Senior Conflicts Attorney

Overview

With 500+ professionals and 350+ business professionals, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP is a multidisciplinary, integrated national professional services firm known for quality and an extraordinary commitment to clients. The Firm’s groundbreaking approach—bringing together legal services, advocacy and business strategy—differentiates Manatt from its competitors and positions the Firm to provide a distinct and compelling value proposition.

The Senior Conflicts Attorney will serve as a key member of the Firm’s Legal and Risk Management team, working in close collaboration with the Conflicts team to proactively identify, research, and resolve potential conflicts of interest and risk management issues. This non-billing, business professional role is central to supporting the firm’s risk management and client intake processes. The Senior Conflicts Attorney will lead complex conflict-of-interest analyses, provide expert guidance to partners and firm leadership regarding ethical compliance, and help develop and implement best practices to protect the firm across a wide variety of matters and jurisdictions.

This role will not be a billing professional but will be a Business Professional role and sit within the Legal and Risk Management department.

• Review, identify and advise Firm attorneys, staff, and incoming professionals on conflicts of interest issues and appropriate resolutions; and possess and maintain knowledge of the Rules of Professional Conduct in the US generally and California specifically.
• Handle lateral conflicts clearances, including identifying and appropriately resolving all conflicts issues, assisting with onboarding new hires, working with candidates to obtain additional information as needed, and communicating with appropriate department chairs and the General Counsel’s office regarding appropriate resolutions.
• Serve as a point of contact in handling the resolution of escalated conflicts and intake issues.
• Assist with training other members of the Conflicts Department, including assisting with creating written training materials, developing best practices and procedures, and ensuring standardized results across the Department.
• Assist with the formulation, documentation, and execution of strategic plans and procedures related to business intake and conflict-of-interest analysis/resolution to ensure proper conflict management.
• Work with Firm professionals and the General Counsel’s office to review, draft, negotiate, and ultimately finalize waiver letters, disclosures, and engagement agreements and termination letters on matter-by-matter basis.
• Communicate with and advise professionals, secretaries and other Firm personnel on established Firm policies and Procedures related to conflicts.
• Consult on procedural issues concerning Firm policies that affect the Conflicts Department.
• Propose conflicts and other relevant language for RFP responses.
• Review and revise outside counsel guidelines and similar policies and contracts received from Firm clients, and provide direction and options regarding items of concern, including working with Firm attorneys regarding compliance with such terms.
• Confirm need for and create ethical walls to screen individuals from particular clients and matters as part of conflict clearing process.
• Conduct advanced level research projects on corporate affiliations and corporate relatedness.
• Prioritize requests and coordinate with other team members as appropriate to maintain appropriate flow of priority requests.
• Handle special projects, including research projects, at the direction of the General Counsel’s office.
• All other duties as assigned or required.

• JD degree required
• Must be currently licensed in good standing in a firm-approved U.S. state
• Member of state bar in the corresponding state in which work is performed
• Minimum of five (5) years law firm experience at an AmLaw 100 firm clearing and resolving new business conflict issues required, with a minimum of four (4) years experience handling lateral conflicts clearances
• Effective and succinct oral communication and clear and concise written communication
• Effective…