Vessel Advisors is seeking an experienced Fractional CFO to serve as financial leadership partner for a multi-office law firm client transitioning its entire finance function to a fractional operating model. This is a partner-level seat: the firm's leadership needs a CFO who can build cash flow forecasting around litigation-funding-driven revenue (which behaves very differently from ordinary hourly billing), work directly with litigation funding partners, and build real relationships with equity and non-equity partners - including educating them on firm economics in terms they'll act on. The firm currently has no internal finance leadership team, so this person will be building foundational financial infrastructure, not inheriting an existing one.
ResponsibilitiesServe as a strategic financial partner to firm leadership; build and own a cash flow forecast that separates ordinary billing from litigation-funding draws; manage the relationship with the firm's litigation funding counterparties; develop partner-facing financial reporting and lead the education of partners on firm economics; formalize month-end close, AR/AP, and financial controls; partner with an incoming Controller to stand up the finance function; operate with the discretion and judgment a professional-services partnership requires.
Requirements- 10+ years of CFO experience required.
- Genuine professional-services company experience is required - a firm that sells expertise in increments of time (law firm, accounting firm, consulting firm, or similar); this is a floor, not a preference.
- At least some direct experience inside a law firm environment specifically is required, given the complexity of the litigation-funding agreements this seat will manage.
- Demonstrated experience building relationships with, and educating, partners or equity owners on financial performance.
- Strong cash flow forecasting and liquidity management experience, ideally involving contingency or alternative-revenue-timing considerations.
- Comfortable building financial infrastructure from scratch rather than inheriting an established one.
