Legal & Company Secretarial
Legal & Company Secretarial recruitment & in-house legal search specialists
At Stone Executive, we partner with organisations that rely on exceptional legal and governance leadership. We specialise in appointing senior professionals who safeguard businesses, support effective decision-making, and ensure strong corporate governance. Our Legal and Company Secretarial practice focuses on identifying and securing outstanding in-house lawyers, General Counsel, and Company Secretaries. These leaders advise boards, manage legal and regulatory risk, and oversee governance frameworks from within the organisation, providing strategic counsel that extends far beyond traditional legal support. Combining deep expertise in the in-house legal market with an extensive network of proven leaders, we go beyond assessing credentials and experience alone. We identify individuals whose capabilities, leadership style, and values align with each organisation´s needs, ensuring appointments that deliver lasting impact and long-term success.
Senior in-house legal recruitment and company secretary recruitment call for genuine specialist insight. The general counsel who can business-partner a board is a different appointment from the company secretary who runs governance, and a generalist process rarely accounts for that. Our consultants work closely with in-house teams and governance professionals across the UK and beyond, which gives them a real understanding of where the talent sits and how to reach it. This is specialist legal and company secretarial recruitment, and as part of our wider executive search work we appoint with the precision these roles demand.
Legal and governance leaders we appoint
Most of our assignments in this field sit at director and board level, where a single appointment shapes how an organisation is advised, governed and protected. We appoint across both the in-house legal function and the company secretarial and governance team, because a well-run business needs strength in each.
- General counsel and heads of legal leading the in-house legal function and advising the executive and board
- In-house and senior legal counsel, recruited where a team is building a capability or specialism
- Company secretaries and group company secretaries owning corporate governance and board support, supported by our board level practice
- Heads of governance, risk and compliance, the senior functions a regulated organisation cannot run without
- Deputy general counsel, legal operations and assistant company secretaries developing as the senior talent of the next few years
Disciplines we cover
Legal and company secretarial work is not a single discipline, and the right leader for a governance role is rarely the obvious appointment in commercial legal advisory. Stone Executive recruits across the full range of disciplines found in a modern in-house function, matching each search to consultants who understand that specific market.
- In-house legal advisory & commercial law
- Corporate governance & board support
- Company secretarial
- Compliance & regulatory
- Risk & data protection
- Legal operations
This is the legal and governance function inside an organisation. Where the appointment sits within a law firm or private practice instead, our legal services practice leads, recruiting the managing partners, practice heads and lawyers who run and grow the firm itself.
What is changing in Legal and governance leadership
The role of the in-house legal and governance team has changed, and the appointments organisations make now reflect it. The general counsel has moved from a purely legal adviser to a strategic partner at the top table, governance and ESG have come under far closer scrutiny from regulators and shareholders, and the volume and complexity of regulation has grown across almost every sector. Each of these has widened what a senior legal or company secretarial appointment has to deliver.
It shows most clearly in the brief. Where organisations once looked for technical legal excellence alone, they now want a general counsel who can advise on strategy and risk as readily as on the law, and a company secretary who can hold the board to a high standard of governance rather than simply administer it. The organisations that appoint for those qualities are the ones that protect themselves best.
Why specialist Legal and Company Secretarial search matters
Senior in-house and governance appointments are easy to get superficially right and expensively wrong. A brilliant private-practice lawyer does not always make an effective in-house general counsel, and a capable administrator is not the same as a company secretary who can challenge a board. A search that screens for the qualification and the CV rather than the fit with the organisation’s culture and the demands of the role is the usual reason a senior appointment disappoints, and at this level the cost is measured in misjudged risk and weak governance, not simply salary.
This is where specialism earns its place. Our consultants spend their time in the in-house and governance market, so they understand the difference between a technically able lawyer and a genuine business partner, and between an administrator and a company secretary who strengthens a board. That judgement, applied at the briefing stage, is what produces a shortlist an organisation can act on with confidence. It is the same research-led discipline that runs through all of our wider executive search work.
Our Legal and Company Secretarial search process
Every legal and governance search follows a clear, research-led sequence, scaled to the seniority of the role and the organisation it sits in. A named consultant leads the engagement from first conversation to appointment, supported by our in-house research team, and the four stages below move in order, with timing shaped by the organisation’s availability and the discretion the search requires.
Understanding the role. We begin with the chief executive, board or leaders who own the appointment, building a clear picture of the organisation’s strategy, its risk and governance profile, the culture, and what the right person needs to achieve. For a general counsel or company secretary hire, that includes a candid conversation about how much the role is expected to influence the board, not just support it.
Mapping the market. Drawing on our network and structured research, we identify the in-house lawyers, governance professionals and company secretaries who genuinely fit, across competitor organisations and adjacent sectors where the right experience can be found. Senior in-house moves are sensitive, so this stage is handled with particular discretion.
Approaching candidates. The strongest in-house and governance leaders are settled and well looked after, so they are not responding to advertisements. Reaching them takes a credible, confidential approach and a clear reason why this organisation and this role are worth the conversation, and the standing of our consultants in the market is what opens that door.
Shortlist to appointment. We present a considered shortlist, each candidate backed by a written profile covering legal or governance experience, fit against the brief, and our own assessment. From there we manage the process through interviews and any assessment required, and on to offer and acceptance.
FAQs
What does a company secretary do?›
A company secretary is responsible for an organisation’s corporate governance, ensuring the board operates effectively and the company meets its legal and regulatory obligations. They manage board and committee meetings, maintain statutory records, advise directors on governance and compliance, and act as a key point of contact between the board, shareholders and regulators. In larger organisations it is a senior leadership role rather than an administrative one.
Is the general counsel the same as the company secretary?›
No, though the roles often work closely together and are sometimes combined in smaller organisations. The general counsel leads the in-house legal function and advises the business on legal matters and risk. The company secretary is responsible for corporate governance and the running of the board. One is primarily a legal role, the other a governance role, and in larger organisations they are held by different people.
What does a general counsel do?›
A general counsel is the most senior lawyer in an organisation, leading the in-house legal team and advising the executive and board on legal matters, risk and strategy. The role combines technical legal oversight with a seat at the leadership table, covering everything from contracts and disputes to regulation, governance and major transactions. A modern general counsel is expected to be a commercial business partner, not only a legal adviser.
Does a company secretary have to be a lawyer?›
No. Many company secretaries are chartered governance professionals rather than lawyers, qualified through the Chartered Governance Institute. Others come from legal, accountancy or finance backgrounds. What matters is a strong grasp of corporate governance, company law and board practice. In some organisations the roles of general counsel and company secretary are combined, in which case the postholder is usually legally qualified.
What is a general counsel’s salary in the UK?›
General counsel pay varies widely with the size, sector and complexity of the organisation. At small and mid-sized businesses a general counsel’s base salary commonly sits in the low-to-mid six figures, while at large corporates and listed companies total reward, including bonus and long-term incentives, can run well into the high six figures and beyond. Regulated sectors and listed environments typically command the higher end of the range.
Do you need a qualification to be a company secretary?›
For most organisations there is no strict legal requirement, but in practice senior company secretary roles call for a recognised governance qualification, most commonly chartered membership of the Chartered Governance Institute. Public companies have firmer expectations around the competence and qualification of the postholder. A strong company secretary combines that formal grounding in governance and company law with sound judgement and board experience.
To discuss a general counsel, company secretary, or senior in-house legal appointment, please contact our team on 0333 800 1560.
If you would like to discuss a vacancy, or you're looking for a new opportunity, please send us an email or give us a call - we'd be delighted to hear from you.
