Two teams needed dedicated legal support for AI-driven product initiatives, but neither had enough work to justify its own full-time hire. One shared product counsel gave both teams the support they needed.
At a Glance
- Company: Fortune 100 technology company
- The work: Legal support for multiple AI-driven product initiatives and launches
- The challenge: Two stakeholders needed dedicated counsel, but neither had enough work to support a separate full-time role
- Engagement: One experienced product counsel shared across both teams
- Experience: Top-tier law firm and in-house experience at major technology companies
- Outcome: Consistent, high-quality support for both teams without unnecessary headcount expansion
Two AI Product Teams, One Resourcing Challenge
A Fortune 100 technology company was advancing multiple AI-driven product initiatives. Two stakeholders each needed dedicated legal support to help their teams move from development toward launch.
Individually, however, neither team generated enough work to justify a full-time hire. Together, their needs added up to something much closer to a complete role.
That left the company with a familiar resourcing problem: the work required consistent attention and specialized product counsel experience, but it did not fit neatly within the traditional one-team, one-hire model. Internal headcount constraints made adding permanent roles even more difficult, and the product work could not wait for the hiring environment to change.
Why the Standard Hiring Model Didn’t Fit
The company’s usual options all left a meaningful gap.
- Hire separately for each team. Neither stakeholder had enough work to support an individual full-time role, making two permanent hires difficult to justify.
- Assign counsel to only one team. Prioritizing one stakeholder would leave the other without the dedicated support its initiatives required.
- Wait for additional headcount. Internal constraints made it difficult to hire quickly, while the AI product initiatives were already moving forward.
The company did not need two separate hires. It needed a way to combine two partial needs into one cohesive role.
One Product Counsel Shared Across Two Teams
Priori placed a highly experienced product counsel with a background at a top-tier law firm and in-house experience at major technology companies.
Rather than dedicating the attorney to a single stakeholder, the company structured the engagement across both teams. The attorney supported each stakeholder’s AI-driven product initiatives simultaneously, creating one shared full-time resource.
The model gave both teams consistent access to the same experienced counsel. Instead of routing each new question to a different resource, the stakeholders could work with an attorney who understood the company, the broader product environment and the needs of both teams.
Greater Coverage Without Unnecessary Headcount
With one attorney supporting both stakeholders, the company gained the legal capacity it needed across multiple product launches without creating two underutilized positions.
Each team received dedicated, high-quality product counsel support. The attorney’s experience allowed the engagement to operate at the level required by a large technology company, while the shared structure aligned the resource with the actual volume of work.
The result was not simply a compromise between two incomplete roles. It was a more efficient operating model: one high-caliber attorney, fully utilized across two teams, providing continuity as multiple AI initiatives moved toward launch.
The engagement demonstrates that legal demand does not always follow organizational boundaries. When several teams have related but individually insufficient needs, a shared resource can create a complete role—giving each stakeholder reliable support while allowing the legal department to use headcount more intentionally.
Facing a Similar Resourcing Gap?
If multiple teams need specialized legal support but none has enough work to justify a dedicated full-time hire, a shared flexible resource can provide consistent coverage across the organization without unnecessary headcount expansion.
