Who Owns “Legal” in Your Company?
When a new email lands in my inbox, I can usually guess the legal mess from the first line: ‘Hi, I’m in sales/HR/IT/finance and…’
In companies without in‑house counsel, “legal” ends up “belonging” to whoever hurts most that week. Some weeks, it is sales. Other weeks, HR. Sometimes IT or security. Occasionally, the CFO or founder.
Here is what that looks like on my side of the email chain:
Sales emails: “We already told the customer yes, but legal needs to bless the contract.” The draft is full of one‑sided terms that they felt they “had” to accept.
HR emails: “We need to let someone go, and it has been a problem for a long time.” There is little documentation, and policies do not match what actually happens.
IT or security emails: “This vendor/customer needs us to sign their data and security terms today.” The commitments on paper do not match the systems in place.
Finance or the CEO emails: “This one legal issue is now blocking revenue, funding, or a deal.” A small, manageable risk has turned into a business‑critical roadblock
Each team is acting reasonably within its own context; the issue is that no one is responsible for how those decisions connect. “Legal” becomes reactive, handled in isolated moments, rather than a clear, consistent framework of protecting the business.
For founder‑led and mid‑size companies, the fix does not *need* to start with hiring in‑house counsel. A more immediate step is assigning a single internal point of coordination for legal issues, like a “legal quarterback.” That quarterback should:
Know which types of issues should trigger a call to outside counsel.
Make sure contracts, policies, and practices are pulling in the same direction.
Ask, “Who else does this decision affect?” before signing or announcing anything important.
With that change and coordination, I, as the legal counsel, am no longer asked to sign off after the fact and put out fires. Now, I start seeing, “Before we commit, can you help us think through the risks?”
When you don’t have in-house counsel, you want to use your resources wisely so that you’re always covered. When I can be involved in proactive planning and risk management, your team doesn’t have to worry about putting out fires down the line.
ASK A QUESTION OR SCHEDULE A MEETING/CALL.
Disclaimer: This article constitutes attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. MGLS publishes this article for information purposes only. Nothing within is intended as legal advice.