Founding Counsel — California
Help build the client side of the legal system.
This is a cofounder search, a legal pilot and a category-design exercise. It is not a conventional job posting, referral relationship or vendor procurement.
01
The opportunity
A client-owned operating system for a live California commercial dispute already exists. The first pilot will test whether that layer can reduce ramp-up, improve visibility, redirect lawyer time toward judgment and make representation economically sustainable.
Behind the pilot is a company thesis: when the cost of making a matter legible falls, more matters become economically viable. Founding Counsel helps prove that from inside the profession and helps build the company that serves the matters the current model cannot.
02
Why this role exists
The missing cofounder is someone who can translate between:
- Professional responsibilityandProduct architecture
- Litigation strategyandClient operating systems
- Courtroom realityandAI-enabled workflow
- Legal riskandFounder experimentation
- Law-firm economicsandLatent client demand
03 · Founder complementarity
Founder complementarity
John approaches the system from the client, business-development and market side. Founding Counsel approaches it from doctrine, ethics, procedure and advocacy. The strategic advantage is not that both founders see the same thing. It is that each can translate the model to a different receiver.
John contributes
- The existing Legal HQ system
- The live pilot
- Founder labor
- Product and category design
- Positioning
- Business development
- Network access
- Client-side market translation
Founding Counsel contributes
- Legal evaluation
- Legal representation, if appropriate
- Counsel-of-record capacity
- Professional-responsibility architecture
- Litigation workflow reality
- Product design from the lawyer side
- Credibility with legal buyers
- Company-building labor
04 · The first pilot
- Live California commercial litigation
- Existing counsel transition
- Active discovery
- Complete matter infrastructure
- Gated dossier after conflict check
- No public case details
- No representation presumed
05
Founding economics
The pilot is cash-light, not value-light.
The intended pilot is cash-light and reciprocal. Possible components include founder equity, company-building services, deferred or alternative legal fees, defined legal phases and documented case-study value. Nothing is agreed until the contributions are valued, conflicts are cleared, and the legal and startup relationships are separately documented.
Three relationships, documented separately
- 01
Legal HQ, Inc.
A client-side software, operating-system and strategic-services company. It does not practice law, sign filings, appear in court, give legal advice, control counsel's judgment or take a percentage of legal fees.
- 02
Founding Counsel's law practice
Provides legal advice and representation directly to the client under a separate engagement agreement.
- 03
Founding Counsel's company relationship
If appropriate after independent review, company equity may be discussed for actual company-building contributions: product design, professional architecture, governance, operating protocols and market development.
06
Process
- 01
Application
No confidential information. No obligation on either side.
- 02
Founder conversation
A direct conversation with John about the model and the role.
- 03
Mutual fit and philosophy
Client agency, professional independence, economics and appetite.
- 04
Conflict and professional-responsibility screen
Completed before any matter details are shared.
- 05
Gated pilot review
The dossier, shared only after the screen.
- 06
Separate legal and company agreements
Each independently priced, documented and reviewed.
Fit
07 · Who should apply
- California litigator
- Business-dispute experience
- Comfortable reviewing an active matter
- Willing to work transparently
- Interested in company-building
- Not threatened by informed clients
- Does not confuse opacity with authority
- Values professional independence
- Believes access can expand without devaluing judgment
08 · Who should not apply
- Someone seeking only referrals
- Someone who requires an opaque billing model
- Someone expecting AI output to go unverified
- Someone who views client agency as interference
- Someone unwilling to separate legal and company obligations
- Someone interested only in attaching their name without operating
We are looking for the litigator who sees a company inside this case.
Apply for the Founding Counsel Seat