Texas Lawyer Recruiting & Attorney Search : Courtney Sapire : Texas Lawyer Jobs

Global energy company seeks an executive-level attorney with strong energy project development experience for the role of Vice President and Assistant General Counsel. This position reports to the Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary of the parent company and also to the President & CEO of one of its divisions.

The Vice President and Assistant General Counsel is responsible for providing legal counsel to the parent company and its subsidiaries in connection with complex energy-related transactional, project development, asset management and finance matters, with emphasis on wind, biomass and other renewable energy sources. The position will also be responsible for assisting the company on compliance issues, including local, state and federal regulatory requirements and overall compliance with national, state and/or local laws and regulations in North America.

Specific responsibilities include:

- Developing and executing comprehensive legal strategies and solutions to lawfully facilitate the parent company's and its subsidiaries' commercial objectives while mitigating any associated legal risks

- Providing legal advice and support to the renewable energy business unit, in connection with complex energy-related project development, asset management and finance agreements, and ensuring compliance with national, state and/or local laws and regulations in North America

- Advising on North American national, state and local regulations and requirements, with an emphasis on renewable energy

- Assisting with managing litigation, administrative proceedings and policy matters with an emphasis on matters involving the renewable energy unit

- Providing support to the parent company legal function generally in matters not involving renewable energy, including gas, power and LNG matters

In addition to a great work environment with a strong leadership team, the company offers an attractive compensation package that includes both short and long-term incentives, as well as an annual perquisite allowance.

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Global company headquartered in Houston seeks an executive-level attorney for the role of Associate General Counsel - Commercial. This officer-level position reports to the Senior Vice President and General Counsel and leads a team of three attorneys.

The Associate General Counsel heads the Commercial Section of the Law Department, which is responsible for day-to-day legal advice on business matters for the company's various operating divisions, functional departments and international operations. The AGC functions as a quasi-general counsel for one or more operating divisions with direct responsibility for assisting the applicable division executives and staff. In that capacity, the AGC manages all aspects of that division's legal needs, excluding IP, labor & employment, tax, environmental and litigation, all of which are handled by other attorneys at the company.

The Commercial Section has primary responsibility for providing legal support for issues related to commercial contracts, supplier relationships, distribution/rep relations & termination, FTC regulations, IT licenses and agreements, real estate, secured transactions, UCC, etc. 

Ideal experience would include a strong finance or accounting background and familiarity with corporate compliance, including customs, export control, anti-boycott and other international trade issues, FCPA, and government contracting.

This position will be a key part of the management of the law department and will drive certain law department initiatives, including the establishment of law department policies and developing corporate-wide compliance assurance.

Compensation:

The company is offering an outstanding compensation package for this role that includes cash and equity.

Required Experience: 

•             15+ years of experience, including prior law department management experience 

•             Strong commercial transactions and international experience

•             Strong finance or accounting background

•             Proven ability to work as part of a cross-functional team in overall project management, including the ability to work within established corporate risk tolerance levels.

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As you gain experience in your legal career, you’re likely to be contacted by a legal recruiter at some point.   Here are tips on building and managing strong relationships with them:

Know what you want. Offer yourself as a candidate only if you’re serious about making a change. Headhunters don’t like “tire-kickers.”  Legal recruiters are engaged by their clients to find qualified and motivated candidates.  

Be available. Once you’ve agreed to submit your resume for a particular position, make yourself available for interviews.   Although it’s time-consuming, being too difficult to schedule potentially sends a message to a prospective employer that you’re not interested in the position.

Is everyone on board? Be sure to discuss career moves with family members who would be impacted by a change, or whose voices count in your decision-making process.   Don’t get to the offer stage before you discuss relocating with your spouse.

Disclosure. If you have submitted your resume to other firms or companies, and by all means, if you are currently interviewing for a different position than the one for which you’ve been contacted, disclose this information up front.   No one likes surprises, especially the firm or company that’s about to make you an offer. 

Stay in touch. Check in with legal recruiters about once every two weeks to stay on the radar screen, and especially if you have a status change.

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Courtney Sapire is a Texas-based legal and executive search consultant specializing in the recruitment of lawyers for corporate law departments. With experience as a private practice attorney and as a corporate human resources director, Courtney brings the ideal blend of industry knowledge and functional expertise to her search consulting practice.

Courtney received her B.B.A. in finance in 1989 from the University of Texas at Austin, where she was on the Dean's List of Academic Excellence. In 1992, she received her J.D. from the Southern Methodist University School of Law and was published in the SMU Law Review. As an attorney in private practice, Courtney specialized in corporate, real estate and energy transactions. She later held positions as the Director of Human Resources and Recruiting for two technology companies. Courtney has a Senior Human Resources Professional Certification, and is a member of the Energy Bar Association, the State Bar of Texas and the Society for Human Resource Management. 

Prior to focusing her search career on attorneys and related professionals, Courtney managed senior-level searches in a variety of functional areas including executive management, marketing, sales, engineering and technical operations.  In the legal search domain, Courtney built a successful career as one of the top in-house recruiters in Texas. In addition, she launched a national energy practice as an attorney search consultant with a large Texas-based search firm. Courtney has successfully completed national searches for companies across the country from the general counsel to staff attorney level.

Contact Courtney

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