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General Counsel Recruitment

A Leading General Counsel Recruitment Firm in New York

​For over a decade, Rutherford has built expertise in placing top senior legal talent into the financial services sector. Our boutique General Counsel recruiting firm is known for its extensive database, deep market knowledge and strong network. For years, our team of legal headhunters have been identifying the rising stars and established leaders of the industry and following them along their professional journey, placing them along the way into world-renowned financial services firms.

Our unparalleled connections, market knowledge and understanding of the sector's intricacies have helped us secure our reputation as one of the best legal counsel agencies in New York. Our legal staffing services are known to meet the highest of standards, and our clients often come back to us to build out their wider legal team.

Please note that Rutherford offers both retained search services and contingent recruitment services to its clients.

Your Trusted General Counsel Recruitment Firm

Our greatest pride is our people. Rutherford is a boutique general counsel recruiting firm which is made up of some of the best recruitment experts in the financial services space.

If you are legal professional who is actively looking for General Counsel vacancies in the financial services sector, head over to our current vacancies and peruse your options. You can alternatively reach out directly to one of our General Counsel Recruitment Consultants who will be able to walk you through live vacancies or even provide some insights on the market.

Meet Rutherford's General Counsel Recruiters

jackson baker general counsel recruitment consultant at rutherford in new york

tevia kretzmer general counsel recruitment consultant at rutherford

Jackson Baker
Director and Head of US
jackson@rutherfordsearch.com

Lucy Phillips
Consultant, US
lucy@rutherfordsearch.com

Tevia Kretzmer
Consultant
tevia@rutherfordsearch.com


What Does a General Counsel Role Entail?

The core purpose of the General Counsel job is to advise a specific business on legal matters, to help it get through times of change in a seamless fashion and to protect the firm's integrity, all whilst being commercially aware.

This senior position comes with its fair share of responsibility, as the General Counsel usually has a seat at the decision table alongside other business executives. Whilst the role can vary widely depending on the size of a company or the nature of its services, most General Counsels will also have to proactively identify any potential legal and risk issues which may arise in the near future.

​The Typical General Counsel Job Description in Financial Services

General Counsels in the financial services sector are usually asked to oversee a wide array of duties, which often include compliance, ethics, risk, commerciality, legality and client engagement.

As stated in our article Commerciality and Corporate Responsibility: the Evolution of the General Counsel, the role has emerged - and gained massive popularity - within the financial services sector during the 2008 financial crisis. Appointing a senior legal practitioner has proven useful to not only increase overall business profitability, but also to make a company thrive in the ever-changing regulatory environment and new legal market.

Whilst the duties may change from firm to firm, the typical General Counsel job description will encompass, but are not limited to, the below:

Providing sound and expert legal advice to executives

Putting in place internal governance policies and managing how external factors could impact the business

Anticipating legal issues and estimating their risk

Liaising with external parties on a regular basis (this can include regulators, clients, external counsel, etc.)

Playing an active role in the drafting of legal documents

Keeping abreast of regulatory and legal changes

Conducting due diligence on deals such as mergers and acquisitions

Where to Find General Counsel Jobs in New York City

​The best way to find General Counsel jobs in NYC is to look at specialist legal recruitment firms which focus on the industry you are interested in. For example, Rutherford is a General Counsel and Associate General Counsel recruitment firm which specialises in the financial services sector. For over a decade, we have been working with some of the most renowned businesses in the finance world, from hedge funds, to private equity, to asset managers, helping them source some of the best legal talent in the New York market.

Once you have found general counsel recruitment agencies that are aligned with your career objectives and the industry you would want to work in, the next step would be to identify the right Legal Headhunters for your search. Specialist legal staffing firms like Rutherford will usually have General Counsel recruiters who oversee a niche market: they are the ones best suited to present you interesting and attrative General Counsel jobs in New York City or in the city your are based.​