2 Mar 2026 · 1 hr 6 min

How Goodlawyer Helps Companies Fractionalized Their Legal Teams

hosted by Qasim Virjee

Summary

*StartWell is the best place to bring your company for meetings and events: https://startwell.co

Brett Colvin is the co-founder and CEO of Goodlawyer - a platform connecting experienced in-house lawyers with enterprise legal teams on a fractional or full-time basis.

In this episode, Brett shares the origin story behind the name “Goodlawyer” (a simple coffee shop moment that stuck), what he learned inside Big Law at BLG, and why the traditional billable-hour model creates broken incentives for both lawyers and clients.

We unpack:

- Why Big Law margins don’t make sense - How fixed-fee legal work evolved into fractional GC - The “gap in the middle” between law firms and in-house teams - How Goodlawyer built a 400+ lawyer network with a team under 20 - Why winning talent is the real competitive advantage

And what scaling founders need to know about equity vesting and legal strategy

If you're a startup founder, operator, GC, or executive building a high-growth company, this conversation offers a practical look at how legal support should evolve as you scale.

Chapters: 0:00 The “Be a Good Lawyer” Origin Story 6:24 Why Big Law Incentives Are Broken 15:26 The Core Problem - Margin, Billing & No Innovation 24:06 From Fixed Fees to Fractional GC 32:45 The Differentiator - Tech, Talent & Leverage 1:03:26 Founder Advice - Equity Vesting & Fractional GC

Summary

*StartWell is the best place to bring your company for meetings and events: https://startwell.co

Brett Colvin is the co-founder and CEO of Goodlawyer - a platform connecting experienced in-house lawyers with enterprise legal teams on a fractional or full-time basis.

We unpack:

And what scaling founders need to know about equity vesting and legal strategy

If you're a startup founder, operator, GC, or executive building a high-growth company, this conversation offers a practical look at how legal support should evolve as you scale.