Senior Counsel, Litigation and Employment

Senior Counsel, Litigation and Employment

Brooklyn, NY or Palo Alto, CA · Full-time, in office five days a week · Reports to the General Counsel

About Whop

Whop's mission is to help everyone earn a sustainable income. More than 27,000 internet businesses use the Whop Payments Network for payments, payouts, distribution and affiliate programs, and sellers earned more than $300M on the platform last month.

We are building institution-grade financial infrastructure for internet entrepreneurs. As our platform, team and international footprint grow, so does the range of disputes, claims and employment questions we need to manage well. We're looking for an experienced litigator to lead that work.

The role

As Senior Counsel, Litigation and Employment, you will own Whop's disputes function and serve as the company's primary employment counsel. You will manage litigation, arbitration and pre-litigation disputes, protect and enforce our intellectual property, handle consumer and merchant disputes and complaints, and advise the people team on employment matters across the U.S. and internationally. You will handle matters directly where you can, select and manage outside counsel where you can't, and build the processes that keep disputes from recurring.

Responsibilities

• Litigation and arbitration. Manage Whop's litigation and arbitration docket from intake through resolution, including case strategy, budgets, settlement decisions and oversight of outside counsel. Handle smaller matters directly.
• Consumer and merchant disputes. Oversee escalated disputes with buyers, sellers and partners, including demand letters, small claims, regulatory and attorney general complaints, and other pre-litigation matters. Work with payments, support and risk teams to resolve disputes early and address their root causes.
• Dispute resolution program. Own Whop's arbitration agreement and dispute resolution terms, including strategy for managing class action and mass arbitration risk.
• Intellectual property. Manage Whop's trademark portfolio and brand protection program, handle infringement claims involving content sold on the platform, oversee DMCA and repeat-infringer processes with the product team, and advise on copyright, trade secret and open source questions.
• Employment. Advise on hiring, compensation, performance management, terminations, workplace investigations, leave and accommodation, and employee policies across a fast-growing, multi-state team.
• International employment. Advise on hiring and employment structures in new markets, including work with employers of record and local counsel.
• Investigations and requests. Lead internal investigations, and manage subpoenas, law enforcement requests, legal holds and e-discovery.
• Prevention. Build playbooks, templates, training and AI-assisted workflows for dispute intake, demand responses, takedowns and employment decisions, so the team handles growing volume consistently and efficiently.

Qualifications

• 6-10 years of legal experience, with substantial commercial or consumer litigation experience at a leading law firm, in-house or both
• JD and admission to the New York or California bar, or eligibility to register as in-house counsel
• Experience managing litigation and arbitration matters end to end, including outside counsel management and budgeting
• Experience advising on employment matters, or a strong foundation in employment litigation
• Working knowledge of trademark and copyright law, including DMCA processes
• Sound judgment about litigation risk and settlement value, with the ability to explain recommendations clearly to business leaders
• Strong organization across a high volume of concurrent matters
• Experience using AI tools to improve the efficiency and quality of legal work

We expect strong candidates to come from one of the following backgrounds:

• A litigation associate at a leading law firm with commercial, consumer class action or employment experience, looking to take on full ownership of a disputes function
• An in-house litigation or employment counsel at a technology, fintech, payments or marketplace company
• A litigator who also brings business, founder or operating experience

Preferred qualifications

• Consumer class action or mass arbitration defense experience
• Experience with payments disputes, chargebacks or financial services litigation
• Experience with online marketplaces, platform liability or creator economy businesses
• California employment law experience
• Experience with regulatory investigations or attorney general inquiries

Is this role a fit?

This is a hands-on role that covers a broad range of matters. It is best suited to litigators who want to own outcomes, resolve disputes efficiently, and use what they learn from each matter to improve how the company operates. Success here means making well-reasoned decisions with incomplete information and focusing on business outcomes rather than litigating every issue to conclusion.

How we work

Whop is an in-office company of about 100 people, many of whom are former founders. We give team members meaningful ownership, resources and autonomy. We value:

• Rigor. Work that is accurate, well-grounded and holds up to scrutiny.
• Root-cause thinking. Fixing the source of a dispute so it doesn't happen again.
• Candor and alignment. Open debate before a decision, then full commitment to executing it.

We welcome candidates from non-traditional backgrounds and encourage you to apply even if your experience doesn't match every listed qualification.

Compensation and benefits

The base salary range for this role is [SALARY RANGE TO BE ADDED], depending on experience and location. Total compensation also includes equity, along with:

• Health, vision and dental coverage
• Unlimited PTO
• Equinox membership
• Lunch and dinner, Monday through Friday
• Rent stipend for living within half a mile of the office
• Citi Bike membership (Brooklyn)
• Rideshare home after 10 p.m.
• Latest MacBook Pro

Equal opportunity

Whop is an equal opportunity employer. We consider qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or any other status protected by law. If you need a reasonable accommodation during the hiring process, please let us know.