Found Legal

Category: Legal Counsel (Technology)

  • 🇪🇺 How We Became the Go-To Legal Recruiter for a Fortune 100 Tech Company across EMEA

    Let me tell you about one of our longest relationships – a Fortune 100 tech company that’s been working exclusively with Found Legal since 2017. Their EMEA General Counsel once told me “You are my lifeline,” which honestly made my day, but it also perfectly captures how this partnership evolved.

    It Started with a Crisis

    Back in 2017, this legal team was facing a challenging situation. They had a commercial lawyer role in France that had been open for 18 months. Eighteen months! France is a huge market for them, so this wasn’t just inconvenient – it was costing them business.

    They’d tried working with another agency – a big generalist legal recruiter who took their retainer and basically disappeared. Never delivered a single decent candidate. The company lost money on recruitment fees, had to keep paying contractors to fill the gap, and worst of all, the whole situation led to the hiring manager’s reputation suffering internally. You can imagine the frustration.

    That’s when they decided to look for a specialist.

    Why Everything Changed

    Found Legal doesn’t just recruit lawyers – we specialise in helping tech companies hire in-house legal talent. For the last decade, I’ve been building relationships specifically with lawyers who work at tech companies across Europe. These aren’t people posting their CVs online; they’re passive candidates who trust use because we understand their world.

    When this Fortune 100 company briefed me on their France role, I knew what would be the best approach and who to get in touch with. Within weeks, the EMEA GC had two our candidates as their finalists – commercial lawyers who understood SaaS agreements, revenue recognition, and the whole tech legal landscape. Plus they were bilingual, which was essential for supporting regional sales teams.

    Here’s what happened: both candidates were so well-suited that the company restructured their legal team and made offers to both of them.

    Instead of filling one role in France, they decided they needed both lawyers and found budget for two positions. That’s when I knew this was going to be special.

    Fast Forward to Today: 16 Team Members Hired (and Counting..)

    Since then, 16 lawyers have been recruited by us across EMEA. From the UK to North Europe – each market has its own challenges. Germany, France and Switzerland can be particularly challenging because finding commercial tech lawyers who speak these languages is not easy. But we have even managed to find French and German speakers in other countries (like the UK and the Netherlands) when that specific language combination was needed.

    The retention has been solid – everyone placed has stayed for more than a year, and 92% are still there after three years. In a market where people can move around quite a bit, that has worked out well for everyone.

    How We Actually Work Together

    The relationship has evolved way beyond normal recruitment.

    Now, hiring managers call me directly when they’re thinking about hiring, even before they brief their own talent acquisition team. They’ll say “We will need someone in Germany soon, can you start talking to your network?”

    That early engagement is crucial because the best tech lawyers aren’t sitting around waiting for jobs.

    They need to be approached thoughtfully, educated about the opportunity, and often convinced that a move makes sense for their career. I spend a lot of time managing expectations on both sides – making sure the salary discussions are realistic, that the candidate understands the company culture, that the role really fits what they want to do next and that they would be a great addition to the team.

    What Makes This Work

    I think there are a few reasons this partnership has been so successful:

    The obvious one is specialisation. I only work with tech companies, so I understand their specific legal challenges. When someone mentions revenue recognition issues or tech outsourcing contract negotiations, I know what kind of candidate profiles would be suitable. Generalist legal recruiters don’t get an opportunity to develop a deep understanding of one sector or build a specialised network.

    Having lived and worked in three different European countries and speaking European languages also helps. It means I can connect authentically with candidates across different markets and understand the cultural nuances that matter when placing someone in a new country or role.

    The multilingual piece is big too. Every lawyer I’ve placed at this company speaks at least two languages fluently, many speak three or four. One of them speaks five languages, which has been really useful for the team. For a company that operates across all these different European markets, having lawyers who can work directly with local sales teams in their own language is a massive advantage.

    But the biggest factor is probably that I genuinely care about making this work for everyone. I’m not just trying to fill roles and move on to the next commission. I want the lawyers I place to love their jobs and stay for years. I enjoy my clients working with me as an extension of their team, not just another supplier.

