Senior Manager, Conflicts Attorneys

Gibson Dunn is a leading global law firm, advising clients on significant transactions and disputes. Our exceptional teams craft and deploy creative legal strategies that are meticulously tailored to every matter, however complex or high-stakes. The Firm's work is distinguished by a unique combination of precision and vision.

Based in any U.S. office, the Senior Manager, Conflicts Attorneys (U.S.) will lead the Firm's U.S.-based team of Conflicts Attorneys and oversee the day-to-day operation of the conflicts clearance function for new clients and new matters across the Firm's U.S. offices. The Senior Manager will serve as a senior escalation point for complex and novel conflicts of interest questions arising under U.S. professional responsibility rules and will interface directly with the Firm's partners regarding approval of new matter requests.

The Senior Manager will continue to personally handle the most complex and sensitive clearances while building, training, and leading a growing team, with the balance of the role shifting toward leadership as the team develops. The Senior Manager will also be responsible for the operational health of the U.S. function — workload allocation and coverage, turnaround and service levels, precedent and template libraries, training programs, and the continued development of the Firm's conflicts and ethical screening technology — and will handle additional assignments from the Firm's General Counsel and Legal Operations team.

This role reports to the Director, Conflicts Attorneys & Assistant General Counsel.

Responsibilities include:

• Supervising the U.S. Conflicts Attorneys team, including day-to-day workload allocation, queue and escalation management, and coordination of coverage across U.S. time zones.
• Coordinating daily handover with the international conflicts team to ensure continuous coverage of the global clearance queue and consistent treatment of matters spanning U.S. and non-U.S. offices.
• Providing mentoring, training, and ongoing performance feedback to Conflicts Attorneys and Resolution Analysts, and participating in goal setting, annual reviews, and hiring for the team.
• Serving as the senior point of escalation for complex, novel, or high-sensitivity conflicts of interest issues, and exercising independent judgment on clearance decisions within delegated authority.
• Analyzing conflict of interest reports for new Firm representations to identify potential conflict problems and ensure new matters and attorney hires are compliant with the Firm's conflict and risk management policies and procedures.
• Resolving conflict of interest issues, including negotiating and obtaining necessary waivers and drafting ethics wall memos, related to the Firm's clearance of new clients and new matters.
• Analyzing information provided with new matter requests for compliance with Firm policies and applicable rules of professional responsibility, and reviewing and editing draft engagement letters for compliance with same.
• Proactively communicating with partners, practice leadership, and Firm management regarding complex conflicts issues, including issues with the potential to affect firm-wide risk.
• Overseeing review of client outside counsel guidelines and the assessment of the Firm's ability to comply, and escalating problematic terms to the Office of General Counsel.
• Consulting with partners, the Office of General Counsel, and information governance to create and maintain effective screening restrictions and monitoring the ongoing integrity of ethical screens.
• Developing, documenting, and maintaining the Firm's conflicts policies, procedures, precedent library, and frameworks of analysis for recurring conflicts issues in specific practice areas.
• Establishing and reporting on service levels and quality metrics for the clearance process, and identifying and implementing process improvements to improve turnaround, consistency, and defensibility.
• Partnering with Legal Operations and Information Systems on the configuration, testing, and enhancement of conflicts clearance and ethical screening technology, including participating in requirements gathering and workflow design.
• Designing and delivering orientation and ongoing training for attorneys and staff regarding the new matter approval process, conflicts policies, and screening obligations.
• Partnering with Attorney Recruiting and the Office of General Counsel on the lateral hiring conflicts process, including candidate questionnaires, imputed conflicts analysis, and pre-arrival screening.
• Maintaining thorough and accurate records of all conflicts resolutions and related communications.
• Providing coverage for the Director, Conflicts Attorneys & Assistant General Counsel as needed.
• Performing other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

• Substantial knowledge of conflict-of-interest principles under the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct and the analogous rules of U.S. state jurisdictions, and demonstrated experience analyzing and resolving conflicts of interest in a large law firm environment.
• Familiarity with the conflicts issues that arise on cross-border matters, and the judgment to identify when non-U.S. rules should be referred to the international team.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and lead a team of attorneys and analysts, including training newer attorneys, delegating effectively, and holding others accountable for quality and timeliness.
• Sound and decisive judgment, with the confidence to advise partners and Firm leadership on sensitive matters and to escalate appropriately.
• Commitment to confidentiality, professionalism, and Gibson Dunn's values of excellence, collaboration, and innovation, and the ability to handle confidential and sensitive information with appropriate discretion.
• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively, both orally and in writing, with attorneys, staff, and Firm leadership, and to manage competing priorities and tight deadlines while maintaining accuracy and follow-through.
• Deep working knowledge of conflicts clearance and ethical screening technology (Intapp or equivalent), with the ability to lead requirements gathering and workflow design discussions based on departmental and Firm needs.

Experience:

• Qualified attorney; admitted and in good standing in at least one U.S. jurisdiction.
• Minimum of 6 years of experience in a law firm conflicts, professional responsibility, or general counsel function.
• Demonstrated experience mentoring, training, and reviewing the work of other conflicts attorneys or analysts; formal supervisory experience preferred.
• Experience at a large or global law firm strongly preferred.
• D. from an accredited law school required.

Gibson Dunn will consider for employment qualified Applicants with Criminal Histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of local law.

Compensation & Benefits:

The annual compensation range for this position is $270,000 - $295,000. The salary offered within this range will depend upon qualifications and other operational considerations.

Benefits offered for this position include health care; retirement benefits; paid days off, including sick time, and vacation time; parental leave; basic life insurance; Flexible Spending Accounts; as well as discretionary, performance-based bonuses.

Originally posted on Himalayas