Senior Compliance Attorney

With 500+ professionals and 350+ business professionals, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP ( is a multidisciplinary, integrated national professional services firm known for quality and an extraordinary commitment to clients. The Firm’s groundbreaking approach—bringing together legal services, advocacy and business strategy—differentiates Manatt from its competitors and positions the Firm to provide a distinct and compelling value proposition.

The Opportunity

The Senior Compliance Attorney will serve as a key member of the Firm’s Legal and Risk Management team, working closely with the General Counsel and other LRM attorneys, Relationship Partners, the Conflicts Department, and other stakeholders to evaluate, negotiate, interpret, and implement client retention documentation. This includes outside counsel guidelines (OCGs), requests for proposals, non-disclosure agreements, Business Associate Agreements, engagement documentation, and other client-generated or firm-generated terms.

The Senior Compliance Attorney will reconcile client generated terms and requirements with the firm’s ethical obligations, business objectives, and risk tolerance; identify and help resolve outstanding issues; and ensure that agreed-upon client requirements are clearly documented and operationalized. The successful candidate will have subject-matter expertise in professional-responsibility rules governing the attorney-client relationship and contribute to the ongoing improvement of related firm policies and procedures. This position offers an exciting opportunity for an experienced attorney who excels in a fast-paced, collaborative environment and possesses the sound judgment required to address sophisticated legal and business challenges. This role will not be a billing professional but will be a Business Professional role and sit within the Legal and Risk Management department.

Key Responsibilities

• Review all outside counsel guidelines and other client-drafted engagement terms, non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), Business Associate Agreements, terms associated with Requests for Proposals (RFPs), Codes of Conduct, other third-party engagement terms or requests, and other non-standard client contracts and advise on the Firm's ability to comply with such agreements.
• Coordinating collaboratively with other relevant internal stakeholders, revise and draft exceptions and responses to client engagement terms and contracts as needed.
• Communicate with Firm partners regarding identified issues and lead or support negotiations directly with Firm clients when appropriate, recommending practical revisions that protect the Firm while addressing client priorities.
• Monitor status of Outside Counsel Guidelines responses and correspondence regarding same.
• Coordinate contract version control and finalization by completing redline comparisons.
• Oversee completion of client due diligence requests, including reviewing client due diligence and information security questionnaires to identify compliance and risk issues and prepare draft responses regarding same.
• Direct the posting of pending client guidelines and tracking executed client contracts in centralized Intapp repository, with primary responsibility for maintaining such repository, as well as the team's OCG playbook.
• Review, develop, and assist the work of other Compliance team members.
• Work closely with the Legal and Risk Management and Conflicts teams in coordinating across any conflicts issues or other issues that arise during review and negotiation of client materials.
• Develop expertise in the technologies used to support the role and remain informed about emerging tools and process improvements that may enhance the firm’s client-guidelines processes.
• Contribute to the development and refinement of policies, procedures, and initiatives related to client retention, professional responsibility, and risk management.
• Monitor relevant legal and regulatory developments and recommend updates to policies, processes, and engagement practices.
• Assist with training other members of the Conflicts Department including other Compliance team members, including assisting with creating written training materials, developing best practices and procedures, and ensuring standardized results across the Department.
• Communicate with and advise professionals, secretaries and other Firm personnel on established Firm policies and procedures.
• Confirm need for and create inclusionary ethical walls as required by client engagement terms.
• Prioritize requests and coordinate with other team members as appropriate to maintain appropriate flow of priority requests.
• Other duties or projects may be assigned by the Legal and Risk Management team.
• All other duties as assigned or required.

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Qualifications

• JD degree required.
• Must be currently licensed in good standing in a firm-approved U.S. state.
• Minimum of five (5) years law firm experience at an AmLaw 100 firm, with a minimum of four (4) years’ experience handling review and negotiation of outside counsel guidelines and similar.
• Effective and succinct oral communication and clear and concise written communication.
• Effective analytical, logical reasoning, and problem-solving abilities.
• Experience with legal ethics and privilege issues.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment and meet deadlines.
• Demonstrated professionalism, sound judgment, and discretion.
• Commitment to exceptional internal and external client service.

• Must be extremely detail oriented, organized and have great follow through skills.
• Must be able to learn new software programs as needed.
• Must be able to identify and resolve problems in a timely manner.
• Must be flexible in order to respond quickly and positively to shifting demands.
• Must be able to communicate effectively with all Firm constituents.
• Experience with Intapp is a plus.
• Strong Outlook, Excel and Word skills required.
• Demonstrated reliability and the ability to work both independently and collaboratively within a hybrid (remote and in-office) team environment. The Firm operates on a hybrid work schedule requiring in-office presence Tuesday through Thursday, with optional remote work permitted on Mondays and Fridays. All employees must remain available for onsite work up to five days per week as business needs dictate. This schedule is subject to change; flexibility is required.

​ The base annual pay range for this role is between $190,000-$240,000. The base pay to be offered will vary and depend on skills and qualifications, experience and location. A full range of medical, financial and/or other benefits dependent on the position will also be offered.

EEO/AA EMPLOYER/Veterans/Disabled

Manatt is an equal opportunity employer, dedicated to a policy of non-discrimination in employment on any basis including race, color, physical or mental disability, religion, creed, national origin, citizenship status, ancestry, sex or gender (including gender identity, gender expression, status as a transgender or transsexual individual, pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), age (over 40), genetic information, past, current, or prospective service in the uniformed services, sexual orientation, political activity or affiliation, genetic or and any other protected classes or characteristic protected under applicable federal, state, or local law. Consistent with the American Disabilities Act, applicants may request accommodations needed to participate in the application process.

This employer will provide the Social Security Administration (SSA) and, if necessary, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), with information from each new employee’s Form I-9 to confirm work authorization.

IMPORTANT: If the Government cannot confirm that you are authorized to work, this employer is required to provide you written instructions and an opportunity to contact SSA and/or DHS before taking adverse action against you, including terminating your employment.

Employers may not use E-Verify to pre-screen job applicants or to re-verify current employees and may not limit or influence the choice of documents presented for use on the Form I-9. In order to determine whether Form I-9 documentation is valid, this employer uses E-Verify’s photo screening tool to match the photograph appearing on some permanent resident and employment authorization cards with the official U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) photograph. If you believe that your employer has violated its responsibilities under this program or has discriminated against you during the verification process based upon your national origin or citizenship status, please call the Office of Special Counsel at View phone number on aiapply.co (TDD: View phone number on aiapply.co).