    Why This Matters

    There are many legal recruiters out there. Big firms with fancy offices and massive teams. But when you’re hiring for specialised roles in a fast-moving industry like tech, you need someone who really understands your world.

    This Fortune 100 company could work with anyone they want. The fact that they’ve continued working with us for years, making Found Legal their go-to for all EMEA legal hires, suggests the approach has been effective.

    Every lawyer I place isn’t just filling a role; they’re becoming part of my client’s team for years to come. And that makes all the difference.

    If you’re a tech company looking to hire legal talent in the UK or Europe, I’d love to hear about your challenges. After a decade in this space, I’ve probably filled a similar role before.

  • 🇬🇧 How we helped a Fortune 500 IT Services company hire a Tech Lawyer from a Tier 1 Firm

    🇬🇧 How we helped a Fortune 500 IT Services company hire a Tech Lawyer from a Tier 1 Firm

    Our client, a global $18bn revenue IT Outsourcing company, was looking to hire a commercial tech lawyer to join their UK&I legal team.

    With their business continuing to grow rapidly, they were seeking a team member with at least 3 years of experience in complex IT Outsourcing deals.

    The role:

    This Legal Counsel position was part of UK team of 10 commercial / outsourcing in-house lawyers, responsible for negotiating a range of IT services agreements with clients, from high-value MSAs to subcontracts and reseller agreements.

    The role advised the leadership team on high-risk issues, provided pragmatic legal support at all stages of the contracting process, and work on ad hoc strategic legal/commercial projects.

    Part of the role was also to create and provide legal training to business colleagues on key risk issues and collaborate with fellow lawyers in the global team to develop and improve contracting and legal risk management practices.

    Our candidate: Tier 1 global firm associate

    The candidate that we have secured for our client was a 5 PQE solicitor with a broad range of expertise in technology, commercial and outsourcing contracts, gained at a major global law firm and as an in-house secondee.

    This person had over three years of experience as an associate in the Tier 1 ranked technology and outsourcing group at a global law firm in London after training with the firm.

    Following their secondments the candidate was keen to move into an in-house role where they would focus on technology and outsourcing agreements, ideally without significant corporate or data protection related activities.

    The role that our client was hiring for was exactly the right fit.

    Candidate’s experience:

    The candidate had experience advising both customers and suppliers on technology contracts including transformational IT outsourcing arrangements, software development agreements, and ‘as a service’ solutions.

    At their law firm, the candidate was involved in several complex transformational IT services transactions.

    Experience included procuring a variety of outsourced IT services via a well-known IT outsourcer, drafting a suite of tender documentation and agreements for a public sector client, and advising a supplier client in respect of its successful bid for communications services to be enrolled into the UK’s public sector infrastructure.

    They had advised supplier clients on their bid activity including responses to tenders and proposals as well as customer clients on the drafting of RFP/tender agreements and documentation.

    They also had experience of working on a variety of complex transactions, from negotiating IT services agreements and software licenses to advising clients on procurement and regulatory compliance issues.

    Candidate’s in-house secondments:

    The candidate had undertaken two in-house secondments where they advised on the procurement of technology solutions from vendors, resolved ad-hoc legal questions, and provided pragmatic, commercially-focused legal support.

    On their client secondment to an FMCG company, the candidate negotiated agreements for the provision of business-critical IT services and resolved ad-hoc legal queries from the business teams.

    As part of another in-house secondment, they advised on the procurement of various technology solutions from vendors, including under framework agreements with statements of work.

    Candidate’s soft skills:

    Throughout their career, the candidate had built and maintained relationships with internal stakeholders, ensuring they were a trusted advisor for both legal advice and risk analysis.

    The candidate was an approachable and personable individual, quickly able to create trust, and both likeable and capable. They had a natural ability to connect with people on a personal level, making them easy to approach and easy to work with.

    Outcome:

    Our candidate was successfully hired for the role of in-house legal counsel at this IT services company.

    With their experience in complex IT Outsourcing agreements and their ability to build and maintain relationships, the candidate was immediately a valuable addition to the team.

