Contracts and Compliance Attorney

About Ropes & Gray

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 eight consecutive years and #1 on Law.com's UK A-List twice in the past three years—rankings that honor the "best of the best" law 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, Milan, New York, Paris, 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.

Overview

Oversee the growth and improvement of contract management policies, processes, and systems. Provide legal advice on vendor contracts, client questionnaires, and business associate agreements to support a busy team in a fast-paced and evolving law firm environment. Ensure efficient contract life cycle management operations. Contribute to the development and implementation of supplier risk management and governance policies.

Responsibilities

Essential Functions

• Review and draft contractual language and standardize terms for use across vendors
• Provide analysis and feedback to internal stakeholders on specific vendor agreements, statements of work, and renewals
• Negotiate agreements with vendors to achieve optimal service and protect the firm
• Develop and maintain a library of standard agreements and playbook of preferred terms
• Develop checklists and best practices in connection with review and drafting of preferred vendor terms for various categories of contracts (SaaS, Gen AI tools, HR benefits, event sponsorship, etc.).
• Liaise with internal subject matter experts and Office of General Counsel to ensure applicability and sufficiency of vendor contracting practices related to privacy, confidentiality, information security, insurance, indemnification, and other compliance concerns
• Support the development, implementation, and improvement of systems for contract lifecycle management
• Evaluate and recommend tools for management and monitoring of contract life cycle (renewals, terminations, return or destruction of information, et al.)
• Contribute to the implementation and application of supplier risk management policies, including appraisal, assessment, onboarding, risk and performance monitoring, policy compliance, and communication
• Stay informed about professional trends and functional innovation in sourcing and procurement, particularly around legal and contractual matters
• Conduct legal research, draft memoranda, and provide legal advice regarding procurement and contracting rules, contract enforcement by jurisdiction, and applicable privacy laws.
• Participate in training and education of firm managers regarding contract life cycle and best practices
• Supervise junior lawyers’ review of vendor contracts, including training, review of work product, and staffing
• Review and draft edits to data protection addenda in connection with vendor contracts, as needed
• Review and draft edits to non-disclosure agreements in connection with vendor contracts, as needed
• Assist internal stakeholders and case teams with response to client vendor questionnaires
• Assist IT team with review and edits to business associate agreements in connection with vendor engagements
• Assume additional responsibilities as needed

Qualifications

Education, Experience and Skills

• Juris Doctor degree from an accredited law school
• Admission to the state bar in MA or NY
• Three to five years oof legal experience, including contract drafting and negotiation of supplier agreements, non-disclosure agreements, and business associate agreements, preferred
• Solid business judgment and ability to anticipate and analyze impact and consequences of decisions and recommendations
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and writing skills
• Ability to work with and explain matters to various audiences
• Familiarity with HIPAA (US), GDPR (UK), and state privacy laws a plus
• Ability to work under pressure in a fast-paced environment, both individually and collaboratively
• Recognized procurement certification (such as CIPS, ISM) is a plus
• Proficiency with generative artificial intelligence tools like Harvey a plus
• Proficiency with contract management systems and legal research tools a plus

Compensation and Total Rewards Package

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 listed below and 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.

Boston: $134,700 - $205,450

New York City: $145,800 - $222,350

Working Conditions

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.