[skmurphy]

General Counsel (GC) normally has different focus than handling all of a firm's legal needs. There are a number of fields of law that a growing startup may be impacted by including contracts, employment, securities, patent, and litigation, to name a few. For a company above a certain size having a lawyer on staff to manage outside legal specialists will quickly pay for itself (you might be surprised what outside legal fees can run).

The primary challenge is to explain to the executive staff the business impact of various legal strategies (and their attendant risks) and to help reach a working consensus on the right balance between particular legal risks and other business risks and opportunities. The GC's are typically senior associates who traded the last few years on the partner track for a reasonable salary and a life.