Conflicts Attorney

The Conflicts & Intake Department of Arnold & Porter has an opening for a Conflicts Attorney in the Boston, Chicago, DC, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco or Silicon Valley offices. 

The Conflicts Attorney has two main areas of focus.  First, they help the firm avoid and address conflicts of interest that arise from taking on new clients, new work, or new people.  To do this, they analyze the work of database searchers and analysts who work with the database of all clients and adverse parties, and they undertake other types of research, such as in third-party databases, on the internet, and in discussion with colleagues at all levels of the firm to better understand the nature of the work that we do.  When analysis is complete, a Conflicts Attorney must be able to compile and present the information in a useful manner, and may assist in obtaining waivers of conflicts, erecting ethics screens and taking other steps to help resolve conflicts that arise.  Second, a Conflicts Attorney assists the firm’s attorneys in complying with their other professional responsibilities in the various jurisdictions in which they practice.  This may include (but is not limited to): bar membership, lateral movement, “revolving door” issues, fiduciary positions, responding to RFPs or requests for information from insurers, assisting in aspects of new client/matter intake, establishing and ending attorney-client relationships, and other related areas.  Tasks may range from responding to simple, one-time questions to managing large-scale, long-term projects.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Working under the supervision of the Director, other members of the Ethics and Practice Committee or the General Counsel, to identify/resolve any conflicts and ethical issues.
• Identifying any conflicts and ethical issues that may arise through the acquisition of new clients, new attorneys (including incoming associates and lateral hires) or new staff (including temporary, contract and full-time staff). 
• Reviewing conflict search results and/or first-level analysis performed by other team members.
• Providing assistance and guidance to  attorneys who are performing their own conflicts reviews, under certain circumstances. 
• Gathering, organizing and communicating due diligence information and related materials concerning potential hires, potential clients and individual client/matters for the Ethics Committee, Lateral Committee, Billing and Intake Committee, and the firm’s management.
• Assisting in providing in-house consultation to  attorneys and assisting in reviewing and drafting engagement letters and conflict of interest waivers.
• Drafting and circulating ethics screens and drafting and submitting Rule 1.11 disclosures in the event of potential conflicts with prior government employees.
• Providing in-house professional responsibility training for lawyers or staff if requested.
• Monitoring developments in the law and legal profession as requested.
• Providing research, drafting, or other assistance to the Director, Ethics Committee, other Firm committees, or the General Counsel on miscellaneous matters of policy or professional responsibility upon request.
• Overseeing volunteer law clerks or staff attorneys, or conflicts specialists, who are performing conflicts-of-interest analysis if necessary.

Qualifications:

• J.D. is required; preexisting bar admission in at least one jurisdiction where the Firm maintains an U.S. office is preferred and, if not achieved at the date of hire, will be required as a term of employment shortly after beginning employment. 
• A minimum of one year of work experience in the area of conflicts of interest or other relevant experience at a large law preferred. 
• A background in business is a plus.
• Prior supervisory experience.
• Some prior experience as a practicing attorney preferred.
• Experience in legal research and in organizing, tracking, and reporting results of  complex projects.
• Proficiency and aptitude for working with in databases.  Experience with conflicts databases is a plus.
• Experience in the area of conflicts or professional responsibility is preferable but not required.
• Ability to work as part of a team, frequently under tight deadlines.
• Strong writing skills required.
• An aptitude for handling complex conflicts issues is essential; this includes the ability to inquire thoroughly into the facts of a given situation and excellent analytic skills to make use of that information.
• Ability to make sound decisions and demonstrate a high degree of trustworthiness in handling confidential and sensitive information.
• Ability to strategically maintain financial/budgetary information.
• Ability to be detail-oriented and organized with excellent communication skills.
• The ability to interact effectively with all levels of the firm with confidence, responsiveness, tact and approachability.
• Flexibility to work additional hours as necessary.

The anticipated base salary for this position is $175,000 to $225,000. The actual base salary offered will depend on a variety of factors, including without limitation, the qualifications of the individual applicant for the position, years of relevant experience, level of education attained, certifications or other professional licenses held, and if applicable, the location in which the applicant lives and/or from which they will be performing the job.