Fractional General Counsel, Fintech & Startups

About Istari Legal

Istari Legal is a fintech-focused fractional general counsel practice. We embed with early- and growth-stage companies—mostly fintech and fintech-adjacent—as the legal function they can't yet justify hiring full time.

We are full-stack general counsels: our work includes product and regulatory counseling, bank partner negotiations, licensing applications, compliance infrastructure, corporate governance, commercial contracts, employment matters. We help founders ship regulated products fast, and make the kind of proportionate calls that hold up two years later without slowing anything down today.

What fractional general counsel means

A fractional general counsel sits on the client's leadership team without sitting on their payroll. The work is ongoing and relationship-driven. It requires understanding the client’s business, anticipating legal needs, setting priorities, and taking ownership of matters across functions.

Istari operates through a law firm model, but the work resembles an in-house role. Clients want commercial judgment, fast answers, and a lawyer who will tell them what to do. "It depends" is where the analysis starts, not where it ends. This is not primarily project-based outside-counsel work or narrow subject-matter support—we don't draft memos and then leave it to the client to figure out how to implement the analysis.

The role

We are looking for a senior attorney who can independently own relationships with fintech and startup clients. You will become a trusted legal partner to founders and leadership teams, manage day-to-day legal needs, and know when an issue requires collaboration or specialist support.

The role is designed for someone who wants meaningful client ownership and flexibility. This is not a senior associate role with a better title. Nothing you write passes through the founder's red pen on its way to the client; that's the entire point of hiring someone senior. But it isn't solo practice either. Hanging your own shingle or being a solo GC means every novel question is yours alone at 11pm. Here you own the client and share the bench with other senior lawyers to pressure-test a hard call, shared templates and research, and coverage when you're on a plane.

The best GCs combine breadth and depth. You should be comfortable spotting issues across the legal needs of a fintech startup while bringing deep expertise in one or more areas that expand what Istari offers, such as corporate transactions, employment, privacy, securities, lending, payments, banking-as-a-service, money transmission, digital assets, embedded finance, or fintech compliance.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary legal contact for assigned clients.
• Learn each client’s business model, product, regulatory posture, financing history, and commercial priorities.
• Counsel founders and leadership teams on legal and business decisions.
• Advise on fintech product design, licensing and regulatory strategy, banking and vendor relationships, and compliance programs.
• Draft and negotiate commercial agreements.
• Support corporate governance, privacy and data protection, employment matters, and other general legal needs.
• Bring in specialists when a matter genuinely needs one—and know the difference between "needs a specialist" and "feels scary."
• Work within retainer budgets, and flag early when something won't fit rather than after it doesn't.
• Use legal technology and AI responsibly to deliver high-quality work efficiently.
• Collaborate with other Istari attorneys on shared issues, templates, research, and client coverage.
• Help deepen existing client relationships and, over time, contribute to the development of new business.
• Help Istari develop its legal technology stack and build a scalable firm platform that improves service delivery across clients.

Qualifications

• Active US bar license in good standing.
• 10+ years of relevant legal experience.
• Meaningful in-house experience at a fintech, financial services, or regulated technology company.
• Experience working directly with founders or executive teams.
• Experience with pre-seed, seed, or Series A companies and the constraints of early-stage operations.
• Broad familiarity with the legal needs of early-stage fintech startups, combined with deep expertise in at least one complementary area, such as corporate law, employment, privacy, securities, commodities, digital assets, lending, payments, banking, or financial regulation.
• Clear, concise writing and strong client communication skills.
• Ability to operate independently with limited supervision.
• High comfort with technology and responsible use of AI-assisted legal workflows.
• Willingness to tell a founder "I don't know yet, here's how I'll find out, here's when you'll have it."

Preferred background

• Prior experience at a strong law firm in corporate, employment, privacy, fintech regulatory, financial services, securities, lending, or technology transactions work.
• In-house experience at both an established fintech and an early-stage startup.
• Substantive expertise that adds depth to Istari’s existing practice, particularly in corporate transactions, employment, privacy, securities, lending, payments, banking-as-a-service, money transmission, digital assets, embedded finance, or fintech compliance.
• An existing professional network or interest in developing a client portfolio.

Working arrangement and ramp

We start with a paid hourly trial. Discrete matters first, then collaboration on live client work, then a client relationship of your own. We're evaluating judgment, responsiveness, and whether you can run without supervision. You're evaluating whether this is worth your time—that part matters to us too, and we'd rather you conclude early that it isn't.

Hours are expected to begin at approximately five to 10 per week and may vary with client demand. There is no guaranteed minimum during the initial period. Hours track client demand and collections. Both are growing, and neither is something we'd ask you to take on faith—we're happy to talk specifics about the practice before you commit.

Successful attorneys may move into committed monthly hours, a half-time role, and potentially a full-time position as client demand and recurring revenue grow.

Attorneys who currently hold another full-time position may apply if they:

• Have authorization to perform outside legal work where required.
• Can meet agreed response times and attend client meetings during business hours when needed.
• Can maintain strict confidentiality and satisfy all conflicts requirements.
• Have a credible path to increasing their availability as the relationship grows.

As you take on client ownership and originate your own work, the economics change to reflect that. Any expansion is by mutual agreement.

What success looks like

Within the first several months, the successful attorney will be able to independently manage assigned client relationships, deliver work requiring minimal revision, make practical recommendations, and give clients confidence that their legal function is covered.

Six months in, your clients should think of you as their lawyer, not as Istari's.

How to apply

When you apply, please answer the following questions:

1. What legal or fintech area do you know best, and how could that expertise add to Istari’s practice?
2. What is one work tool (e.g., software, AI, pen and paper, etc.) you can't live without and why?