    Found Legal’s ability to find highly qualified and culturally aligned legal professionals has been key to our success in placing candidates in organisations across the UK and Europe.

    We are committed to providing our clients with talented, experienced, and dedicated legal professionals who will add value to their businesses and in-house legal teams.

    Ref 1131801


  • 🇩🇪 How we recruited a multilingual Legal Counsel for a global Tech company in Germany

    🇩🇪 How we recruited a multilingual Legal Counsel for a global Tech company in Germany

    Background:

    Our client, a global tech company and one of the world’s best employers, called us to discuss their new commercial legal counsel vacancy for their operations in Germany.

    Based on our history of working with this client, we knew that apart from Germany, their other key market was France.

    They valued candidates who were excellent commercial lawyers, spoke several European languages, had an international outlook, and ideally had exposure to drafting commercial contracts under Common Law.

    Found Legal’s Solution:

    We reached out to a highly qualified lawyer in our network whose profile seemed to tick all the boxes.

    The candidate was trilingual in English, French, and German, educated both as a German and French lawyer, trained in reputable law firms, had experience of drafting contracts under the law of England and Wales, and at the time was working for another global IT company in Berlin.

    During our discussions, the candidate expressed an interest in moving to a dynamic international environment where they could develop their skills as a tech sector lawyer, work with sales and commercial teams, and using their language skills.

    Candidate’s experience:

    Prior to starting their in-house experience, this person trained with Bird and Bird and DLA Piper in commercial legal and IP capacity. Later in-house, they gained substantial experience in:

    • Reviewing, drafting, and negotiating master service agreements and licensing agreements with customers in collaboration with the sales team.
    • Revising and negotiating professional services agreements involving consulting service agreements and statements of work.
    • Providing commercial legal support for public tender projects in France, the Netherlands, and Belgium.
    • Reviewing NDAs in local languages.
    • Establishing templates and contract processes with internal stakeholders, including sales, technical, and product teams.
    • Being the legal point of contact for the partnership team.


    Outcome:

    The hiring process was swift, with both the legal team and the sales team impressed with the candidate’s experience, skills, and cultural fit. All the interviewers unanimously agreed that the candidate was the right person for the role and team, and shortly after the interviews, the candidate accepted the offer.

    The candidate started their new role a few months ago and has since been a valuable member of our client’s EMEA legal team working in a commercial legal role, closely supporting the sales and commercial teams.

    Their experience, language skills, and passion for technology make them an asset to the business, and we are delighted to have placed them with this client.

    Found Legal’s ability to find highly qualified and culturally aligned legal professionals has been key to our success in placing candidates in organisations worldwide.

    We are committed to providing our clients with talented, experienced, and dedicated legal professionals who will add value to their businesses and in-house legal teams.

    Ref 1655151

  • 🇬🇧 How we helped a SaaS company hire a 6 PQE EMEA Counsel in London

    🇬🇧 How we helped a SaaS company hire a 6 PQE EMEA Counsel in London

    6+ PQE commercial lawyer with both private practice and in-house experience joins a software market leader as their EMEA Legal Counsel.

    Our client is a medium-sized global software company, a leader in the area of software monitoring and performance optimisation that licenses its software as both on-premises and software-as-a-service to enterprise customers.

    Their global legal team of eight was looking to hire legal counsel with experience in technology licensing.

    This position reported to the company’s global GC and assisted in driving commercial transactions in EMEA.

    Responsibilities included

    • Negotiate complex software license and SaaS agreements with leading global customers
    • Respond to requests from internal clients and summarise and communicate legal risks in a clear way
    • Develop and maintain terms for buying programs, such as enterprise license agreements
    • Support partner organisation with new partner programs
    • Assist in the continuous improvement of standard form agreements and playbooks

    What type of lawyer was the team looking for

    The team was keen to hire an English qualified lawyer with 5+ PQE in private practice and / or in-house with experience negotiating complex contracts (SaaS, software licence, resale and vendor agreements) under the English law.

    Deep understanding of GDPR was also required.

