In-House Lawyer- Terms/OCGs
A&O Shearman

A&O Shearman is a new global industry-leading law firm, with nearly 50 offices in 29 countries worldwide. Our fluency in English law, US law, and the laws of the world's most dynamic markets, enables us to provide unmatched insight and seamless delivery to clients. We work on challenging and important deals and disputes that have the potential to shape the future.

We offer exceptional opportunities for our people; opportunities to work for the world's leading businesses; to transform the status quo, and to deliver your best work, helping you and your career to thrive, while delivering unparalleled outcomes for our clients.

Whether you're helping clients solve complex challenges, transforming the ways we manage our business, or ensuring the smooth-running of our operations, this is an environment where you can belong and excel. We provide first-rate training and development, we are committed to diversity, equity and inclusion and we provide support and ways of working that help you optimise your wellbeing.

What truly defines a career with us? We recruit the best and ask for the best of you. And together, we will redefine success.

DEPARTMENT PURPOSE AND STRUCTURE
The Business Acceptance Unit (BAU) is a dynamic, global, collegiate team responsible for assessing all new business before it is accepted by the firm's partners, to ensure the firm's commercial objectives and legal obligations are met. The team works closely with partners and other senior stakeholders to identify and resolve legal and commercial conflict issues, sanctions and anti-money laundering risks, as well as reputational and values issues in each of the jurisdictions in which A&O Shearman operates.

ROLE PURPOSE
The role of the In House Lawyer - Terms/OCGs is to be a trusted adviser to the business, providing high quality, proactive business-focused support and solutions to colleagues on a variety of commercial and complex regulatory issues, focused mainly on conflicts of interest and other BAU matters. It requires an individual with the ability to develop strong working relationships to be a "go to" and accessible person for queries and concerns from around the world. These queries come from stakeholders of all levels from business teams and fee earners, including practice group heads and senior management.

ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Being an in-house legal specialist in relation to client form Outside Counsel Guidelines (OCG) and A&O Shearman own form Engagement Terms (Terms).
• Providing expert advice and counsel to Partners and senior BD staff to support the negotiation/agreement of Terms/OCG with our Clients.
• Analyzing and resolving (or, where appropriate, facilitating resolution of) professional, legal, regulatory and commercial issues relating to OCG and Terms arising from reviews of such terms and/or which are referred by BAU analysts, paralegals and by Partners and all other levels of lawyer and support staff.
• Exercising judgment as to when to refer issues of the type listed above to the Head of Engagement Terms and OCGs (the Head) and facilitating the resolution of any such issues referred.
• Assisting the Head in monitoring changes in practice, professional rules, regulations and the law as affects OCG and Terms globally so that these can be reflected in A&O Shearman guidance to Partners, its standard form precedent Terms (including International Standard Terms of Business (ISTOB)) and the business acceptance and client engagement policies/processes.
• Supporting the Head in the creation and maintenance of precedents and know-how resources relating to OCG and Terms for use within the team and the development of appropriate Terms/OCG know how and policies, a database of OCG and standard form precedents for use throughout the firm.
• Assisting the Head in managing the day-to-day operations in relation to:
  • Development of the Engagement Terms Team's regulatory and commercial expertise.
  • Day to day performance in terms of quality of service, fulfilment of the team's role as set out above and its speed of turnaround.
• Proactively seek to streamline process and increasing efficiency within the Engagement Terms Team. Assisting the Head in the creation, maintenance, on-going development and implementation of the firm's global Terms/OCG policies, processes and systems.
• Assisting the Head in the design, implementation and delivery of training presentations and other development programmes for lawyers and support departments.
• Assisting the Head in retrospectively auditing OCG's and Terms that are currently in place and identifying any constraints that apply to A&O Shearman, the responsible partners/business support professionals, and documenting review dates.

KEY REQUIREMENTS

• Qualified lawyer with significant experience of contract/commercial law and contract reviews.
• Excellent communication skills at all levels.
• A proven ability to work independently and proactively and take the lead in driving projects forward to completion.
• Flexibility outside usual working hours if and when dictated by business requirements.
• Experience with a top tier firm or other professional services firm with a strong background in commercial, M&A or finance transactions or dispute resolution is highly advantageous.
• Ability to analyze facts and scenarios thoroughly and to proactively put forward resolutions to legal and commercial problems.

This role is open for individuals based in New York. For individuals assigned to or hired for this opportunity, the estimated annualized base salary range for this position is $101,000 - $166,000. The actual base salary offered will depend on the overall qualifications of the individual applicant for the position and other job-related factors permitted by law.

A&O Shearman is an equal opportunity employer. Every individual has the right to work in a professional environment that promotes equal opportunity and prohibits discrimination and harassment. It is A&O Shearman's policy to ensure equal employment opportunity for all individuals, without discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, creed, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, citizenship status or alienage, disability, pregnancy or related medical issue, military or qualified veteran status, familial status, marital status, partnership status, sexual orientation, gender, including gender identity, gender expression or transition status, genetic predisposition or carrier status, status as a victim of domestic violence, stalking and/or sex offenses, sexual and reproductive health decisions, unemployment status, or any other basis protected by applicable federal, state and local laws. This policy applies to all aspects of an individual's relationship with A&O Shearman, including, without limitation, recruitment, hiring, training and development, promotion, compensation, discipline, termination, and all other terms and conditions of employment.

If you are vision-impaired or have another disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act or similar law and wish to discuss accommodations related to applying for employment at A&O Shearman, please contact US HR Transactions at US-HRTransactions@aoshearman.com or call +1 212 610 6300 and ask for HR Transactions.

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