, client contracts, partnership deals. Are you protecting your business? Are you understanding the real risks? A fractional general counsel helps you streamline contracting and build confidence in your commercial negotiations.

Planning Ahead - Maybe you're thinking about investment, acquisition, or expansion. These are complex moments. Having embedded legal expertise helping you plan and prepare makes a genuine difference to outcomes.

The Flexibility Advantage

Fractional support isn't a fixed model. It adapts to your business:

Retained Support - A few days per month, embedded in your leadership team, attending key meetings and providing strategic input. This is the sweet spot for many growing businesses.

Project-Based Support - Need help with a specific project, a product launch, restructuring, or investment preparation? You can add focused legal support for that project.

Hourly Support - For ad-hoc questions and advice without a long-term commitment.

You pay for what you need, when you need it. As your business grows and your needs change, the support scales with you.

Why This Matters for Your Business in 2026

The businesses that scale confidently aren't the ones that react to crises. They're the ones that plan ahead, get their foundations right, and make strategic decisions with expert input.

Getting your legal foundations right at the start of the year isn't just risk management. It's a competitive advantage. It means you can focus on growth without worrying about legal problems catching up with you. It means you're making better decisions. It means your team knows they're part of a business that's serious about doing things properly.

A fractional general counsel isn't a luxury. For growing businesses, it's smart, pragmatic business strategy.

Getting Started

If you're a growing business with no in-house legal expertise, this is worth exploring. You don't need to commit to a full-time hire. You don't need to pay premium law firm rates. You need pragmatic, commercial support from someone who understands your business and your goals.

That's what fractional general counsel services from New Road Consultancy provides. And 2026 is the perfect time to get it in place.

This article is for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Specific legal or strategic advice should be sought separately and tailored to the particular circumstances of your business. If you would like to discuss how these issues apply to your organisation, please get in touch.