Conflicts Attorney

The Conflicts Attorney supports the firm's critical risk management function by performing all duties associated with preparing the firms partner Intake Committee to review new business intake, working with partners, and in some cases, prospective clients toward that end including: drafting engagement terms, negotiating engagement and waiver terms, and reviewing and summarizing outside counsel guidelines; reviewing, interpreting, and summarizing conflict report results; demonstrating sound analysis of conflicts issues; and resolving conflicts independently, as appropriate, by consulting with all relevant stakeholders. This includes the following essential functions:

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• Coordinates and consults with designated members of the Office of General Counsel, firm attorneys, the firms Intake Committee, and Practice Group leadership to bring in new business to the firm.
• Drafts engagement terms, including scopes of engagement, specific waivers, and alternative fee arrangements.
• Reviews, summarizes and recommends modifications to outside counsel guidelines and coordinates approval of such guidelines and engagement terms with all stakeholders.
• Collaborates with attorneys to settle on appropriate terms of engagement, and where requested, negotiates certain engagement, outside counsel guidelines, and waiver terms directly with firm clients.
• Communicates to the Intake Committee all relevant, valuable information needed for the new client review process.
• Reviews, interprets, and summarizes conflict report results and demonstrates sound analysis of conflicts issues.
• Resolves conflicts independently, as appropriate, by consulting with all relevant stakeholders.
• Develops expertise on conflicts rules and approaches in specific practice areas and helps to formulate templates, algorithms and frameworks of analysis for conflicts issues in such area.
• Advises lawyers regarding applicable professional conduct rules and applying them to specific situations.
• Performs searches of external and internal databases for pertinent information on prospective clients and related parties, and subsequently enters new information iManages Business Intake Manager and Conflicts Manager applications and Thomson Reuterss 3E application.
• Triages lateral hire requests, communicates with lateral candidates, and works with Conflicts Counsel on the resolution of conflicts where necessary.
• Participates in providing 24-hour coverage for conflict reporting via on-call system on scheduled weekends and holidays.
• Leads department-wide project management in specialized areas, including secondments and bankruptcies.
• Works on special projects, as assigned.
• Conducts training of internal staff and lateral hires.
• Drafts and presents memoranda on recent developments in conflict law.

ESSENTIAL CAPABILITIES:

• Must demonstrate the ability to maintain strict confidentiality of the firm's internal and personnel affairs.
• Preference will be shown to candidates willing to maintain a flexible schedule.
• Able to interact effectively with colleagues at firm including attorneys and support staff.
• Able to be a proactive self-starter, who understands the details within a much larger context.
• Must be flexible in order to respond quickly and positively to shifting demands and opportunities; able to work under tight deadlines and handle multiple, detailed tasks.
• Must be team-oriented and able to share information, goals, opportunities, successes and failures with the appropriate parties.
• Strong ability to escalate issues as appropriate and present them along with logical solutions to departmental management or partners.
• Able to plan, organize and carry out multiple projects simultaneously.
• Able to work in a multi-office environment.

EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS REQUIRED:

• J.D. required.
• 2 to 5 years of law firm practice, preferably in a mid-sized to large law firm, or experience in conflicts and client intake issues required.
• Database/software experience (such as iManage Conflicts Manager and Thomson Reuters 3E software) may be advantageous.
• Excellent service orientation and interpersonal skills
• Excellent evaluative and problem-solving skills

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS:

• Legal writing sample required with application.