    One of the key requirements was outstanding contract negotiation and drafting skills, with the ability to negotiate multi-year, multi-million-dollar license agreements with Enterprise level customers.

    Non-English law and jurisdiction experience was considered an asset.

    Who we placed

    Found Legal placed a commercial lawyer with 6 years of experience gained in both private practice and in-house, a highly skilled professional with strong work ethic, comfortable working with other internal teams such as engineering, sales, product management and marketing.

    This person is dual qualified in the UK and another European jurisdiction and speaks fluently two languages.

    The candidate most recently worked for a US headquartered SaaS company where responsibilities included:

    • Negotiating with blue-chip companies and taking on responsibility for the client contracting cycle, ensuring timely and successful conclusion
    • Drafting, reviewing and negotiating complex commercial contracts (SaaS, vendor and NDA agreements)
    • Advising the business on a wide range of legal issues including data protection, risk management/compliance, Intellectual property, marketing and employment
      Working across multiple jurisdictions including EMEA

    Importantly for an in-house role, the new team member was a great communicator able to explain complex issues in a clear and simple manner both in writing and verbally. They demonstrated client-centric approach to handling complex legal issues and possessed strong organisational and interpersonal skills.

    Ref 1428751

  • What’s in an in-house legal counsel benefits package?

    In-house salaries in tech are currently almost on par with salaries in law firms, especially at junior to mid level roles.

    But what about the benefits?
    There is so much more to an in-house package than a salary and a bonus.

    Here is a typical list of the benefits you would be entitles to as in-house counsel at a major global technology company:

    Annual leave, holidays and days off

    • 5 weeks of annual leave (may vary from country to country)
    • Your birthday off
    • Around 5 days per year off company wide as “Day for Me”
    • Around 5 days a year off at manager’s discretion
    • 1 week of paid charity work
    • Buy 1 week of leave per year
    • (So potentially 8-9 weeks off work per year if you need your balance)

    Benefits

    Insurance and income protection

    • Life insurance (x 4 annual salary)
    • Income Protection – Long Term Disability Benefit: 75% of base salary will be paid to protect you and your family should an accident or illness prevent you from working until you either return to work, resign, reach pension age or pass away.
    • Global Travel emergency cover – including travel for pleasure – for you and your dependents: 24-Hour Emergency Assistance (referrals to a doctor who speaks your language, an outpatient medical expense guarantee, repatriation, interpreters, lost document assistance, security evacuation).

    Stock

    • Employee Stock Purchase plan – opportunity to buy stock at 15% discount (which you can then sell)

    Healthcare and fitness

    • Private Health cover for you and family members (spouse, partner, children, parents, step parents and spouse’s biological parents / step parents)
    • Physiotherapy
    • Enhanced Mental Health cover
    • Dental insurance for you and family members (spouse, partner, children, parents, step parents and spouse’s biological parents / step parents)
    • Eye test and glasses up to £130 per year
    • Access to a Doctor video consultation 24/7 365
    • Health assessment every two years
    • Expert Medical Opinion – independent expert advice for serious health issues available to you and family members (spouse, partner, children, parents, step parents and spouse’s biological parents / step parents).
    • Occupational Health assessment and advice
    • Employee & Family Assistance – up to 8 mental health counselling sessions per person including partner and dependents (spouse, partner, children, parents, step parents and spouse’s biological parents / step parents).
    • Discount gym membership

    Giving back

    • Give as You Earn (support your chosen charity)
    • 5 paid days per year that you can use to support your chosen cause (a charity, local community or simply your kid’s school where you can help out)

    Childcare support

    • Baby Gift for a new baby
    • Employee Discount Program – saving available on almost all brands – including gadgets; Cinema & Theme Park tickets with up to 55% off; everyday savings – shopping cards or e-codes at Amazon, Starbucks etc. For you and up to 10 family members or friends.
    • Back Up Care (2 weeks a year) – in-home or nursery care when your regular child / adult dependants care arrangements are not available. Examples of this could be that your nanny or child carer is unable to look after your children, you have an unexpected work meeting you have to attend on a day you don’t usually work, or your parent is due to be discharged from hospital and they require some additional support around the house.

