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When You Need Interim Counsel

Interim legal counsel fits any time there’s work without the right person to do it. Common examples include:

A sudden resignation or departure Parental leave or an extended medical leave
A sabbatical or planned absence A hiring freeze with work still coming in
A slow search or recruiting lag A workload spike during a leadership transition

How Coverage Works

  1. Tell Paragon about the gap, the work it covers, and the seniority it requires.
  2. Paragon matches you with a vetted interim attorney who’s done the work before.
  3. The attorney embeds with your team and systems and hits the ground running.
  4. They keep matters moving through the transition, from commercial contracts and employment law to regulatory compliance, corporate governance, intellectual property, commercial litigation support, risk management, and data privacy under GDPR.
  5. When your permanent hire arrives, the interim attorney transitions the work and steps out, or converts to the role if they’re the right fit.

Because an interim attorney covers essential work without adding to headcount, coverage keeps overhead in check while a search runs. You pay only for what you need, which keeps the budget conversation simple, and there’s a playbook for how to sell your CFO on interim counsel if you need to make the case internally.

Interim in-house counsel from Paragon isn’t a résumé handed over by a legal recruiter or a junior secondee on loan from a law firm. Paragon’s interim lawyers are senior lawyers with deep in-house experience who embed with your team, work in your systems, and stay accountable for the matters they cover — true extensions of the in-house legal function rather than detached outside counsel. They support, not replace, your chief legal officer and the external counsel you rely on for high-stakes judgment, and they hand the work back when the gap closes.

What Sets Paragon’s Interim Attorneys Apart

Covering a gap only works if the attorney is ready on day one, so Paragon is selective. Here’s a bit of what Paragon’s attorneys have to offer:

9.3 out of 10

average client satisfaction rating, which speaks to the trust we’ve earned over the years.

9.4 out of 10

average satisfaction rating of the attorneys we place.

More than 90%

of the legal professionals we place have in-house experience.

Over 70%

of our client service team members have law degrees.

Interim vs. a Hire, a Firm, or a Secondee

Interim coverage is one of several ways to handle a gap, and it usually beats a law-firm secondment on seniority and speed. Interim counsel might become a permanent hire when the fit is right (temp-to-perm), and it sits alongside legal overflow support in Paragon’s flexible legal talent model. Here’s where each option fits.

Choosing the Right Type of Legal Support
Option Best for Commitment Cost Time to start
Interim counsel Covering a leave, departure, or hiring gap fast Scoped to the gap; ends or converts when the hire lands Lowest; pay only for the coverage you need, with no salary, benefits, or headcount commitment Days
Full-time hire A permanent, ongoing seat on the team Permanent headcount Mid-range; fixed salary and benefits, regardless of workload Months
Outside law firm Bet-the-company or specialized high-stakes matters Per matter, at firm rates Highest; hourly billing at firm rates Varies
Law-firm secondee A junior associate on temporary loan Fixed term, limited seniority Mid-range; typically billed at the firm’s secondment rate Weeks

Talk to Paragon About Your Gap

Every gap is different, and the right interim attorney is the one who can step in without missing a beat. Talk to Paragon about the gap you need to cover, and we’ll match you with an attorney who can keep your legal work moving from day one.

Frequently Asked Questions

Because Paragon’s attorneys are experienced in-house practitioners, most can be scoped and embedded within days or weeks, not the months a permanent hire takes.

Coverage is scoped to the gap you’re covering, from a few weeks to several months, with no lock-in. You extend, scale, or end the coverage as your needs change.

The interim attorney transitions the work to your new hire and steps out. Because of their institutional knowledge, they might also cover additional gaps. If they turn out to be the right long-term fit, they can convert to a permanent role instead.

Paragon embeds a senior in-house attorney in your team and stays accountable for the work, rather than handing over a placement or a junior associate on loan. You get someone who can run the matters, not just fill a seat.

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2261 Market St.,
Suite 22304
San Francisco, CA 94114
info@paragonlegal.com
415.738.7870

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