Legal Counsel

Job Description

Job Description

Position Summary:

Serving as primary in-house subject matter expert providing legal advice and counsel to the Bank. This position is responsible for assisting the Senior Legal Counsel in legal matters arising from all aspects of the Third Coast Bank’s activities, with particular focus on legal and policy matters related to bank products and services, supervision and regulation, contract management, corporate governance and litigation management.

Essential Functions:

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.   

1. Prepare review, negotiate, and manage broad range of company contracts (for example, purchasing/supply contracts; professional services agreements; software (SaaS), Banking as a Service (BaaS) Program Agreements, licensing arrangement, real estate related, etc.) for all areas of the Bank.
2. Draft and review legal and other corporate policies, including those related to Third Coast’s compliance, credit, operations, employees, governance programs, and data/information security, privacy and retention policies.
3. Work with the Senior Legal Counsel to manage and coordinate actual or threatened litigation internally and with outside counsel, as required. Activities will include review of complaints, responsive pleadings, discovery and responses to discovery requests, reviewing documentation for relevancy and attorney-client privilege, and litigation reporting efforts, including to the Board of Directors.
4. Support the Compliance function in investigating or assisting in the investigation of complaints, employee related misconduct, and regulatory inquiries.
5. Support branch, deposit and lending functions in customer matters, issue identification/remediation, policies and procedures, product development, development and review of customer agreements, forms and disclosure, compliance questions, and general advice.
6. Provide legal counsel and support on bank and compliance regulatory requirements.
7. Serve as subject matter expert for issues relating to legal process (e.g., subpoenas, garnishments, levies).
8. In collaboration with the Compliance function, assist in responding to and resolving regulatory exams, audits, internal risk assessments, compliance reviews, audits, etc.
9. Attend management, executive and/or board committee meetings and draft and/or prepare minutes of such meetings, as requested. Provide legal support for Board of Director meetings and assist in preparation of various materials for Board and Committee meetings.
10. Legal research and analysis on issues or new legislation and regulation; Maintain current knowledge and keep informed of industry-specific regulations and ensure that appropriate legal and compliance strategies are in place.
11. Additional potential responsibilities related to the TCB’s corporate functions may include: preparing or reviewing SEC filings, corporate governance, finance/accounting matters, and employment and benefits related matters.
12. Manage ad hoc projects, as requested.
13. Performs all other duties as assigned. 

Supervisory Responsibility:

This position has no supervisory responsibilities.

Job Type:

This is a full-time, exempt position.  Typical work hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00am to 5:00pm.

Travel:

Travel is expected for this position. 

Work Environment:

This job operates in a professional office environment. This position uses office equipment such as computers, phones, copy and fax machines, calculators, filing cabinets and printers. 

Physical Demands:

This position will be responsible for writing, typing, speaking, listening, lifting (up to 50 pounds), driving, carrying, seeing (such as close, color and peripheral vision, depth perception and adjusted focus), sitting, pulling, walking, standing, squatting, kneeling and reaching.  

Mental Demands:

The incumbent in this position must be able to accommodate to reading documents or instruments, detailed work, problem solving, customer contact, reasoning, math, language, presentations, verbal and written communication, analytical reasoning, stress, multiple concurrent tasks and constant interruptions. 

Education and Experience:

• Adept at recognizing and evaluating legal risk arising from business decisions and operations and advising and working with various business units.
• Familiar and experienced with banking/financial services and operations with a working knowledge of applicable banking and consumer compliance regulations.
• Partner with business units to provide sensible and practical legal advice and develop integrated solutions/responses that consider our operations/systems and employee experiences.
• Thrives in a fast-paced environment with multiple internal clients and a wide-range of legal questions and issues.
• Interested in building legal department systems and contract management / lifecycle tools in order to automate more processes within the department 
• Excellent organization, prioritization, and multitasking skills, practical and effective problem-solving skills, strong analytical, negotiation, and communication skills.
• Requires a J.D. from a reputable law school with a minimum of 7+ years’ experience as a lawyer in a mid to large firm, the government or in the legal department of a financial services company.
• Strong analytical, written and oral communication and relationship-building skills are required.
• Must be able to work effectively and independently in a demanding, fast-paced, fluid environment.
• Ability to handle multiple tasks and projects concurrently while maintaining the highest standards and attention to detail.