Recruitment agency forLegal
Junior Legal Counsel, Legal Counsel, Senior Legal Counsel, Privacy / GDPR Officer, Compliance Officer, Legal Operations Manager…
The best Legal candidates don’t apply for jobs. We approach them directly.
0 trial periods ended early in 2025
- 35
Legal hires since 2022
- 80,000+
candidates in our network
- 90%
of candidates accept our clients’ offers
Our approach
Why trust us with your Legal hiring
Targeted search
We approach the best legal people directly through our LinkedIn Recruiter license, the talent pool we keep up to date and referrals. We select each candidate for their track record, command of the job and fit with your context.
Our sourcing channels
Assessment
We build a clear scorecard with you, based on your legal priorities. We check every figure a candidate cites before we present them, and complete the assessment with structured interviews and thorough reference checks.
Sample Legal scorecard
Long-term partnership
We share what we see in the market (salary ranges, trends, signs that people are ready to move) and our search reports to help you build a strong legal team over time.
What we deliver
Tailored search report
Up-to-date salary benchmark
Tracking of candidates open to a move
Closing and onboarding follow-up
Our process
6 steps to hire the right person
Role definition and scorecard
Targeting and search strategy
Screening and assessment
Candidate presentation and reports
Support through to the signed offer
KPI review and continuous improvement
Role definition and scorecard
Targeting and search strategy
Screening and assessment
Candidate presentation and reports
Support through to the signed offer
KPI review and continuous improvement
Our Legal expertise
Roles we cover, stacks we know, salary ranges and seniority levels.
Corporate Legal Counsel
Drafts and negotiates commercial contracts, supports M&A deals and monitors legal developments for the company.
Compliance Officer
Runs regulatory compliance: anti-money laundering, Sapin II anti-corruption rules, sanctions, ongoing controls and dialogue with regulators.
Head of Legal
Leads the legal function at a scale-up or group, as General Counsel on the executive committee: contracts, compliance, litigation.
Data Protection Officer
Runs GDPR compliance: record of processing activities, impact assessments, relations with the CNIL and team training.
Employment Law Counsel
Advises management and HR on employment contracts, relations with employee representatives and French labor court cases.
Contract Manager
Manages the contract lifecycle after signature: tracking commitments, amendments, claims and renewals.
Companies that trust us with Legal hiring
A dedicated expert, client testimonials and completed hires to back it up.
Legal client testimonials
Selma Chababi
Chief Growth Officer · Gino Legaltech
« We’ve been working with Lity for several months and have already made several hires together. We’ll do it again with full confidence for our future needs. Lity is a firm that knows how to adapt and goes well beyond our expectations. »
Related Legal case studies
Your Legal recruitment consultant
10+ years recruiting Legal talent
Hiring for Legal roles in France in 2026 is still difficult. The best candidates are currently employed, regularly approached by recruiters and never look at public job postings. Without a direct network and without confidentiality, a search can take several months.
Baruck leads the Legal practice at Lity and works with founders, executive committees and HR directors on Legal searches, with detailed knowledge of the market, compensation packages and career paths.
Learn more about our approachShow less
In Legal, we have worked with many kinds of companies: early-stage startups, Series A to D scale-ups, established mid-market companies and large groups going through a transformation. When the search is run in-house, the hardest profiles stay unfilled for months.
Baruck knows the companies in the Legal market, the actual salary ranges by seniority and company size, and the signs that a candidate is ready to leave. The team knows how to calibrate a junior, mid-level or senior hire, and checks the figures candidates quote before presenting them.
Our method relies on 4 complementary sources. Our LinkedIn Recruiter license for direct outreach to currently employed candidates. Our pool of Legal candidates, which we keep up to date. Referrals from our network of top performers. And our presence at Legal community events. The scorecard is built with you. For actual timelines and results, our case studies document each search.
We work with companies of every size
Startup, scale-up, SME or large enterprise: we adapt our methods to your stage of growth and your hiring needs.
Startup
1 to 30 employees
At startup stage, legal work is outsourced to a law firm (Aramis, Hogan Lovells, Gide). The first in-house counsel is hired around Series A/B.
Scale-up
30 to 300 employees
At scale-up stage, a senior legal counsel or Head of Legal joins to handle corporate matters, SaaS contracts and privacy.
SME
50 to 500 employees
In the expansion phase (Series C+), the legal team takes shape (4-8 people) with corporate, commercial, privacy and compliance.
