In this BRB jobs update, I’m pleased to highlight an open role at Davis, Graham  & Stubbs: “Director & Counsel, New Business Intake” —

• The Director and Counsel, New Business Intake leads the firm’s Conflicts and New Business Intake department and identifies and manages the ethical and business risks presented by potential new business opportunities for the firm.
• The person in this role is responsible for conflicts clearance review and analysis for firm-wide legal hires and new business, and for the overall strategy, operation, staffing, and continuous improvement of the conflicts and new business intake function.
• The Director and Counsel works directly with the Chief Financial Officer and the firm’s General Counsel and Ethics Attorney, as well as with attorneys, Business Acceptance Partners, and the firm’s Risk Management Committee, to identify and resolve potential ethics and business conflict issues.
• This position directly supervises the firm’s Conflicts Analyst and New Business Intake Specialist.
• This position requires strong knowledge of the rules of professional responsibility, firm policies, and sound analysis of potential conflict issues.
• The attorneys and firm management rely upon the Director and Counsel’s information and judgment in making decisions about whether or not to accept new legal hires, clients, and matters.

Essential Functions:

• Review and analyze conflict report results, communicating directly with appropriate attorneys and others to obtain clarification and additional detail in order to resolve identified conflict issues and properly document the resolution.
• Research existing engagement documentation, firm financial data, and corporate affiliations as necessary to clear conflicts independently.
• Provide attorneys with concise and complete evaluations of potential conflict or relationship issues and identify possible approaches for resolution.
• Draft and provide conflicts waiver requests in consultation with involved attorneys and the firm’s General Counsel, Ethics Counsel, and/or Chief Financial Officer as appropriate.
• Review and analyze terms of engagement, client-generated engagement documents, and outside counsel guidelines both as part of the new business intake process and subsequent to client engagement.
• Review new matter submissions for compliance with firm policies and ethical standards and completion of all necessary engagement and waiver correspondence.
• Serve as the escalation point for exceptions to the firm’s new matter intake policies, including deviations from the firm’s standard terms of engagement, prior to approval by a Business Acceptance Partner.
• Review and act on high-risk or negative findings from prospective client investigations and other background research circulated by department staff, providing instructions on further diligence or escalation.
• Review and analyze lateral attorney prior work history conflicts reports, working with the firm’s General Counsel, Ethics Counsel, Chief Talent Officer, and/or Chief Financial Officer to resolve any conflicts.
• Supervise implementation of ethical walls when required.
• Oversee the process of closing out clients and matters, including closing correspondence.
• Develop, document, and implement conflicts and new business intake policies, procedures, and technologies, and oversee audits of the conflicts and client matter databases to maintain data integrity.
• Maintain the firm’s engagement, dis-engagement, and waiver letter templates, modifying them from time to time to reflect new ethics and risk management initiatives.
• Oversee process improvements to the firm’s Intapp conflict system, including system upgrades, form modifications, and workflow adjustments as needed.
• Supervise, train, and mentor the firm’s Conflicts Analyst and New Business Intake Specialist, including assigning and prioritizing work, reviewing work product, and acting as a back-up to those positions from time to time.
• Direct the strategy and day-to-day operations of the Conflicts and New Business Intake department, establishing priorities, performance metrics, and service standards to ensure timely and accurate conflicts clearance and matter opening.
• Maintain knowledge of developments in professional responsibility law and regulations, as well as trends and new technologies impacting the new business intake function.
• Serve as a key risk management resource for the firm’s Risk Management Committee.
• Assist with training around new business intake best practices and business acceptance processes.
• Additional duties as assigned by the firm’s Chief Financial Officer.
• Perform other duties as assigned

 

Required Skills/Abilities

• Superior attention to detail, focused critical thinking, sound judgment and strong decision-making skills to be able to identify the potential issues with bringing on new business and new employees to the firm.
• Strong oral and written communication skills, including the ability to understand, analyze, interpret, and explain complex reports and to converse informatively with attorneys and staff about conflicts issues.
• Excellent organization skills, including the ability to work collaboratively and provide an accurate work product with minimal supervision in an atmosphere of multiple projects, shifting priorities, and extremely tight deadline pressures.
• Possess a high level of ethical and professional responsibility and superior judgment in handling confidential information.
• Strong ability to learn new technologies, processes, and workflows as necessary.
• Willingness to keep updated on trends and developments in the industry and to continue to develop skills, knowledge, and ability to improve processes and procedures.
• Demonstrated leadership and people-management skills, including the ability to hire, train, motivate, and evaluate staff and to foster a collaborative team environment.

Required Education and Experience

• JD degree and active bar license in Colorado or your state of residence.
• Minimum of five years of experience working in a law firm, law department, or other professional services business.
• Strong knowledge of ethical, legal, and risk management concepts and rules relating to conflicts of interest and new business intake.
• Resourceful internet research skills utilizing various online sources and business databases such as Dun & Bradstreet, Hoovers, Securities & Exchange Commission, Lexis/Nexis, Capital IQ, etc.

Preferred Education and Experience

• 3+ years of experience with law firm conflicts and/or new business department preferred.
• Experience utilizing and overseeing a conflicts database and related conflicts checking software, preferably Intapp Open.
• Prior experience supervising or managing staff in a law firm conflicts, new business intake, or risk management department.

 

See the complete job posting for more details on the job requirements and to apply for this position.

Learn more about working at the firm on their careers page:

• Davis Graham business professionals are the foundation of our service-based organization
• Excellence in service comes from every member of our team, every day. We are committed to attracting and retaining employees who share our values: integrity, respect, fairness, diversity in background and interests, a good sense of humor, and collegiality.

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