    Transportation

    • Cycle to work scheme (buy a bike)
    • Season ticket loans
    • Company car allowance (typically for more senior grades)

    Development

    • Personal development plan that you set up together with your manager and review twice a year
    • Personal mentor with coaching sessions once a month
    • Yearly budget for your training – choose what you want to learn to further develop in your profession
    • New Lawyer’s Academy for all new joiners of legal department in a given year
    • Legal Get Together – learning and fun event with your EMEA legal colleagues – one week long twice a year in a new location
    • Training by subject matter experts (contracting, IP, data protection etc) – every 1-2 weeks
    • Non legal training (for example soft skills development or language courses)
    • Leadership training

    Regular salary reviews

    Every year your salary will be reviewed; with progression through the grades your bonus also grows, as well as pension.

    International mobility and relocation

    • Opportunities to work from other offices across the world several weeks a year
    • Opportunities to relocate to countries of your choice.

    Imagine working from Milan, Madrid or Barcelona for a month every summer?.. Or even relocating somewhere you love in the future – when you work for a major multinational with offices globally, this is easily achievable.

    Your future

    These examples above are exactly the type of benefits most lawyers get when hired by our clients, global technology companies.

    If you are a commercial lawyer thinking of an in-house role in tech, feel free to get in touch for a confidential discussion.

  • 🇫🇷 How we recruited a 5 PQE Legal Counsel for a Global Tech Company in Paris

    🇫🇷 How we recruited a 5 PQE Legal Counsel for a Global Tech Company in Paris

    Background:

    Our client is a leading technology company that provides hardware, software, and services to households and offices worldwide and a Top 5 company to work for globally.

    The EMEA GC was looking to hire a lawyer in Paris with experience in supporting sales of technology products and services to enterprise-level customers, including expertise in commercial, contract, and business law, data protection and privacy law, IP and antitrust law, revenue recognition principles, and negotiating complex business transactions.

    The lawyer also needed to be fluent in English and French, as negotiations were primarily conducted in French, with contracts governed by the laws of England and Wales.

    Found Legal’s Solution:

    After a thorough search and selection process, Found Legal placed a bilingual lawyer with 5+ years of experience, trained in private practice, and having worked in a commercial legal role in-house.

    The candidate was a native French speaker and fully fluent in English, having lived in the UK and visited the US regularly.

    They trained in IP and Technology departments of international law firms DLA Piper, Hogan Lovells, and August & Debouzy in Paris, where they got admitted to the French Bar (CAPA).

    Post-qualification, the candidate worked in-house at an Internet company, gaining experience in complex high-value negotiations, drafting commercial/SaaS contracts, data privacy matters, and pre-litigation and litigation.

    Responsibilities:

    As a member of the legal team, the candidate’s primary responsibilities included:

    Drafting, negotiating, and processing contracts with enterprise customers, including direct sale, RFP/RFIs, resale, nondisclosure, software license/sublicense, evaluation, cloud contracts, XaaS, flexible consumption models, dispute settlements, and alliance agreements.
    Providing advice and contract interpretation to senior management on the provisions of specific agreements as well as legal issues that might impact the business.
    Securing approval on nonstandard legal, financial, technical, and business issues raised in contract documents.
    Reviewing, analysing, and maintaining standard contracts and other business documents.
    Participating in and leading departmental and cross-functional process improvement teams.

    Outcome:

    The new team member started in their role in 2019 and quickly established themselves as a strong commercial lawyer, working successfully with a driven sales team and managing a variety of stakeholders within this complex multinational organization.

    They have since been promoted several times and recently moved into the role of a Lead lawyer within a different client’s vertical, working closely with the company’s senior management.

    As of today, they are still gainfully employed by the business, like most of the lawyers that Found Legal has placed.

    Found Legal’s ability to source, evaluate and present a bilingual lawyer with a strong background in technology law and commercial legal experience, proved to be a significant asset to our client.

    The lawyer’s expertise allows them to successfully navigate complex negotiations and provide valuable advice to senior management.

