5 Important Questions to Ask in General Counsel Recruitment
The general counsel position is a major part of the executive leadership team. You need someone who displays great leadership skills, sound judgment, and a strong sense of ethics.
Finding a candidate who meets all of these expectations as well as your business needs can be difficult.
Before sitting down for an interview, you need to consider what skill set and competencies your company needs in a general counsel. For instance, if your company is expecting to start handling acquisitions, then someone with a corporate law background may be beneficial.
If your private equity company is looking to hire general counsel, you may want to look for very specific qualifications and skills.
Legal Recruiting: 5 Key Questions to Screen GCs
To get you started, below are five assessment questions you should be asking a general counsel candidate no matter the scope of the position.
1. How much work would you assign to outside counsel?
Hiring outside counsel is expensive. By asking candidates this question, you can understand how the criteria a candidate uses to determine when to use inside attorney staff and when to hire outside help. It’s also helpful to know how a candidate determines which law firm to hire when seeking outside counsel.
You want to look for three main points in a candidate’s answer to this question.
- Experience with outside counsel
- Awareness of legal budgets
- Knowledge of local law firms
2. How do you control costs within the law department?
The right candidate for the job will have the practical experience and a few recommendations for reducing spending in the law department.
A candidate should be suggesting ideas, like (but not limited to):
- Relying on in-house legal services
- Utilizing smaller, more affordable, firms when seeking outside counsel
You need someone who understands budget limitations and can devise creative ways to overcome financial constraints.
3. What are the three biggest legal challenges you’ve ever faced in business?
Listen to how the candidate solved the problems as well as the overall outcome of the situation. Did the candidate work with stakeholders to develop a strategy? Did the candidate research unfamiliar topics?
The answer to this question will show you how each candidate will handle potential issues that arise at your company.
This question will also help you compare answers between candidates. What one person saw as challenging might be a normal business day for another candidate.
The complexity of each challenge will show you the types of problems the candidates have experience handling so far.
4. Describe a situation that presented a significant risk to the organization. How did you deal with it?
It’s really important to understand a candidate’s risk tolerance and risk management. The right candidate will be able to demonstrate what was learned from a risky situation as well as explain how it was handled. If it didn’t go well, then this is an opportunity for the candidate to explain how it would be done better in the future.
Managing risk isn’t always easy and you need someone who can bounce back after an error and do better in the future.
5. What interactions have you had with regulators as well as your executive team?
The general counsel interacts with a number of different people, but regulators and the executive team are two important groups you need to ask about. You want a candidate who has experience working with regulators and who has an organization system in place for maintaining documents.
Since the general counsel will be working alongside your executive team, you want to know how well candidates are currently working with their teams. High-level responsibilities and an expanded role outside of the legal department are two strong signs that a candidate has earned the trust of their executive team.
Including these five questions in your interview will give you a solid understanding of each candidate’s key competencies. The general counsel is a crucial member of your executive team, so understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate is essential to your business.
Why Business Acumen Is Critical for Modern General Counsel
Legal expertise remains foundational to the General Counsel role, but many organizations now prioritize candidates who can contribute to broader business strategy in addition to managing legal risk. As regulatory complexity, competitive pressure, and operational scale increase, executive teams often rely on legal leaders to provide insight that extends beyond technical interpretation of laws and regulations.
General Counsel are increasingly expected to:
- Advise executive leadership on strategic initiatives
- Evaluate the legal implications of growth decisions
- Align risk management with business objectives
- Contribute to enterprise governance discussions
- Support mergers, acquisitions, and expansion planning
- Help balance regulatory compliance with commercial opportunity
Legal leaders who understand financial drivers, operational priorities, and industry dynamics are often better positioned to provide practical guidance that supports long-term organizational performance.
Companies seeking General Counsel frequently prioritize candidates who demonstrate:
- Strong commercial awareness
- Ability to communicate with senior leadership
- Experience supporting complex transactions
- Understanding of enterprise risk management
- Credibility with boards and investors
- Sound judgment in ambiguous situations
As expectations for legal leadership continue to evolve, organizations increasingly view business-minded General Counsel as strategic partners capable of helping leadership teams navigate complex decisions while maintaining regulatory discipline.
Additional Traits of High-Impact General Counsel Candidates
Beyond technical legal expertise, organizations increasingly evaluate General Counsel candidates based on their ability to operate as trusted advisors within complex business environments. Modern legal leaders are expected to contribute to enterprise strategy while maintaining strong governance oversight and risk management discipline.
Many boards and executive teams prioritize candidates who demonstrate:
- Strong business judgment and commercial awareness
- Ability to translate legal risk into practical business guidance
- Credibility with executive leadership and board members
- Experience advising on enterprise risk and regulatory strategy
- Comfort operating in ambiguous or high-stakes environments
- Leadership capability across legal and cross-functional teams
As the scope of the General Counsel role continues to evolve, emotional intelligence and communication style often play an important role in long-term effectiveness.
Legal leaders frequently collaborate with finance, operations, HR, and external stakeholders, requiring the ability to influence decision-making while maintaining professional independence.
Companies also increasingly consider long-term leadership continuity when hiring legal executives. Because succession pipelines within legal departments are often limited, organizations frequently benchmark internal candidates against external talent to ensure the strongest possible leadership fit.
A General Counsel who combines legal expertise, sound judgment, and business fluency can help organizations navigate regulatory complexity while supporting sustainable growth objectives.
General Counsel Executive Search and Candidate Evaluation
Organizations increasingly seek legal leaders who can balance regulatory discipline with commercial insight, advise executive teams on complex decisions, and contribute meaningfully to long-term strategic direction. A structured evaluation process helps companies identify candidates capable of managing legal risk while supporting growth initiatives, governance requirements, and operational priorities.
Cowen Partners Executive Search works with boards, CEOs, and investors to recruit General Counsel and Chief Legal Officers who demonstrate the judgment, leadership ability, and business understanding required to succeed in evolving corporate environments.
Through a disciplined, senior partner-led search process, Cowen Partners Executive Search helps organizations identify legal executives equipped to navigate regulatory complexity, guide executive decision-making, and build resilient legal functions aligned with company objectives.
If your organization is preparing to recruit a General Counsel, contact Cowen Partners Executive Search to discuss your search strategy and identify candidates with the experience and perspective needed to support long-term business performance.
Schedule a Call.
Fill out the email request form to learn more about our approach.