So you got the title. You're General Counsel now. Maybe you're the first lawyer the company has ever hired. Maybe the role didn't exist six months ago and someone decided it should. Either way, the first 90 days are going to shape how every person at this company thinks about legal for the foreseeable future. No pressure. Here's how I'd approach it.
What Does a General Counsel Actually Do?
On paper, a GC is the most senior legal officer at the company. In practice, especially at startups and mid-market companies, the role is way broader than that. You're part lawyer, part business advisor, part risk manager, part compliance officer. You're going to get pulled into everything from customer contracts and employment issues to board governance and fundraising.
The tricky part is that nobody scoped this role for you. You're building the plane while flying it. That's why having a plan for the first 90 days matters.
Days 1–30: Audit, Listen, and Inventory
Conduct a Legal Audit
Before you change a single thing, figure out what exists. Do a full audit covering:
Corporate records. Are your formation documents, board resolutions, and equity records current? Are you qualified to do business in every state where you actually operate?
Contract inventory. Identify every active agreement: customer contracts, vendor agreements, leases, employment agreements, NDAs. Build a central tracker if nobody has one. (They probably don't.)
Intellectual property. Review ownership and licensing of key IP. Are invention assignments in place? What protection is appropriate for the company’s brands? Is open-source usage documented?
Compliance posture. Which regulatory frameworks apply? Privacy laws like the CCPA and GDPR, industry-specific regulations, export controls. Map these to your actual operations.
Litigation and disputes. Get the full picture on any pending or threatened litigation, government inquiries, or unresolved disputes.
Understand the Business
Sit with every department head in the first two weeks. Learn how revenue gets generated, where the company is headed, and what keeps leadership up at night. Legal doesn't operate in a vacuum. Your effectiveness depends on understanding the commercial context.
Identify Quick Wins
Find one or two issues you can address early. Maybe a contract template needs an update or an approval record needs follow-up. Confirm the required process before changing corporate records. Early progress can build credibility.
Days 31–60: Build Systems and Relationships
Establish Contract Management Processes
If the company doesn't have a contract lifecycle management system, now is the time to evaluate one. At a minimum, create standardized templates for your most common agreements: MSAs, SOWs, NDAs, vendor agreements. Define an approval workflow so contracts don't bottleneck at your desk.
Create a Legal Intake System
Without a clear intake process, you're going to drown in Slack messages and hallway drive-bys. Set up a simple intake form or ticketing system. It does two things: it helps you triage and prioritize, and it creates a record of legal's workload that you can use to justify future headcount.
Draft Key Policies
Prioritize the policies that create the most risk if they don't exist. Depending on your industry and stage, that usually means:
- Employee handbook and code of conduct
- Data privacy and information security policies
- Record retention and document management
- Anti-bribery and anti-corruption, based on the business’s operations and risk assessment
- Acceptable use and social media policies
Build Cross-Functional Relationships
Your most important relationships aren't with outside counsel. They're with sales, product, finance, and HR. Go to their team meetings. Learn their vocabulary. The faster you're seen as a partner instead of a gatekeeper, the more effective you'll be.
Days 61–90: Operationalize and Strategize
Develop a Legal Budget
Work with finance to put together a realistic legal budget. That means outside counsel spend, legal tech, insurance (D&O, E&O, cyber), and any anticipated litigation costs. Being proactive about budget signals maturity to the board.
Evaluate Outside Counsel
You'll inherit outside counsel relationships. Take a hard look at whether those firms are the right fit for where the company is today, both in terms of expertise and budget. Consider flexible engagement models for areas where you need specialized help but not a full-time resource.
Report to the Board
Prepare your first board-level legal report. Keep it short and business-oriented. Focus on material risks, key legal initiatives, and how legal supports the company's strategic goals. Skip the legalese. The board wants to understand risk and opportunity, not read a case brief.
Set 12-Month Priorities
Based on everything you've absorbed, build a legal department roadmap for the next year. Align your priorities with the company's business plan. If the company is gearing up for a fundraise, M&A, or international expansion, your roadmap should reflect that.
Common Mistakes First-Time General Counsel Make
Trying to do everything yourself. You can't be an expert in every area. Build a roster of trusted outside counsel for specialized matters and spend your energy where you add the most value.
Being the “Department of No.” If every answer is “no” or “let me think about it,” the business will stop coming to you. Frame your advice around solutions and risk mitigation, not prohibitions.
Neglecting corporate governance. Board minutes, consents, equity records. They're easy to deprioritize when commercial work is piling up. Don't. Governance gaps create serious problems during diligence.
Buying technology without a business case. Compare a CLM tool, e-signature platform, or matter management system with your actual volume, workflow, and implementation costs. Start with the problem the team needs to solve.
When a Forward Deployed General Counsel Makes Sense
Not every company needs a full-time GC from day one. Forward Deployed General Counsel can provide recurring legal support within an agreed scope, time commitment, and budget. Decide which responsibilities stay inside the company, which belong to Forward Deployed General Counsel, and when specialist advice is needed.
Evaluate the model against the frequency and complexity of your legal work, access requirements, and internal capacity. Revenue alone does not establish whether Forward Deployed General Counsel or full-time counsel is the better fit.
Key Takeaways
- Conduct a thorough legal audit before you change anything
- Build systems early: contract management, intake processes, key policies
- Prioritize cross-functional relationships over pure legal work
- Report to the board in business terms, not legal terms
- Consider Forward Deployed General Counsel models if full-time isn't the right fit yet