Associate General Counsel - Dispute Resolution and Intellectual Property
PlanetArt, United States
Job Description
Who We Are:
The PlanetArt companies provide consumers and small businesses with the tools, content, and services to create quality personalized products that are both innovative and affordable.
Everything we do empowers self-expression and delivers smiles.
Our Legal Dept. currently comprises four attorneys, two paralegals, one compliance manager, and two content review associates.
This role, reporting to the General Counsel, will be in one of our offices (Calabasas, CA; Pleasanton, CA; San Diego, CA; Eden Prairie, MN; Woodridge, IL) under a hybrid work arrangement. This arrangement entails in-office presence on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, with the flexibility to work remotely on Wednesdays and Fridays.
At the highest level, the position will take the lead on dispute resolution and management of a fast-growing intellectual property portfolio. You must possess a strong analytical and detail-oriented skill set in order to evaluate the complex legal issues affecting the company and offer practical solutions. You must also have exceptionally strong business acumen and the ability to work effectively and efficiently on multiple projects in a busy work environment and fast-growing company while being a critical go-to partner for business stakeholders.
What You’ll Do:
- Help to prevent disputes of all manner.
- Lead resolution of pre-litigation disputes when those disputes are unavoidable.
- Manage outside counsel in their handling of litigation when the litigation is unavoidable.
- Litigate certain disputes yourself (i.e., no outside counsel), particularly when those litigations are local, of manageable size, and/or rinse-and-repeat in nature.
- Led strategy regarding, and coordinated management and maintenance of, a significant portfolio of registered copyrights, registered and unregistered trademarks, and issued patents in multiple jurisdictions (currently ~275 TM registrations and ~30 issued patents, worldwide). In time, you might migrate in-house the domestic prosecution of the trademark portfolio.
- Manage and lead our recently developed and implemented Record Retention Program.
- Manage a portion of the workload of our Manager, Intellectual Property, where their work concerns dispute resolution, subpoenas, and/or trademarks.
- Manage, develop, and implement new, policies, practices, and procedures that relate to dispute avoidance, dispute resolution, and/or intellectual property management (e.g., litigation hold modus operandi, document retention/destruction policy, standard class selections and descriptions of goods for trademark applications on a brand-by-brand basis).
- Conduct complex legal research and analysis and advise company business units, as well as collaborate with the General Counsel on legal requirements, risks, and liabilities.
How to Apply:
If you would like to work in a creative, collaborative, high-growth environment, this Associate General Counsel role may be for you! Please submit your resume and cover letter. Be sure to tell us why you think you’d be a great fit! Submissions that do not include all of these items will not be considered. We look forward to hearing from you!
Requirements
What You Should Have:
- You have experience in and enjoy litigation and other dispute resolution, with a demonstrated ability to practically translate business needs into suitable and cost-effective resolutions. Your experience will include both actively litigating and managing outside counsel.
- You are an IP generalist with meaningful experience in and enjoyment of at least domestic (if not also international) trademark prosecution. In short, you have the ability to prosecute a domestic trademark portfolio numbering in the hundreds (even though you would not immediately do that in this role outside of an emergency).
- You are an intelligent and practical business-minded thinker with experience helping companies strike the right balance between risk and reward and a desire to protect the company while resolving conflict where it makes sense for the business.
- You are detail-oriented and enjoy working independently in a fast-paced, collegial environment.
- Big bonus points if you also are a domestic employment-law generalist interested in expanding your practice-area horizons to include advising on both federal and state-specific employment law matters.
- You have a JD that shows strong academic credentials, are a member in good standing of the bar where you reside, and preferably have 3-5 years experience.
Benefits
The compensation range for this position is $90,000 - $120,000 annual salary.
PlanetArt offers a comprehensive benefits package including:
- Health, Dental, Visio