Large companies
Mid-market companies and large groups
In large companies, the legal department is complete (15-50 people), with specialists in corporate, litigation, employment, IP and tax.
Further reading
Resources and other Lity practices.
Other Lity practices
All our recruitment practicesRelated
Keep exploring
- Hiring in FranceContracts, salaries and notice periods for US and UK companies.
- Salaries in FranceGross, net and employer cost by role, in euros, dollars and pounds.
- Executive SearchSenior leaders, recruited through a confidential direct search.
- Permanent recruitmentPermanent hires in France and Europe, paid on success.
Answers to your questions about recruiting in Legal.
What do corporate and tech legal roles pay in 2026?
Here are the salary ranges we see in corporate and tech legal roles in 2026:
- Junior Legal Counsel: €45K to €58K
- Mid-level Legal Counsel: €60K to €75K
- Senior Legal Counsel: €82K to €100K
- Privacy / GDPR Officer: €62K to €78K
- Compliance Officer: €62K to €78K
- Legal Operations Manager: €65K to €82K
- General Counsel: €105K to €130K at mid-level, €128K to €165K at senior level
- Head of Legal at a scale-up: €100K to €125K
- M&A Counsel: €72K to €90K at mid-level
Freelance consulting lawyers charge €800 to €1500 per day, depending on their specialty.
In-house counsel vs. lawyer: what’s the difference?
The difference comes down to status and where they practice:
- In-house counsel: works inside the company on contracts, compliance and pre-litigation matters. An employee of the company.
- Lawyer (avocat): practices at a law firm and argues cases in court. Admitted to the bar, with independent status.
Many lawyers move to in-house roles after 3-5 years at a firm, for a better work-life balance.
Two seniority levels are worth clarifying:
- Senior Legal Counsel: an experienced in-house counsel with 7+ years of experience, often from a business law firm (Bredin Prat, Cleary, Sullivan & Cromwell, BDGS).
- General Counsel: the C-level equivalent.
How do you assess in-house counsel in an interview?
The assessment covers four areas:
- Areas of expertise: commercial contracts, employment law, intellectual property, securities law (depending on the context).
- Track record: matters handled, litigation won, negotiations led.
- Business sense: going beyond strictly legal questions to take business priorities into account.
- Soft skills: ability to say no diplomatically and to work with sales and operations.
A good in-house counsel talks about business and solutions, not only legal risks.
Is the scale-up legal market tight in 2026?
Yes, the market is tight for certain profiles in 2026:
- Senior Legal Counsel and General Counsel: in high demand when they have an international track record. Candidates from business law firms (Bredin Prat, Latham & Watkins, Cleary) moving into scale-ups are actively headhunted.
- Privacy / GDPR Officers and Compliance Officers: gaining value with NIS2, DORA, the AI Act and MiCA.
- Legal Operations Managers: focused on tooling, automation and legal KPIs, this role is emerging at Series B+ scale-ups.
Junior generalist legal counsels, on the other hand, face a more competitive market.
Which legal tools matter in 2026?
Here are the main legal tools in 2026:
- CLM (Contract Lifecycle Management): Ironclad, Juro, ContractWorks, Conga
- E-signature: DocuSign, Yousign
- Legal monitoring: Lexis Nexis, Dalloz, Doctrine
- Case law research: Doctrine, Predictice
- Automation: Lawpath, Hyperlex for contract analysis
- Generative AI: ChatGPT, Claude for contract drafting, Harvey AI or Spellbook for advanced legal review
Generative AI is changing the job, and legal operations managers are the ones who roll out these tools. A modern in-house counsel knows at least one CLM and how to apply AI.
What career paths are open in legal?
The usual career path follows this progression:
Junior Legal Counsel → Legal Counsel → Senior Legal Counsel → Head of Legal → General Counsel → Chief Legal Officer
Several specializations are in demand:
- M&A (investment banking)
- Privacy/GDPR
- Compliance
- Legal Ops
Interesting career moves are also possible:
- Lawyer at a business law firm
- Operating Partner at a private equity fund
- Independent board member
Many senior legal counsels move to senior freelance work (daily rate of €1000 to €1500) or join legal tech companies (Ironclad, Juro, Hyperlex).
Trust us with your hiring in Legal.
A hands-on approach for hires that last.
Intro call (30 min)
A video call to understand your needs and walk you through our approach.
On-site visit
We meet you on site to get a detailed understanding of your culture and your hiring plans.
Targeted search
The search starts. We present only the candidates who match your requirements.