01
The role needs full attention
Some mandates require daily availability, internal meetings, and fast context absorption.
The dedicated gap
Some gaps are too urgent or too operational for part-time coverage.
A secondment is for the moment when the seat itself has to be covered: a leave, a vacancy, an integration, or a fixed-term mandate where the business needs someone fully embedded.
02
Law firm secondees often lack in-house fluency
Firm-side secondees frequently haven’t worked in-house, so they communicate like outside counsel: memos instead of the actions the business actually needs.
03
Conversion should not be taboo
If the seconded lawyer becomes the right permanent fit, the path should be transparent from the beginning.
Aligned from day one
Fixed-term coverage with aligned incentives.
Goodlawyer makes the conversion question explicit and supports the relationship throughout, so you never feel trapped by the model.
- vetted lawyers across the network
- 750+
- capacity for fixed-term mandates
- 100%
- months often used for secondment-style coverage
- 3-12+
Full-time embedded support
The lawyer sits inside the operating rhythm for the duration of the mandate.
Clear conversion path
Hiring the person full-time is treated as a successful outcome with a transparent step-down fee.
Continuity support
Goodlawyer helps with onboarding, account management, and adjustments if the fit or scope changes.
Meet the lawyers customers actually work with.
16 yrsPearl C.
Fractional General Counsel
Toronto, ON
- Corporate
- Commercial
- Venture capital
15 yrsNofa K.
Technology, SaaS & Privacy Counsel
Toronto, ON
- SaaS
- Data privacy
- Commercial
16 yrsRyan T.
Fractional General Counsel
Cambridge, ON
- Technology
- IP
- Privacy
15 yrsRebecca H.
Fractional Commercial Counsel
Vancouver, BC
- Commercial
- Mining
- Leadership
34 yrsShari H.
Fractional General Counsel
Vancouver, BC
- Commercial
- IP & licensing
- Governance
11 yrsJosée B.
Global Technology & AI Counsel
Montréal, QC
- Technology
- AI
- Cybersecurity
17 yrsNatasha G.
Fractional General Counsel, B2B SaaS
Toronto, ON
- B2B SaaS
- Privacy
- Legal operations
8 yrsThelma Z.
Employment & Labour Counsel
Vancouver, BC
- Employment
- Investigations
- Human rights
12 yrsStefan B.
Commercial In-House Counsel
Calgary, AB
- Commercial
- Fintech
- Telecom
Choose the right model
Fractional, secondment, and recruiting are different answers to different risks.
Buyers often ask where one model ends and another begins. The simplest answer is to start with capacity, duration, and whether the relationship should become permanent.
Pricing and sizing
Trade the legal meter for a planned mandate.
Legal coverage gets risky when the work goes into an open-ended billing meter. We scope the route before the work starts: responsibilities, monthly capacity, seniority, and handoff expectations.
Before work starts
The triggerLeave, vacancy, overflow, or specialist gap
The capacity1–5 days/week
The operating rhythmMeetings, tools, stakeholders, handoff
The budget logicPlanned scope instead of surprise invoices
No meter anxiety
No vague handoff
Right-fit talent
The conversion path
What if you want to keep them? Good. That is the plan working.
Firm-side secondees often haven’t worked in-house before, so they default to memos and legal analysis instead of the actions a business actually needs. We front-end the permanent-hire conversation instead of avoiding it. The path to permanent is part of the engagement from day one.
01
Built in, not bolted on
You and the lawyer both know from the start that a permanent relationship is a possible, and welcome, outcome.
02
A fee that steps down
The conversion fee is transparent and decreases the longer the secondment runs: tracking standard legal recruiting rates, then dropping below them.
03
We celebrate the win
When a secondment converts, the match worked. You get a proven hire, and the lawyer steps into a role they already know they want.
How it works
Place full-time coverage without starting a permanent search from zero.
We clarify the fixed-term mandate, match for availability and fit, then support onboarding and continuity.
Define the seat
Identify the responsibilities, seniority, office expectations, reporting lines, and duration.
Confirm availability
Use the double opt-in network to find lawyers who can commit the required full-time capacity.
Embed full-time
Onboard into meetings, tools, and stakeholders as a temporary member of the legal team itself.
Renew or convert
End with a clean handoff, extend the coverage, or convert if both sides want a permanent seat.
Customer proof
Dedicated coverage that protects the seat, and the leader stepping away.
We secured top-tier legal talent and gave our legal leaders peace of mind. Knowing their roles would be well managed during parental leave built confidence and strengthened our legal function.
Tariq Remtulla
SVP & General Counsel · Parkland
FAQ
Questions worth asking before you bring someone in.
Straight answers on how the model works, who you will be working with, what it costs, and what happens if things change.
Goodlawyer is not a law firm and not a traditional recruiter. We are an alternative legal service provider that curates a network of independent lawyers and matches them to in-house legal needs.
Fill the seat
Dedicated coverage for the role that can’t sit empty.
Tell us the mandate, location needs, timing, and duration. We’ll find experienced full-time coverage that protects the seat and the handoff.
- 100% capacity for a defined period
- Continuity, not a warm body
- Clear path if you want to convert