Conflicts Attorney

Conflicts Attorney

Katten is a full-service law firm with approximately 650 attorneys in locations across the United States and in London and Shanghai. Clients seeking sophisticated, high-value legal services turn to Katten for counsel locally, nationally and internationally. The firm’s core areas of practice include corporate, financial markets and funds, insolvency and restructuring, intellectual property, litigation, real estate, structured finance and securitization, transactional tax planning, private credit and private wealth.

Katten represents public and private companies in numerous industries, as well as a number of government and nonprofit organizations and individuals.

The Conflicts Attorney exercises discretion and independent judgment while working under the general direction of Deputy Conflicts Counsel and according to established Firm policies and procedures.

The Conflicts Attorney is responsible for clearing conflicts for all new clients, new matters, and additional party submissions by performing essential duties personally or through delegation to other Conflict Department personnel. Maintains professionalism and strict confidentiality in all client and firm matters.

The position will allow significant opportunity to work from home with occasional office presence required (Katten Flex). Standard working hours are 9:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. PST for the Los Angeles office. Overtime may be needed as dictated by business needs.

include, but may not be limited to, the following. Other duties may be requested and/or assigned. Regular and predictable attendance is an essential function of the position. Essential functions are primary job duties that an individual must be able to perform successfully with or without a reasonable accommodation. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of the American Bar Association (ABA) Model Rules of Professional Conduct and jurisdictional differences in all states in which the Firm conducts business.
  
  Perform research and incorporate laws of other countries, such as The Solicitor’s Regulation Authority rules in the United Kingdom, into the Firm’s internal policies and procedures.

• Review all incoming forms and telephone requests to ensure that conflict party, position, and relationship information is accurate and complete.
  
  Follow forms through the intake lifecycle to ensure that forms are processed accurately and efficiently.

• Define complex conflict search strategies and generate related conflicts reports.
  
  Analyze conflicts reports, identify potential conflict situations, propose resolutions, and coordinate the documentation of resolutions.

• Facilitate conflict-clearing process by prescreening/clearing reports and communicating directly with appropriate attorneys, Deputy Conflicts Counsel, Compliance Counsel and other Conflict Department personnel as needed.

• Procure, review, and draft waiver letters and engagement letters from appropriate attorneys as deemed necessary in each jurisdiction.

• Produce written summaries and record all final conflict resolutions as supporting documentation for internal files.

• Confirm need and establish ethical walls to screen particular clients and matters as part of conflict clearing process. Manage existing walls and the issues that may arise from them.

• Liaise with General Counsel and other Firm attorneys to identify conflicts issues and review and approve conflicts forms as necessary.

• Review prior legal affiliation reports as prepared by Conflicts Department staff for all new and lateral hires.
  
  Resolve potential conflicts with incoming laterals and Firm attorneys.

• Perform legal research and…