Ropes & Gray is a preeminent, global law firm. The firm has been ranked in the top-three on The American Lawyer's prestigious "A-List" for seven years and is ranked #1 on Law.com International's "A-List" in the U.K.—rankings that honor the "Best of the Best" firms.

The firm has approximately 2,500 lawyers and professionals serving clients in major centers of business, finance, technology, and government in Boston, Chicago, Dublin, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seoul, Shanghai, Silicon Valley, Singapore, Tokyo and Washington, D.C.

The firm has consistently been recognized for its leading practices in many areas, including asset management, private equity, M&A, finance, real estate, tax, antitrust, life sciences, health care, intellectual property, litigation & enforcement, privacy & cybersecurity, and business restructuring.

Ropes & Gray is an equal opportunity employer.

Under the direction of the Manager of CICC, the CICC Supervisor – Laterals assists with the day-to-day operations of the firm’s Client Intake/Conflict Control (“CICC”) department.  The CICC Supervisor – Laterals participates directly in all conflicts functions pertaining to the firm’s onboarding of new firm attorneys, including by performing all duties associated with related conflict of interest reporting and overseeing related work undertaken by CICC’s Conflicts Analysts.  The CICC Supervisor – Laterals also collaborates with CICC management and supervisory personnel to oversee the processing of conflicts reports and new matter forms and information by CICC’s Conflicts Analysts related to new business for new and existing clients, and performs all duties associated with such tasks, as required. 

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• Directly supervises the day-to-day activities of one or more Conflicts Analysts and/or other administrative personnel, including with respect to needs assessments, workflow and work assignments, HR issues, staff planning, trouble shooting, decision making and goal setting.
• Participates in and/or oversees the review and analysis of conflicts disclosures submitted by lateral candidates to structure all related conflicts checks in a manner that is tailored to the firm’s obligations under applicable rules of professional conduct.
• Participates in and/or oversees the performance of corporate research and preparation of related conflicts reports for all lateral candidates, including annual reviews of all summer associate and first-year associate candidates.
• Participates in and/or oversees the analysis and summarization of conflicts reports for senior members of CICC to obtain advice on relevant ethics rules and steps that should be undertaken to identify and resolve conflicts of interest.
• Communicates with candidates and the partnership to collect information required to identify and resolve potential conflicts of interest, explain the requirements of the relevant rules of professional conduct to those parties, and respond to follow-up inquiries; communicates and summarizes findings to the firm’s lateral recruitment personnel.
• Assists in drafting and executing conflicts waivers related to lateral hires and coordinates related ethical walls.
• Acts as a first point of contact for new partner hires and performs training for new personnel on firm processes and procedures pertaining to conflicts.
• Performs all duties associated with conflict of interest reporting in the context of lateral hires and the intake of new business generally, including: conducting detailed, extensive research from multiple sources; analyzing the corporate business structure and history of potential clients and adversaries; recognizing and understanding the complexities of the corporate family tree structure and applying this knowledge to build corporate trees based on the department’s algorithms; reviewing, analyzing, and interpreting complex search results as part of the conflict analysis and reporting process.
• Assists in monitoring department workflow to ensure accurate and timely results; triages work to ensure timely delivery of urgent requests on an ad hoc basis and in connection with bankruptcy- and independence-related searches; runs conflicts checks and handles other intake matters, including outside of ordinary business hours, if required.
• Provides guidance to CICC’s data team on the creation, maintenance, and interpretation of ethical walls and the drafting of related ethical wall memoranda.
• Performs quality control to ensure that the processes followed by the Conflicts Analysts are in keeping with the needs of the firm and applicable policies and procedures.
• Works closely with the CICC management and supervisory personnel on developing improved department processes, including the review and evolution of best practices and algorithms; designs and implements training and retraining protocols.
• Acts as a liaison between legal and non-legal staff to identify and assess process inefficiencies and provides recommendations on process improvements on intake and conflicts processing. Provides suggestions for training programs for legal staff.
• Organizes and monitors special projects within the department.
• Participates in the hiring and training of new conflicts, intake and administrative staff and the performance evaluation process, including conducting monthly one-on-one sessions and drafting and delivering annual reviews for direct reports.
• Works closely with CICC management and supervisory personnel on departmental workforce planning, department strategy, metrics, and benchmarking against peer firms.
• Liaises with other firm departments as required; provides leadership and guidance for procedures and processes spanning different support staffing groups. Participates in the management of changes to departmental makeup and key systems.
• Performs other work-related assignments and projects as required.

ESSENTIAL CAPABILITIES:

• Must demonstrate the ability to maintain strict confidentiality of the firm's internal and personnel affairs.
• Must be highly attentive to detail.
• Able to work in a collaborative teamwork environment and able to share information, goals, opportunities, successes and failures with the appropriate parties.
• Able to plan, organize and carry out multiple related activities.
• Able to maintain a professional demeanor in all situations.
• Able to work effectively in a culturally and educationally diverse environment.
• Able to work effectively in a multi-office environment.
• Strong project planning, management and execution skills.
• Must possess strong data management skills.
• Strong computer skills, including Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook, and a demonstrable ability to learn any department specific software.
• Must take responsibility for achieving goals.
• Able to interact effectively with all levels of personnel, including attorneys and staff.
• Must be flexible in order to respond quickly and positively to shifting demands.
• Able to establish and foster mentor relationships with staff.

EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS REQUIRED:

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• At least three (3) to five (5) years of experience working in a conflicts environment.
• Experience in analysis of conflicts issues required; lateral conflicts experience preferred.
• Conflicts-related staff and project management experience preferred.
• Database experience (iManage Business Intake Manager, Thomson Reuters 3E) required.
• Superior people skills required, along with excellent organizational skills, leadership and mentoring abilities to guide subordinates in reaching goals.  Proven interpersonal, verbal and written communication and customer service skills and ability to think creatively and take initiative.

Ropes & Gray is proud to offer a comprehensive Total Rewards package to our business support team members. The firm also offers comprehensive health and well-being benefits, personal and professional development, career growth opportunities and a collegial and supportive culture. The anticipated pay range for this role is $105,000 - $158,000 in the New York office and $100,000 - $151,000 in the Boston office, which represents our good faith and reasonable estimate of the starting salary range at the time of posting. In addition, this role is eligible for a discretionary bonus based on performance. The actual offered rate for this position will be determined based on job-related, non-discriminatory factors, including qualifications and experience, geographic location, education, external market data and consideration of internal equity.  

This position requires hybrid on-site presence as an essential function of the role. Consistent and predictable on-site presence is required for ongoing business continuity, professional development and effective collaboration with colleagues and management.