How to Become a general counsel

Decide what 'general counsel' means for you, because GC roles vary by company size, industry, and stage. Larger companies expect deep management of legal teams and strategic risk advising, while startups often need a hands-on lawyer who can handle contracts, fundraising, and compliance.

Identify whether you prefer a public company, private company, nonprofit, or startup, and write one paragraph on what would make the role satisfying for you.

This makes later choices about experience and networking clearer. To do this, read three GC job descriptions in your target industry and highlight the recurring responsibilities and required years of experience.

Compare those items to your current resume and list three gaps you need to close in the next 12 months. Expect that your focus may shift as you talk to current GCs, recruiters, and hiring managers, so treat this as a working document rather than a final plan.

Ensure you have a law degree and an active bar admission in the jurisdiction relevant to your target employers, because most GC roles require bar membership. If you are not yet admitted, set a timeline to finish bar prep and schedule your exam application so you can be eligible when opportunities arise.

Build a solid foundation by mastering commercial contracts, corporate governance, employment law basics, compliance, and intellectual property as relevant to your industry.

To gain specific competence, choose two practice areas to focus on for the next two years, for example, corporate transactions and employment law for a tech company role, and take leading CLE courses or online modules that cover those topics. Avoid the trap of staying only in niche litigation work if your target GC role expects transactional or regulatory experience, so plan lateral moves that broaden your exposure.

Employers hire GCs who can explain legal risks in business terms and help drive decisions, so you must show you can protect value and enable growth. Seek assignments that put you at the table for commercial deals, product launches, regulatory responses, or M&A work, and ask to draft the deal memo or present the legal risks to business leaders.

Concretely, volunteer for cross-functional projects, shadow a business development or finance meeting, and request feedback after you present legal recommendations. Track outcomes by saving slide decks, memos, and notes showing how your legal work changed a decision or saved money, because these artifacts become evidence in interviews.

A GC leads legal teams and advises executives, so you must demonstrate people management, budgeting, and vendor oversight abilities. Seek opportunities to manage junior lawyers, coordinate external counsel, run training sessions, or lead process improvements like contract lifecycle management.

Practice giving concise legal briefings to nonlawyers, and ask for 360 feedback after you lead a project to identify development areas. Expect early leadership roles to be small, like mentoring one junior associate, and treat each as a building block to a larger management portfolio.

Moving in-house often requires a targeted network and some prior in-house exposure, so build relationships with corporate counsel, hiring managers, and external recruiters who place GCs. Use informational interviews to ask about team structure, reporting lines, and the top legal priorities for the company, and follow up with a tailored note that references a recent business event or filing.

Consider a staged move like secondment, part-time in-house counsel, or a role as senior counsel to gain credibility before applying for GC. Keep a contact log, set a goal for two informational calls per month, and prepare a two-minute pitch that ties your legal experience to the company's business needs.

When you start interviewing for general counsel roles, prepare to discuss specific examples showing leadership, commercial judgment, crisis handling, and governance experience, because interviewers test both legal skill and executive presence. Prepare three STAR stories that show a risk you identified, the legal and business options you evaluated, the decision you recommended, and the measurable result.

Also prepare a 90-day plan that outlines how you would learn the business, prioritize legal risks, and build relationships with the board, because hiring panels often ask about your early priorities. After you land a GC role, continue learning by meeting regularly with the CEO, CFO, and board members, and schedule annual reviews of your legal function to adapt to changing business needs.