Forward Deployed - Legal Engineer

Legal AI Enablement Counsel / Forward Deployed Counsel Location New York, NY (Hybrid) Overview Our client, a leading global law firm, is seeking a Legal AI Enablement Counsel to help drive the firm's next generation of AI initiatives. This individual will sit at the intersection of legal practice, technology, and innovation, partnering closely with attorneys, business stakeholders, and engineering teams to design, implement, and optimize AI-powered legal workflows. This is a unique opportunity for someone who combines a J.D. and meaningful legal practice experience with a strong technical foundation in software development, AI engineering, automation, or product development. Think of this role as an internal Forward Deployed Engineer meets Of Counsel—someone who understands attorney workflows and can translate them into scalable AI solutions. Responsibilities Partner directly with practice groups to identify opportunities for AI‑driven transformation across legal workflows. Conduct discovery sessions with attorneys to understand business processes, document lifecycles, and knowledge management challenges. Translate legal requirements into technical specifications for internal engineering and AI teams. Build prototypes, proofs of concept, and production‑ready AI applications using modern LLM technologies. Design and improve legal copilots, document review tools, drafting assistants, research workflows, and intelligent search capabilities. Collaborate with software engineers, data scientists, product managers, and innovation teams throughout implementation. Evaluate emerging AI technologies and recommend solutions that improve attorney productivity while maintaining compliance and governance. Develop prompt libraries, evaluation methodologies, guardrails, and testing frameworks for legal AI applications. Serve as the internal subject matter expert on legal workflows, document structures, and attorney adoption. Drive user enablement, training, change management, and long‑term adoption across the firm. Work with firm leadership on AI strategy, responsible AI governance, and future technology initiatives. Qualifications J.D. from an accredited law school. Admission to at least one U.S. state bar preferred. 5+ years of experience practicing law at an Am Law firm or sophisticated in‑house legal department. Previous experience in software engineering, AI engineering, legal technology, solutions engineering, or application development. Strong understanding of legal workflows including contracts, litigation, corporate transactions, M&A, fund formation, regulatory, or knowledge management. Experience building or implementing AI‑powered applications using Large Language Models. Programming experience with Python preferred. Experience with APIs, automation platforms, or modern software development practices. Familiarity with technologies such as: AI evaluation frameworks Excellent communication skills with the ability to explain technical concepts to attorneys and business stakeholders. Preferred Experience Experience working with legal AI platforms such as CoCounsel, Harvey, or similar enterprise AI products. Background in legal innovation, knowledge management, or legal operations. Experience implementing AI solutions within a law firm. Familiarity with AI governance, security, responsible AI, and model evaluation. Experience leading client or stakeholder discovery workshops. Product management or forward deployed engineering experience. Ideal Candidate This person is equal parts attorney, technologist, and consultant. They understand how lawyers work because they've practiced law, but they're equally comfortable writing Python, evaluating LLM outputs, building AI workflows, and partnering with engineers to deliver production‑ready solutions. They thrive in highly collaborative environments, enjoy solving complex legal workflow challenges, and are passionate about helping attorneys leverage AI to work more efficiently without sacrificing quality, security, or accuracy. #J-18808-Ljbffr The Phoenix Group