Senior Corporate Counsel - Ethics & Conflicts - Kansas City or Minneapolis (Hybrid)

This is a hybrid position located in Kansas City, Missouri or Minneapolis, Minnesota.

About the Role

Littler is the largest global employment and labor law practice in the world exclusively devoted to representing management. With more than 1,900 attorneys in over 100 offices worldwide, Littler serves as the single source solution provider to the global employer community. The Senior Corporate Counsel - Ethics & Conflicts will serve as a senior advisor on attorney ethics and professional responsibility matters, including analysis and guidance on obligations arising under applicable rules of professional conduct across all jurisdictions where Littler attorneys are licensed to practice.

Responsibilities

• Ethics & Professional Responsibility Advice
  • Serve as a senior advisor on attorney ethics and professional responsibility matters, including analysis and guidance on obligations arising under applicable rules of professional conduct across all jurisdictions where Littler attorneys are licensed to practice.
  • Advise on and handle sensitive professional responsibility matters end-to-end, including competence, confidentiality, candor, supervision, advertising and solicitation, unauthorized or unlicensed practice of law, multijurisdictional practice, lawyers as witnesses, misdirected or inadvertent disclosures, clients in financial distress (including bankruptcy), withdrawal from representation, motions for sanctions (against the firm or that the firm may file), ethics complaints, and internal concerns.
  • Coordinate with senior leadership, outside counsel, and insurers as appropriate.
  • Support ethics program operations, including the firm's audit response letter process, ethics review of media, marketing, and business development activity, and coordination with the professional liability (PL) insurance program on ethics matters.
• Conflicts Advice & Clearance
  • Serve as a senior advisor on conflicts of interest arising from new business intake, lateral hiring, global and cross-border matters, third-party discovery, and evolving client relationships.
  • Conduct and oversee conflicts analysis for complex or high-risk matters and advise on appropriate resolution strategies, including clearance determinations, waiver approaches, ethical screens, and withdrawal-related considerations.
  • Draft and review conflict waiver letters, informed consent disclosures, and related client communications.
  • Provide direction and approval regarding appropriate implementation of ethical walls, including drafting and approval of any necessary communications regarding the same.
  • Manage the ethics conflicts aspects of onboarding lateral attorneys and group hiring, integrations, and departures.
  • Partner with Talent and the Conflicts team to identify imputed conflicts early, assess portable matters, design ethical screens and waivers, evaluate withdrawal obligations, and clear candidates and matters on business-critical timelines.
• Risk Identification, Escalation & Cross-Coverage
  • Identify ethics- and conflicts-related risks and emerging trends affecting the firm and its lawyers; monitor developments in ethics rules, opinions, and regulatory guidance across relevant jurisdictions; recommend updates to firm policies, procedures, and practices; and escalate novel, high-risk, or firmwide issues as appropriate.
  • Partner closely with the Associate General Counsel – Ethics and the Associate General Counsel – Conflicts on complex or sensitive matters requiring senior-level judgment or escalation.
  • Provide cross-coverage across the ethics and conflicts functions to ensure continuity when team members are unavailable, while maintaining clear ownership and avoiding ambiguity between the two functions.
• Policies, Guidance & Training
  • Contribute to the development, interpretation, and maintenance of firm policies, playbooks, and guidance addressing ethics, conflicts, intake and engagement practices, ethical walls, and related professional responsibility obligations.
  • Support the design and delivery of ethics- and conflicts-focused training and education, including review of CLE programming, onboarding materials, and role-appropriate training for lawyers and administrative staff.
• Systems, Governance & Collaboration
  • Support the accuracy and integrity of ethics- and conflicts-related systems of record, and partner with CLO Operations and IT to improve workflows and data quality.
  • Collaborate with Conflicts Counsel, Ethics Counsel, Compliance, Privacy, Security, CLO Operations, and other corporate teams on cross-functional matters implicating ethics or professional responsibility obligations.
• Perform such other and additional duties as may from time to time be assigned.

