How to Build Legal Functions in High-Growth Tech Companies

Having built legal functions from the ground up in high-growth businesses, our US Partner Li Reilly understands what it takes to provide strategic legal support that truly fuels progress. In this piece, she shares her perspective on how to build agile legal functions that can keep pace with rapid growth, adapt to shifting regulatory and market forces, and enable smarter decision-making - company-wide.

Over the past decade, I’ve had the privilege of working with dynamic technology companies during some of their most critical growth stages. My legal journey began in traditional law firms, where I focused on venture capital, startups, and M&A. But it was stepping into in-house roles where I truly came to understand the challenges and opportunities that businesses face, especially in building legal frameworks that help drive growth.

That’s why, today, I’ve taken a bit of time to reflect on what it means to build a legal function from scratch, particularly in high-growth tech environments, and why flexibility, balance, and strategic thinking are the winning combination.

Transformational Legal Operations, Starting with Amplify Education

When I joined Amplify Education, the company was early in its upward trajectory. Over the course of my time there, it grew from 150 to over 1,500 employees, a transformational period that demanded operational scale, legal maturity, and, above all, internal trust.

My mandate was to scale the legal function, not just fill a seat. This meant delivering policies, frameworks, and workflows that could evolve with the business. It involved managing risk while staying agile, collaborating across product, HR, and operations, and learning how to be both a strategic partner and a practical advisor.

The intersection of education, data privacy, and technology sparked a lot of creative legal thinking, and with it, a profound appreciation for the nuance of product counseling in regulated industries.

Scaling Smart: From Legal Advisor to General Counsel

At Fareportal, I stepped into the General Counsel role and was again tasked with building core legal infrastructure. I focused heavily on global strategy, product counseling, and compliance, building a multi-jurisdictional team and designing processes with sustainable growth front-of-mind.

What I learned in this role is that legal, contrary to popular belief, can be a builder, rather than a barrier to progress. The GC role in a tech company often means knowing how to say “yes, and here’s how.” It also means balancing the reactive with the proactive: responding to immediate business needs while staying ahead of regulatory and contractual obligations.

The Playbook for Building Legal in High-Growth Companies

Here are some lessons I’ve carried forward into my work today at Biztech Lawyers:

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• Start with the business, not the boilerplate: Understand the company’s goals and work backwards to design the legal support it actually needs.
  
  
• Invest in scalable processes and systems early: Don’t wait until your contracts are scattered or your compliance gaps are too big to close.
  
  
• Build trust with cross-functional teams: Legal is most effective when it’s embedded into the product, finance, and ops processes, rather than sitting on the sidelines.
  
  
• Stay nimble: High-growth companies change fast. Your legal strategy should, too.
  
  

Why It Matters Today

Whether you're a company, solo GC, or a startup founder, it’s fair to say that the challenges of scaling are complex. That said, I’ve witnessed first-hand the ability of a legal function to not just deliver clarity, but to trigger long-lasting momentum. 

And that’s exactly why companies need lawyers with strategic maturity and the practical expertise to build robust legal foundations that will protect and fuel your company’s growth. 

What would change in your business if legal expertise, pace, and creative thinking could fuse? Discover today by contacting US Partner, Li Reilly.