Corporate Counsel (19165)

Corporate Counsel

Location: Remote or at the firm’s Scottsdale, Arizona headquarters 
Employment Type: Full-Time 
Department: Legal 
Reports To: Chief Operating Officer 

Build the Legal Function and Own the Outcome:

Cornerstone Advisors is seeking a senior Corporate Counsel to stand up and scale our legal function. This is a high-impact role for an experienced attorney who has operated in, or closely alongside, consulting or professional services firms and understands the pace, risk profile, and commercial complexity of our business. 

You will serve as the firm’s primary internal legal resource, partnering directly with the COO and executive leadership. This role is expected to participate as a member of the firm’s Operating Committee, contributing to enterprise-level decision making on risk, governance, and growth. 

This is not a traditional in-house support role. You will build, own, and operate the firm’s legal capability, setting standards, reducing risk, and enabling the business to move faster with confidence. 

We are looking for someone with the judgment, credibility, and hands-on orientation to lead, while still doing the work. 

What You’ll Own:

Commercial Contracts Strategy and Risk Leadership: 

• Draft, review, redline, and negotiate MCSAs, NDAs, SaaS agreements, SOWs, vendor agreements, engagement letters, and related commercial contracts 
• Own positions on liability, indemnification, data use, IP, AI-related provisions, and confidentiality 
• Redesign and modernize template agreements, including a full refresh of the firm’s MSA 
• Develop practical risk frameworks that balance protection with commercial velocity 

Legal Infrastructure & Operating Protocols: 

• Build the firm’s legal operating model from the ground up (playbooks, templates, approval frameworks, escalation paths) 
• Establish contracting standards, fallback language, and negotiation guardrails 
• Implement scalable systems for contract management, exception tracking, and knowledge capture 
• Identify and deploy tools (including AI-enabled solutions) to improve review speed and consistency 

Enterprise Risk, Data, and Governance: 

• Lead end-to-end risk assessments across key business activities 
• Establish and refine data use policies, privacy considerations, and client-related data practices 
• Create structured approaches to risk identification, documentation, and mitigation 
• Participate in Operating Committee discussions, advising on enterprise risk, commercial strategy, and governance decisions 
• Serve as a trusted advisor to leadership on enterprise risk decisions 

Diligence, Transactions, and External Coordination: 

• Lead legal readiness for client and partner diligence requests (data rooms, documentation, response coordination)  
• Support M&A and strategic initiatives in partnership with external counsel  
• Act as the firm’s central point of coordination with outside law firms and third-party advisors  
• Ensure consistent quality, cost discipline, and alignment across external partners 

Required: 

• J.D. and active bar membership 
• 9–15+ years of legal experience, with a mix of law firm and in-house exposure 
• Direct experience in or supporting consulting / professional services firms 
• Deep experience structuring and negotiating complex commercial agreements 
• Proven ability to design and stand-up legal frameworks, not just operate within them 
• Demonstrated credibility partnering with executives and contributing at the operating committee level 

Highly Valued: 

• Experience standing up or significantly evolving a legal function from scratch or near-scratch 
• Strong familiarity with data usage, privacy, and AI-related contractual considerations 
• Experience leading diligence processes and supporting transactions 
• Comfort operating as a “player-coach” in a fast-moving, non-bureaucratic environment 
• Modernizing legacy contract frameworks 
• Exposure to M&A coordination or acquisition support 
• Building legal systems from the ground up 

What Success Looks Like (first 6-12 months) 

• Rebuilt and standardized core client agreements (MSA, NDA frameworks)  
• Clear, adopted firm-wide negotiation positions and playbooks  
• Established risk assessment and data governance baselines  
• Improved speed, consistency, and confidence in contracting  
• Trusted advisor status with executive leadership 

Why This Role:

This is a rare opportunity to define how legal supports and accelerates the business, not just reviews it. You’ll have direct influence on how the firm manages risk, engages clients, and scales. 

EEO STATEMENT 

Cornerstone Advisors provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements, our firm complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.