Commercial Counsel

About the role

Aderant is seeking a Commercial Counsel to join its Legal Department as the second attorney on the team. This is a high-impact role for a hands-on commercial lawyer who wants meaningful ownership of deals, direct exposure to senior stakeholders, and the opportunity to grow with a scaling SaaS business.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end negotiation of customer commercial agreements, including SaaS subscription agreements, legacy software licenses, amendments, and complex order forms
• Act as the primary legal representative on client calls, negotiating directly with in-house legal teams at large and sophisticated law firms
• Manage a high volume of concurrent deals while maintaining responsiveness and prioritization under significant time pressure
• Apply Aderant's contract playbooks and risk positions consistently, while clearly explaining those positions to clients and internal stakeholders
• Identify legal, operational, and financial risks in proposed deal terms and work cross-functionally to resolve issues pragmatically
• Partner closely with Sales, Finance, Sales Operations, Revenue Operations, Product, and Security, serving as both an enabler and a gatekeeper
• Escalate novel or high-risk issues appropriately, while independently handling the majority of negotiations
• Support Aderant's transition to SaaS by negotiating new SaaS agreements while assessing and managing risk under legacy contract frameworks
• Review and advise on data protection terms, DPAs, international considerations, open-source issues, and AI-related contractual provisions as part of routine deal flow
• Collaborate closely with contract managers and contract administrators to support efficient deal flow, ensure consistency across agreements, and help prioritize work across the legal contracting team
• Contribute to improving contract templates, playbooks, and processes over time, recognizing that not everything is fully documented

Qualifications and Experience

• Juris Doctor degree from an ABA-accredited law school and active membership in good standing with at least one U.S. state bar
• 2–5 years of experience negotiating business-to-business commercial contracts, with technology and SaaS contracting experience strongly preferred
• Prior in-house experience is preferred, but strong candidates directly from a law firm will be considered
• Demonstrated experience negotiating against sophisticated counterparties with customized and heavily negotiated agreements
• Strong working knowledge of SaaS transactions, software licensing models, and professional services arrangements
• Familiarity with data protection and privacy concepts, including DPAs and international considerations
• Strong communication skills and the confidence to work directly with clients, sales teams, and senior business stakeholders
• Sound business judgment and the ability to balance risk management with commercial realities