Requirements

• Deep subject matter expertise regarding attorney ethics and professional responsibility, and conflicts of interest principles, applicable to lawyers in a large, multijurisdictional law firm environment.
• Demonstrated ability to research, interpret, and apply the rules of professional conduct and related ethics authorities to complex, real-world fact patterns, and to provide clear, practical, and risk-appropriate advice.
• Demonstrated ability to analyze complex conflicts fact patterns, including corporate family relationships, competitors, third-party discovery, co-defendants, joint employer issues, requests for indemnification, former clients, and lateral-hire scenarios, and to provide practical, defensible guidance.
• Ability to evaluate engagement risk stemming from ethics- and conflicts-related issues and advise on appropriate resolution strategies, including clearance determinations, waiver approaches, ethical screens, and withdrawal-related considerations.
• Demonstrated skill in explaining nuanced ethics and conflicts analyses clearly and persuasively, both orally and in writing, to practicing lawyers, practice leadership, and firm stakeholders.
• Experience drafting, reviewing, and advising on written materials related to ethics, conflicts, and engagement risk (e.g., waiver letters, informed consent disclosures, guidance, memoranda, and related communications).
• Working knowledge of lateral hire and global conflicts processes, the audit response letter process, and the relevant applicable professional responsibility rules.
• Demonstrated familiarity with and openness to leveraging AI-driven and emerging technologies, with the aptitude to apply them effectively to enhance efficiency, client service, and legal work product, in a risk-appropriate manner.
• Strong organizational skills, including the ability to manage multiple time-sensitive matters simultaneously, prioritize competing demands, and exercise sound judgment under pressure.
• Effective collaboration skills, including the ability to work closely with internal and external ethics and conflicts counsel, senior leadership, CLO Operations, IT, and other corporate teams on cross-functional risk matters.

Qualifications

• Professional Judgment and Accountability
  • Demonstrated ability to take ownership of legal analyses and recommendations, exercise independent judgment, and stand behind well-reasoned positions on sensitive ethics, professional responsibility, and conflicts matters.
  • Demonstrated ability to create an environment that fosters others to seek clarification or guidance.
• Adaptability
  • Demonstrated ability to respond effectively to evolving client relationships, business needs, and professional responsibility standards, and to adjust analyses as new facts emerge.
  • Demonstrated ability to identify, adhere to, and enhance those practices and processes that add value to the Firm, and to evolve or adapt those that do not.
• Creativity
  • Demonstrated ability to identify material improvement opportunities for Littler, particularly in areas not conventionally or previously considered.
  • Ability to understand when to challenge the status quo and determine when and where change is needed.
• Collaboration
  • Demonstrated ability to seek input to ensure key projects, initiatives, and decisions reflect the full set of required expertise from around the Firm.
  • Demonstrated ability to partner with conflicts and ethics professionals, senior leadership, and other corporate teams on cross-functional risk matters.
• Inclusion
  • Demonstrated ability to actively advance the Firm's commitments and performance in seeking and supporting a qualified, diverse, and varied workforce.
• Solution Orientation and Problem Solving
  • Demonstrated ability to break complex ethics, conflicts, and process problems into manageable components and develop practical, defensible solutions rather than merely identifying risks.
• Professionalism and Discretion
  • Demonstrated ability to handle sensitive client and lawyer information with discretion, consistency, and respect for confidentiality.
• Commitment to Firm Values
  • Commitment to operating consistently with the Firm's values and professional standards, including integrity, fairness, and respect for diverse perspectives.

Education and Certifications

• Juris Doctor (JD) from an accredited law school
• Admission to practice law in at least one U.S. jurisdiction (active or eligible for waiver)
• Desired: Additional bar admissions

Experience

• Minimum of 10 years of legal experience, with substantive experience addressing attorney ethics, professional responsibility, conflicts of interest, or engagement risk in a large law firm or similarly complex legal environment.
• Prior experience practicing in or advising a law firm, with demonstrated understanding of law firm operations, client engagement structures, and professional responsibility obligations.
• Experience advising practicing lawyers or firm leadership on sensitive or complex issues requiring professional judgment, discretion, and risk awareness.
• Demonstrated ability to operate independently across both ethics and conflicts matters, while escalating novel, high-risk, or firmwide issues to senior legal leadership as appropriate.
• Demonstrated readiness, or clear potential, to assume a senior leadership role over the ethics or conflicts function.

Pay

Pursuant to Minnesota regulation, the annual salary range for this position is $180,000 to $200,000, contingent on relevant experience and education, and includes eligibility for performance-based bonuses.

Benefits

We offer a generous benefits package to full-time and part-time employees working at least a 50% schedule. Benefits include:

• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision plan for you, your spouse/domestic partner, and children
• Superior 401(k) plan
• Ample time off programs
• Mental health programs
• Family building and caregiving support
• Generous paid parental leave
• Life insurance
• Disability insurance
• Wellness program