Conflicts Attorney, Manager

Overview:

Milbank LLP is seeking a dynamic and motivated individual for the newly established role of Conflicts Attorney, Manager, supporting the Firm globally. The Conflicts Attorney, Manager will be a member of the Office of General Counsel, reporting to the Assistant General Counsel (Conflicts and Compliance), and responsible for managing a global team of conflicts attorneys in ensuring efficiency in the daily operations of the conflicts checks and clearance process for onboarding new clients, matters and lateral associate and partner candidates.

This is an exciting opportunity to hold a senior and supervisory role within a growing team. We will consider a fully remote work schedule with flexibility to be in either Milbank’s NYC or D.C. offices as required for training and team meetings.

Responsibilities:

• Manage and develop a team of global conflicts attorneys for the efficient evaluation, determination, and resolution of potential conflicts of interest in the onboarding of new clients, matters and lateral associate and partner candidates.
• Assist the Assistant General Counsel (Conflicts and Compliance) in streamlining and managing the global process for conflicts clearance and intake.
• Ability to identify and analyze complex conflicts of interest issues and business risks and recommend and implement solutions and determine when to escalate.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for the conflicts attorneys and analyst teams within the Conflicts Department to identify and appropriately escalate business and strategic concerns, triage requests, and ensure timely and efficient responses.
• Serve as an advisor to the Conflicts Department team on the best approach for navigating complicated issues.
• Collaborate with the Office of the General Counsel and analyst and operational management teams to develop and implement effective training and research programs for new business intake, conflict search methodology and ethical wall establishment and maintenance.
• Routinely quality check work and provide critical analysis and assessment of the conflicts results generated by the attorney and analyst teams to ensure consistent workflow and timely production of results.
• Liaise with Firm attorneys and leadership to gather information and work to assess and resolve conflicts of interest for new matters and lateral hires and business conflicts and risks.
• Assist with drafting and/or review of conflict-related documents, including but not limited to, waivers, screening memoranda, policies, procedures, and conflict-related provisions in engagement terms and guidelines.
• Assist with establishing data management and reporting to ensure accuracy and consistency of data entry in the Firm's systems, managing system enhancements and updates, and coordinating data maintenance. Participate in all department software enhancements to ensure that the platforms support the users, risk management policies and objectives.
• Stay abreast of recent case law, ethics opinions, changes to the ethics rules in the jurisdictions where Milbank practices, as well as industry best practices.
• Manage staffing coverage, conduct performance appraisals, and provide ongoing feedback and support to the team members.
• Participate in the after-hour, weekend, and holiday on-call rotation for time sensitive conflict checks and inquiries.

Compensation: The anticipated base salary range offered for this role will be between $245,000 to $270,000 and represents the firm's good faith and reasonable estimate of the base compensation range. Actual base compensation will be dependent upon several factors, including but not limited to the candidate's relevant experience, performance, qualifications, degrees, and location, as well as the needs of the firm.

Qualifications:

• Juris Doctor degree and active New York law license in good standing is required.
• US qualified lawyer, licensed in NY and in good standing with a minimum of 5 years of experience of advising global law firms on conflicts of interest and legal ethics.
• Knowledge and understanding of the practice areas of the Firm and experience of identifying and resolving conflicts of interest in connection with various types of finance, restructuring, corporate, bankruptcy, capital markets and litigation matters.
• Deep understanding of the US ethical, legal and risk management rules and how they apply in the Firm's multijurisdictional practice. A strong working knowledge of the SRA rules and rules governing professional conduct of lawyers in Germany and Asia is preferred.
• Expertise in corporate research with strong working knowledge of Capital IQ; ability to research complex institutional relationships and corporate structures and analyze in the context of applicable conflicts rules, policies, and contractual obligations.
• Knowledge of best practices and developments in the conflicts and compliance sector.
• Experience of leading and managing a sizeable global team (including in a remote environment) and ability to delegate work to ensure delivery of excellent service.
• Ability to work with conflict checking and workflow software and applications with specific in depth and highly preferred experience with Intapp, Intake, Conflicts and Walls.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including the ability to communicate effectively with associates, partners, and firm leadership about conflicts issues.
• Team player adaptable to fast-paced and changing environment.