    The candidate’s ongoing success within the company reinforces Found Legal’s commitment to providing our clients with talented, experienced and dedicated legal professionals.

    Ref 289601

  • 🇫🇷 How we secured a multilingual Tech lawyer for a Global IT Company in Madrid

    🇫🇷 How we secured a multilingual Tech lawyer for a Global IT Company in Madrid

    This candidate had exceptional language skills: they were fluent in French, English, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. Since the company operates in all of the markets using these languages, this person immediately stood out for the legal team.

    Our client was a large global technology company with ca. 15,000 employees. Headquartered in Europe, they are world leader in their sector.

    The business is an exciting place to work offering excellent work-life balance, diverse multicultural environment and cutting edge tech legal work.

    What was the role the client was hiring for?

    Global Head of Legal and a leader of a team of 30, was seeking to hire a technically strong lawyer with 5+ PQE and experience drafting and negotiating technology contracts, ideally trained in private practice and fluent in English and French. The role was based in Madrid.

    The team was looking for someone passionate about working close to the commercial team and senior management and acting as a true business partner advising on a diverse portfolio of products and services.

    Of importance were business rapport building skills and strong business insight, as well as the ability to work in a fast-moving company.

    Reporting into Global Head of Legal, the role offered a lot of responsibility providing legal and contractual support to this IT business:

    Responsibilities included

    • Responsibility for varied range of issues including strategic accounts and / or vendor and supplier management
    • Creating strategic solutions to key legal issues
    • Negotiate and draft complex agreements (software, services, outsourcing, supplier, vendor, consultancy, technology licensing and development agreements)
    • Provide key support on litigation, data protection and regulatory issues
    • Advise top management on strategic legal risks
    • Instruct and manage external counsel
    • Oversee capturing of know-how, provide training on areas of expertise and supervise more junior team members

    Who was hired and what was the candidate’s background?

    We placed a 6+ PQE technology lawyer, qualified in a top law firm with subsequent five years of in-house experience at a major international business handling IT / digital / e-commerce/ SaaS matters and contracts.

    Fluent in five languages – French, English, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, the candidate relocated from Switzerland.

    How successful was this placement long term?

    The new team member started in their role in May 2019.

    As of today, they are still gainfully employed by the business (as are 99% of lawyers we have placed).

    Ref 141201

  • 🇫🇷 How we recruited a 14 PQE Commercial Lawyer for a Fortune 100 IT Company in Paris

    🇫🇷 How we recruited a 14 PQE Commercial Lawyer for a Fortune 100 IT Company in Paris

    Our client is one of the biggest IT companies in the world headquartered in the US with 400-strong global legal and compliance team.

    Who was hired and what was their role?

    EMEA GC, who the role reported to, was looking to hire a senior lawyer to be based in Paris, who would be fluent in English and French with experience working for a US company.

    We placed a 14 PQE Canadian lawyer bilingual in English and French, admitted to NY Bar, with experience working for a major US law firm and a top e-commerce company.

    Responsibilities included

    • Draft, negotiate and process contracts with enterprise customers: direct sale, RFP / RFIs, resale, nondisclosure, software license/sublicense, evaluation, cloud contracts, SaaS, flexible consumption models, dispute settlements and alliance agreements.
    • Responsibility for named customers accounts headquartered in France with operations in EMEAR and the Americas.
    • Provide advice and contract interpretation to senior management on the provisions of specific agreements as well as legal issues that might impact the business
    • Secure proper approval on nonstandard legal, financial, technical and business issues raised in contract documents
    • Review, analyse and maintain standard contracts and other business documents
    • Participate on and lead departmental and cross-functional process improvement teams

    What was the candidate’s background before being hired?

    The candidate we placed had trained with and worked at a major US law firm in the US, having then moved in-house (and to Paris) to work for a French telecommunications company and later for a leading e-commerce business.

    This person was looking for a more balanced role, whilst being part of an internationally recognised technology leader, both of which the role provided.

    How successful was this placement long term?

    The new team member started in their role in 2018.

    As of today, they are still gainfully employed by the business (as are 99% of lawyers we have placed).