Job Summary / Objective

The General Counsel serves as the organization’s chief legal advisor and is responsible for overseeing the company’s legal affairs, regulatory compliance, corporate governance, contract management, litigation, and enterprise legal risk. This position provides practical and strategic legal counsel to senior leadership and business partners to support informed decision-making, protect the company’s legal and financial interests, and advance the organization’s operational and growth objectives.

The General Counsel proactively identifies and addresses legal and regulatory risks, develops effective legal strategies, and ensures the company conducts its business in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, contractual obligations, and internal policies.

Duties & Responsibilities

The essential functions include, but are not limited to, the following:

Serve as the primary legal advisor to executive leadership, the Board of Directors, and business departments on legal, regulatory, operational, and strategic matters.
Provide practical legal guidance that balances legal risk, business objectives, operational needs, and the company’s reputation.
Identify, assess, communicate, and mitigate legal and regulatory risks affecting the organization.
Develop and implement legal strategies, policies, procedures, and controls that support the company’s short- and long-term objectives.
Draft, review, negotiate, and approve contracts, agreements, corporate documents, and other legal instruments.
Oversee the organization’s contract-management processes and ensure contractual obligations, renewal dates, and legal requirements are properly documented and monitored.
Manage actual and threatened litigation, administrative claims, regulatory inquiries, investigations, arbitration, mediation, and other legal disputes.
Develop dispute-resolution strategies and represent the company during negotiations, settlements, mediations, arbitrations, and other legal proceedings, as appropriate.
Select, manage, and evaluate outside legal counsel and other legal-service providers.
Monitor outside counsel performance, legal spending, litigation expenses, and other legal costs to ensure services are effective and cost-efficient.
Advise leadership on corporate governance matters and assist with the preparation, review, and maintenance of Board and corporate records.
Partner with Compliance, Human Resources, Finance, Operations, and other departments to address legal matters affecting the business.
Provide legal guidance regarding employment matters, internal investigations, employee relations, policies, and other workplace-related issues.
Monitor changes in applicable laws, regulations, and legal developments and communicate their potential impact to leadership and affected departments.
Oversee responses to subpoenas, regulatory requests, consumer complaints, legal notices, and other formal inquiries.
Establish and maintain appropriate legal-documentation, record-retention, legal-hold, and matter-management practices.
Develop and deliver legal and compliance training to employees and leadership, as appropriate.
Promote proactive legal risk management and support a culture of ethical conduct, accountability, and compliance.
Maintain the confidentiality and integrity of privileged, sensitive, and proprietary information.
Perform other duties and responsibilities as assigned.

Qualifications

Education

Juris Doctor degree from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association.

Skills / Certifications

Active license to practice law in the State of Florida and in good standing.

Minimum of five years of progressively responsible legal experience in a corporate legal department, law firm, or comparable environment.

Experience advising senior leaders on corporate, commercial, regulatory, litigation, or other business-related legal matters.

Demonstrated experience reviewing and negotiating commercial contracts.

Demonstrated ability to analyze complex legal matters and provide practical, business-oriented recommendations.

Experience managing litigation, settlement negotiations, investigations, or alternative dispute-resolution matters.

Strong knowledge of corporate law, commercial transactions, regulatory compliance, and general business-law principles.

Experience managing outside counsel and legal expenses.

Excellent legal research, analytical, negotiation, judgment, and problem-solving skills.

Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate complex legal concepts clearly to nonlegal audiences.

Strong organizational and time-management skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and respond effectively to urgent matters.

Demonstrated discretion and ability to maintain attorney-client privilege and confidentiality.

Ability to collaborate effectively with executives, employees, regulators, outside counsel, and other internal and external stakeholders.

Proficiency with Microsoft Office and legal research, contract-management, or matter-management systems.

Professional Experience

Experience serving as in-house counsel or General Counsel within a regulated industry.

Experience advising financial-services, consumer-finance, structured-settlement, lending, or similar organizations.

Experience with corporate governance, employment law, consumer regulations, and regulatory examinations.

Experience developing or managing a corporate legal or compliance function.

Experience working directly with a Board of Directors or Board committees.

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