How to build a business case for legal support during a headcount freeze

A business case for legal support during a headcount freeze works when it asks for a specific, time-limited decision and shows its assumptions openly. Establish what legal costs and delays the business today, state what work would move and how much capacity it needs, compare at least three options including doing nothing, and propose a review date. Do not promise savings you cannot trace to your own numbers.

Confirm what the freeze actually restricts, including contractor and external spending. Then frame the request around the work that needs to be done, the available options and the approvals required. A contractor arrangement is not an automatic exception to the policy.

Decide what you are asking for

Before you write anything, define the decision. Examples include approving a part-time lawyer for a fixed term, moving a share of the outside counsel budget to embedded support, or covering a specific project for a quarter. A vague request to "get more legal help" is easy to defer. A request with a start date, an end date and a defined scope is easy to evaluate.

Build the baseline

You cannot show improvement without knowing where you are. Gather the facts that matter to the person approving.

• Spend. What the business pays for outside counsel, split by type of work if you can. Identify the routine matters, because those are the ones that might move.
• Turnaround. How long common requests take, and where they wait. A business that waits days for answers to routine questions is paying for delay, even if the invoice looks small.
• Volume. How many requests reach legal each month, and which teams generate them.
• Strain. How much of the current team's time goes to work below their level, and what they are not doing as a result.
• Risk. Any matters that are being deferred and what could happen if they stay deferred.

Where the data is incomplete, say so. A baseline built on a clearly labelled estimate is better than one that looks precise but is not.

State your assumptions in writing

This is the part that makes a case credible. List each assumption separately so that a reader can disagree with one without rejecting the whole.

• The share of outside counsel work that could realistically be done by an embedded lawyer.
• The hours of support needed per month, with a low and high case.
• The expected cost range, taken from written quotes rather than estimates.
• How long the engagement would last, and when you would review it.
• How long the ramp takes before the lawyer is working independently.
• What stays with outside counsel, such as novel or specialist matters.
• Which costs are not included, such as internal management time.

If a figure is a placeholder until you have a quote, mark it as such. Do not fill gaps with numbers that sound plausible.

Compare the options

Show at least three, with costs and risks side by side in prose or a short list.

1. Do nothing. What happens to turnaround, risk and the current team's capacity.
2. Redistribute internally. Who would absorb the work, and what they would drop.
3. Increase outside counsel use. Compare fees, capacity, existing business knowledge and suitability for the matters you need handled.
4. Fractional or interim support. An experienced lawyer embedded for an agreed scope and term. We offer Fractional InHouse support and interim coverage between hires for these needs.
5. Wait for the freeze to lift and hire. Assess whether a permanent role is justified and what work can safely wait until it is approved and filled.

An honest comparison includes the downsides of your preferred option. A reader who sees only benefits will go looking for the catch.

Reduce outside counsel spend without losing senior judgment

Moving work changes who handles it; the case still needs a quality plan. Identify the experience required, which decisions the embedded lawyer can make and which matters need specialist advice. Outside counsel may remain appropriate for specialist, complex or high-stakes work.

For the financial comparison, subtract the complete cost of the proposed arrangement from the outside counsel spend you can realistically avoid. Include retained specialist fees, onboarding and internal management time. Freed capacity and faster decisions can be useful benefits even when they do not produce a cash saving; report them separately.

Name the funding source

Different budgets have different approvals. Support funded from the outside counsel line may need a different sign-off from a new headcount line, and a contractor arrangement may be handled differently from payroll. Ask finance and HR how contractors are treated in your organisation, and write the answer into the case. Some teams find that a time-limited engagement fits within existing spend because it replaces money that would otherwise be spent externally. Verify that in your own numbers before you say so.

How Ferrero funded additional legal support

At Ferrero Canada, one lawyer ran the legal function and headcount for a second lawyer was not available. Rather than wait, the general counsel redirected unused outside counsel budget toward Fractional InHouse support, about three days a week, covering day-to-day counsel and process work. She joined the first couple of calls for the handoff, then stepped back.

The same funding approach may work for your team. Build the financial case using your own outside counsel spend, expected workload and proposed engagement costs.

Define success and a review date

Decide in advance how you will judge the engagement. Useful measures include turnaround on routine requests, the volume of work handled without an external invoice, the time freed for the existing team, and any deferred matters closed. Pick two or three, agree how they will be measured, and set a date to review them with the approver. Confirm the notice, minimum commitment and change terms before proposing an end or a reduction at that review date.

Risks to address openly

• Scope creep. Agree what is in and out, and how extra work is handled.
• Dependency. Ensure documents and decisions are captured so the work is not locked in one person's head.
• Mismatch. A role that is too junior or poorly fitted will not move the work. Be specific about experience.
• Spend drift. Track hours against plan monthly and share the numbers.

One-page outline

1. The decision requested and the dates.
2. The baseline: spend, turnaround, volume, strain, risk.
3. The assumptions, listed separately.
4. The options compared, including doing nothing.
5. The recommended option and its downsides.
6. The funding source and approvals needed.
7. The success measures and the review date.

If you would like to talk through scoping, get in touch.