At Gunderson Dettmer, you’ll find people passionate about making an impact while working alongside pioneering founders and innovators.

In addition to offering competitive salaries, we also offer an excellent benefits package, which includes comprehensive medical, dental and vision coverage; 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan; Flexible Spending Account, Paid Time Off and fertility and family building support.

Gunderson Dettmer has an opening for a full-time Conflicts Attorney to join us as a firm-wide resource to review, clear and consult on conflicts of interest and new business intake matters. This position sits within our New Business Acceptance Department and reports directly to the Assistant General Counsel. The Conflicts Attorney works in concert with the Firm’s two other Conflicts Attorney(s). The Conflicts Attorney will be a critical member of a comprehensive program focused on clearing routine and more complex transactional conflicts of interest. The Conflicts Attorney will be responsible for assuring compliance with applicable Rules of Professional Conduct and assisting with other loss prevention functions.

Conflicts Attorney Role: in concert with the New Business Intake Department (NBI):

• Reviews client, related party and adverse party data for new matters to determine whether these proposed engagements involve conflicts of interest. This entails identifying possible conflicts from conflict reports containing that data, contacting the attorneys responsible for relevant matters, and drafting and seeking conflict waivers from select clients to resolve those possible conflicts.

• Consults with the NBI team and client team, or with the Office of General Counsel to resolve complex engagement or conflicts issues.

• Reviews and resolves restricted party screening results and consults with the responsible attorney as necessary.

• Reviews new client/matter requests to determine the need for ethical walls or screens and drafts and reviews client consent/waiver letters for compliance with screening procedures.

• Oversees the technical ethical wall process in conjunction with other teams using department software.

• Reviews and provides edits/comments on non-standard engagement letters, conflict waivers, outside counsel guidelines and client or law firm-tendered engagement letters in conjunction with others, including the Office of General Counsel.

• As needed, analyzes and resolves conflict of interest issues arising from the Firm’s hiring of new lawyers.

• Assists in maintaining thorough, accurate and current records of all conflicts resolutions in database to ensure integrity of the database and assist in identification and clearing of future conflicts of interest.

• Works with the NBI team to investigate and resolve erroneous, outdated or otherwise incomplete data on conflicts reports and ensure corrections are made in database and other records to ensure integrity of information.

• Assists Firm personnel in understanding the Firm’s new matter intake, conflicts, anti-money laundering, and other compliance procedures.

• As needed, assists with updating client lifecycle form documents (engagement letters, non-engagement letters, waivers, disengagement letters, transfer letters, etc.).

• Working with various teams, assists in streamlining and increasing the speed of our business acceptance process without a degradation in quality of service and or a negative impact to our risk posture.

• Stays current on, and verifies the Firm’s compliance with, relevant legal ethics opinions and jurisdictional changes in ethics or licensing rules in jurisdictions where the Firm has offices. Maintains a sophisticated, relevant base of knowledge in these areas.

• Stays current on, and verifies the Firm’s adherence to guidance from our malpractice insurance providers. Attends conferences whenever relevant and possible.

• Acts as a resource to the pro bono Committee and Attorney Development on Conflicts issues.

Experience

• Candidates must have a J.D. with strong academic credentials.

• Active CA licensure preferred, however, a strong candidate admitted to the bar of any US state in which Gunderson Dettmer has an office will be considered. License must be active and in good standing at all times.

• Transactional conflicts experience required, preferably in a mid to large law firm.

• Minimum of 2 to 5 years of relevant law firm or legal department work experience.

• Knowledge of InTapp a plus.

Job Requirements

• Excellent communicator able to both write and converse technically and eloquently.

• Enthusiastic and willing to work with lawyers and support staff at all levels and in differing jurisdictions.

• Superior attention to detail together with a methodical and organized approach to daily work and projects. Able to manage workload effectively and move projects forward.

• Excellent interpersonal skills, a sense of humor and the ability to respond to time critical and complex situations calmly and positively.

• Able to influence and build strong working relationships with internal clients and colleagues in a collaborative and supportive manner.

• Able to work with a strong team of New Business Intake and Business Acceptance professionals.

• Strong ethics and compliance aptitude with an ability to issue spot and find ways to resolve. Creative problem-solving ability.

• Solutions focused, proven initiative, pro-active approach and independent thought. Knowledge of legal regulatory and legislative requirements for law firms, and an understanding of risk in the legal services environment, would therefore be beneficial.

Status

• Full Time, Exempt

• Hybrid or Remote Eligible

The expected starting salary for this position is $160,000 - $190,000 annually, dependent upon location, qualifications and experience.

Gunderson Dettmer is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any other federal, state or local protected class.