A VP of Legal is a high-ranking in-house lawyer who leads the legal department within a company. They manage contracts, compliance, outside law firms, and the legal team. Some companies will have the VP of Legal as their highest-level legal staff, but in other cases they will report to a General Counsel or Chief Legal Officer. The VP of Legal will manage delivery of the legal strategy, which will be developed by the General Counsel\/Chief Legal Officer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
| <\/th>\n | VP of Legal<\/th>\n | General Counsel<\/th>\n <\/tr>\n <\/thead>\n |
|---|---|---|
| Primary focus<\/td>\n | Running the department: contracts, outside counsel, compliance workflows, intake, and the team<\/td>\n | Legal strategy and advice to the CEO and board<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n |
| Typical reporting line<\/td>\n | GC or CLO, or the CEO or COO when there is no GC<\/td>\n | CEO, with regular access to the board<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n |
| Main audience<\/td>\n | The legal team, business stakeholders and outside counsel<\/td>\n | Executives and the board<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n |
| In smaller companies<\/td>\n | May be the top legal officer<\/td>\n | May also run the department day to day<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n <\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n A Chief Legal Officer or a CLO is a C-suite position and often interchangeable with General Counsel. In the MLA Compensation Report for 2026, they have been grouped as one band together under the heading GC \/ CLO. A VP of Legal will be one level below, or the top legal role if there is no CLO or GC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Key Responsibilities of a VP of Legal<\/h2>\n\n\n\nThe responsibilities of a VP of Legal will focus around the day-to-day running of the legal function, including requesting legal work; allocation, review, and invoicing, and managing contracts, compliance, and external counsel. This will depend on whether they are also acting as the top legal officer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Strategic Legal Leadership<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The VP of Legal will ensure that the legal team is working towards the objectives of the business. They will help the executive team understand the legal risk involved with new initiatives and ensure that the department works towards supporting the direction of the company. If there is a General Counsel, then the VP of Legal will translate the GC’s strategy into an action plan for the team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Contract Management and CLM Oversight<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Contracts are often the biggest source of repeat work. The VP of Legal will set a standard for templates, approval processes, and negotiation stances. As many departments use CLM software to manage their contracts, the VP will have visibility to see what volume of contracts they are dealing with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Risk Management and Regulatory Compliance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Identifying and mitigating legal and regulatory risks; ensuring the business is compliant with its industry and jurisdictional requirements, including processes, approvals, timelines, and record-keeping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Outside Counsel Management and Legal Spend<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Deciding what work will be done by Outside Counsel, with whom, and ensuring control of the legal spend. Including setting billing guidelines, matter budgets, invoice checking and monitoring law firm performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Team Leadership and Legal Department Operations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This is where you get into hiring and developing staff and balancing workloads between the team members. The VP of Legal will also oversee intake, triage, matter management, and reporting. Many VPs of Legal will work closely with a legal operations lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Corporate Governance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The VP of Legal will help with Corporate Governance. This can include ensuring policies are maintained, providing advice for board\/committee issues, and managing documentation (minutes and resolutions). At some companies, this may be a separate role for a corporate secretary, but at others it will be part of the VP of Legal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Generally, a VP of Legal will require to have a Juris Doctor degree, be a currently practicing member of the bar, and have several years of experience in a legal role, including some time in a corporate or leadership position. This will vary depending on the size and industry of the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Educational Background and Bar Admission<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Most will require the candidate to have obtained a Juris Doctor degree from an accredited law school. They must also be actively practicing members of the bar in at least one jurisdiction. Additionally, it is often beneficial for the candidate to have additional business\/management qualifications if they have moved from a law firm to an operational leadership role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Years of Experience Typically Required<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Most employers will look for someone with around 10 years of legal experience. This needs to include several years at a senior level and some in-house or advising corporate clients. Smaller companies might employ someone at a more junior level, but larger companies will look for someone with more experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Skills and Competencies<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n How Much Does a VP of Legal Earn?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Salaries for VP of Legal roles are often not listed individually within salary surveys due to the variation in titles across different companies. In the 2026 MLA In-House Counsel Compensation Report<\/a>, based on 641 legal department placements in 2024 and 2025, deputy general counsel roles had a median total package (base and bonus) of $363,000 for associate and assistant general counsel roles, $446,000 and private company GC\/CLO roles earned a median of $500,000. How much a VP of Legal earns will depend on the company size, industry, location, and whether it is the highest legal role. <\/p>\n\n\n\n *Note: These figures come from MLA\u2019s own placements, so you can use them as a reference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A company would generally require a VP of Legal if they are unable to provide strategic advice due to their General Counsel also needing to manage the department. They may also need one if the amount of work in legal exceeds their capacity. Most commonly, this will be due to rapid growth, an increase in contracts, and increased regulatory complexity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Signs Your GC Is Stretched Too Thin<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Growth Stages That Trigger the Hire<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Common triggers include preparing for an IPO, large acquisition, multi-jurisdictional expansion, or moving into a highly regulated area. This means there is increased volumes, risk, and coordination required. The VP of Legal will take on the operational side while your GC focuses on the strategic side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How the Role Evolves as the Legal Department Scales<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A VP of Legal will often be an active lawyer within a small team. However, as the legal team grows, the VP of Legal will become more of a manager. Their responsibilities will be people, processes, and vendor management. The role will shift from providing legal services to designing the system that provides legal services. At this point, many companies will bring in legal ops support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The main challenges faced by a VP of Legal are around increase. There will be more requests, contracts, and regulations coming into the team than the tools can support. The top 4 issues are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fragmented Legal Processes and Disconnected Tools<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Data silos make it difficult for the VP of Legal to collate and understand the data. This causes delays in reporting and can prevent you from seeing connections in your data, for example, identifying a risk in a contract that is related to an open dispute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poor Insight into Legal Expenditure & External Counsel Performance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Without having budgeting and invoicing at a matter level, issues are not picked up until after payment has been made. A Gartner survey<\/a> found that only 1 in 5 matters are on budget when sent to external counsel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n High-Volume Intake and Triage Demands<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n All requests come through in a variety of formats (email, chat, etc.), but they all vie for the same group of lawyers. With a well-defined legal intake process, each request will be owned and have a status. This makes the VP of Legal aware of volume.<\/p>\n\n\n\n |