Firm Summary
White & Case is an elite global law firm serving leading companies, financial institutions and governments worldwide. Our long history as an international firm means we are perfectly placed to help our clients resolve their most complex legal challenges wherever they may be.
With lawyers operating from more than 40 locations, working in virtually every country of the world, we have invested heavily in building a high-quality full-service practice competing at the top of the market. We are distinguished by our on-the-ground presence in the world’s key financial markets and our strengths in handling complex cross-border work.
It’s not just about our global network of offices; it’s the global interconnectedness of the Firm that our people, and our clients, value most. We work well together across geographic and practice boundaries. It’s one of the reasons we attract and retain cross-border work. And why we attract a diverse group of people.
Our lawyers are globally minded, enterprising, collaborative and committed to excellence. Diversity is a core value of our Firm and it has been recognized with numerous awards and top rankings around the world. Our people represent 90 nationalities and speak 80 languages
Position Summary
The Assistant General Counsel will help our lawyers and our compliance and new business (CNB) intake team with complex conflicts clearances on new matters. This includes acting as an escalation point for the more difficult clearances and advising on ethical, reputational and regulatory issues. This role will also involve working closely with and training the CNB team and assisting in the development of the new matter intake system.
Our General Counsel Team
The Office of the General Counsel (OGC) team is based primarily in London and New York. It acts as the Firm’s in-house legal counsel. A major strand of their work relates to , compliance, conflicts and ethical rules associated with and taking on new business matters and clients.
Duties and Accountabilities1
- Assist the Office of the General Counsel (OGC) and the Compliance and New Business (CNB) team with analyzing and resolving conflicts of interest, compliance, AML and other regulatory, reputational or ethical issues with new matters and new clients.
- Working with the OGC this role also involves training the CNB teams in London, Tampa and Manilla and assisting in the continuous development of the new matter intake system.
- Perform other duties necessary and essential to support the Firm's strategic goals.
- Consultancy and diplomacy skills to help bridge the gap between the business and the CNB teams; excellent communication and presentation skills; ability to translate and explain complex conflicts matters to others (including partners and transactional lawyers), brokering discussions between Partners where necessary.
- A deep understanding of the conflicts rules in England and Wales and New York state coupled with strong working knowledge and awareness of the current conflicts and compliance landscape, of best practices and developments in this sector, and the ability to apply this knowledge to promote continuous improvement.
- Experience of developing and delivering training on compliance and conflicts issues.
- Project management skills to successfully complete multiple projects in a matrixed environment.
- A sound track record of experience and achievement in GC/ risk or matter opening teams of a major international law firm is essential.
- Demonstrable expertise in the Intapp Open conflicts system and other standard business software applications such as Microsoft Office, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint required.
- Strong academic qualifications.
- A qualified lawyer with a practicing certificate admitted in England & Wales and/or New York state, with at least 2 years PQE experience at a major national or international firm and;
- At least 2 years experience working in the risk/ new business function of a major international law firm focusing on conflicts.
- This role is based in our New York office, reporting to the Deputy General Counsel.
The Firm may modify and amend any job description at any time in its sole discretion. Nothing herein creates a contract of employment or otherwise modifies the at-will nature of employment.
The above is only a general description of the essential duties associated with this position and does not represent an exhaustive or comprehensive list of all duties