Fractional General Counsel for the Staffing Industry
15 years inside staffing companies. Now on your team.
Fixed fee compliance counsel for small and mid size staffing, EOR, and MSP firms with workers in California. I already know your business model, your client contracts, and where a PAGA notice usually starts.
Who it's for
Built for staffing firms that don't have a lawyer down the hall.
If you run a staffing company with 200 to 2,500 workers on assignment, your HR lead or controller is probably fielding legal questions they shouldn't have to. That's who I work with.
Why staffing is different
California treats staffing like no other industry. Your counsel should too.
Most employment lawyers know California law. Few know what it does to a business that employs people who work at someone else's site, under someone else's supervisor, on someone else's contract. Those are the gaps that cost staffing firms money.
Lab. Code § 2810.3
Your clients share your liability.
California makes client employers share responsibility for wages and workers' comp. Every client contract is a fight over who pays when something goes wrong.
Lab. Code § 201.3
Pay rules written just for you.
Temporary services employees have their own payday and final pay rules. Payroll systems built for ordinary employers get them wrong.
PAGA, 2024 reforms
PAGA rewards the prepared.
Recent reforms cut penalties for employers who find and fix problems before a notice arrives. Firms that wait pay full price.
MSP and VMS terms
Contracts written for the other side.
MSP and VMS terms flow down indemnity, insurance, and audit obligations designed to protect the program, not you.
Every January 1
New rules every year.
Workplace violence prevention plans, pay data reporting for labor contractors, fair chance hiring, automated hiring tools. The list grows every year.
Where to start
Start with a California Compliance Review.
A flat fee, top to bottom look at where your firm stands. You get a ranked list of risks and a plan to fix them, in 2 to 6 weeks.
What I review
- Pay practices: weekly pay, overtime, meal and rest periods, wage statements, final pay
- Onboarding packet, arbitration agreements, and required notices
- Client agreements and MSP or VMS supplier terms: indemnity, shared liability, insurance
- Worker classification, including independent contractors and exempt roles
- Background checks and fair chance hiring process
- Required written programs, training, and annual reporting
- PAGA exposure and the steps that reduce it
What you get
- A written risk report, ranked by exposure
- A fix plan with owners and dates
- A 60 minute walkthrough with your leadership team
One flat fee, quoted after our first call. Move to a monthly plan within 30 days and the review fee is credited.
Start with a reviewHow it works
Three steps. No surprises on the invoice.
Talk
A free 30 minute call about your business, your clients, and what keeps you up at night.
Review
The flat fee Compliance Review shows exactly where you stand.
Retain
A fixed monthly plan keeps you compliant as the law and your business change.
Plans
A general counsel sized to your firm.
Every plan is a fixed monthly fee. No billable hour surprises. Litigation, investigations, and other matters can be added as separate engagements whenever you need them.
| Plan | Essentials | Partner | Embedded |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Growing firms getting their house in order | Established firms with active client contracting | Firms scaling, acquiring, or entering new states |
| Access | Email and scheduled calls, 2 business day response | Priority access, 1 business day response | Direct line, same day response |
| Contract review | Up to 5 per month | Up to 12 per month, plus MSA and RFP negotiation | As needed |
| Policies | Annual handbook update | Updates as laws change | Updates as laws change |
| Leadership time | Quarterly check in | Monthly strategy call | Joins leadership meetings |
| Also included | California legal briefings | PAGA readiness, multistate coordination | M&A support, AI hiring tool governance |
Pricing depends on headcount and states. Ask about plans on our first call.
About
I've sat in your seat.
I've spent my whole legal career inside staffing companies. I started on the contracts desk of a 400 branch national staffing firm, negotiating hundreds of client agreements and national account RFPs a year. I spent seven years as general counsel of a staffing firm that grew from a startup to more than 100 branches and $1 billion in revenue, building its legal department from one seat to a team. Most recently I was general counsel of an MSP and employer of record provider serving clients in more than 150 countries.
I've managed the California class actions and PAGA claims, won the appeals that enforced arbitration agreements, and rewritten the contracts that caused the problems in the first place. Now I bring that experience to firms that need a general counsel but don't need a full time one.
Christian G. Moro, Esq. · McGeorge School of Law · Admitted in California and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California · Fluent in Spanish
- 2011Contracts directorNational staffing firm, 400+ branch network
- 2015Contracts and corporate attorneyNational light industrial staffing firm
- 2017General counselNational staffing firm, startup to $1B
- 2025General counselMSP and EOR provider, 150+ countries
- 2026Moro Staffing LawFractional GC for staffing firms
Questions owners ask
FAQ
What is a fractional general counsel?
An experienced in house lawyer who works for several companies part time, for a fixed fee. You get senior judgment without a full time salary.
How is this different from the defense firm we already use?
Defense firms handle claims after they're filed. I work on the business every month so fewer claims get filed, and I coordinate with your defense counsel when one does.
What if we get sued?
You can retain me for litigation as a separate engagement, or I can manage outside counsel for you. Either way, someone who knows your business is in the room.
We place workers outside California. Can you help?
Yes. California is the center of gravity, and I coordinate compliance across your footprint, bringing in local counsel where a state's law requires it.
What does it cost?
The Compliance Review is a flat fee. Plans are a fixed monthly fee based on your headcount and states. I'll quote both after our first call.
Monthly briefing
The California staffing law briefing.
One short email a month on what changed, what's coming, and what to do about it. Written for owners, not lawyers.
Know where you stand.
Thirty minutes, no cost, no obligation. Bring your hardest question.
Please don't include confidential details when you book. Booking a call doesn't create an attorney client relationship.