AI Attorney Associate Principal

IL LLP•Chicago, IL

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The AI Attorney Associate Principal is a senior legal subject matter expert on the Firm’s AI Engineering team, contributing legal-practice expertise to the development and adoption of AI-powered legal products. Reporting to the Senior Director of AI Engineering, the role works with Product Design & UX, Engineering, Knowledge Management, and other stakeholders to translate lawyer workflows and quality expectations into product requirements, lead legal-quality evaluation, and help ensure products meet the Firm’s standards for quality and professional responsibility. The role also advocates for the Firm’s AI products, encourages lawyer engagement, and advises on generative AI and legal technology developments. The position leads discovery with lawyers and practice groups to identify and prioritize opportunities for AI-enabled legal work, and partners with product and engineering teams to improve product experiences and outputs. It develops evaluation methods and coordinates expert reviews, incorporates Firm knowledge resources into AI products, supports pilots and adoption, and works with relevant legal, risk, security, and privacy stakeholders on responsible AI safeguards. The role also contributes to vendor and technology assessments, product-development practices, stakeholder communications, and guidance for other professionals. The role requires a J.D. from an ABA-accredited law school, admission in good standing in at least one U.S. jurisdiction, at least eight years of legal experience, and at least two years focused on generative AI or legal technology. The target salary range is $202,000–$287,000 for candidates located in Illinois; compensation varies by location and other factors. The package includes bonus eligibility and a comprehensive benefits program.

Requirements

Juris Doctor (J.D.) from an ABA-accredited law school.
Admission in good standing in at least one U.S. jurisdiction.
At least 8 years of legal experience, including substantive practice at a large law firm and/or in the legal department of a major financial institution, technology company, or other complex enterprise.
At least 2 years of experience focused on generative AI or legal technology, including advising on, designing, evaluating, or deploying AI-enabled solutions.
Deep understanding of law firm workflows, legal work product, and lawyers’ expectations for quality, precision, and risk management.
Demonstrated experience working cross-functionally with product, engineering, and business stakeholders across the product development lifecycle.
Hands-on proficiency with generative AI tools and ability to evaluate AI output quality, limitations, and failure modes.
Working knowledge of AI governance, professional responsibility, confidentiality, and data privacy considerations applicable to AI use in legal practice.
Ability to communicate complex legal, technical, and regulatory concepts to lawyers, executives, and non-technical audiences and influence senior stakeholders.
Ability to lead complex cross-functional initiatives independently, navigate ambiguity, balance competing priorities, and exercise sound judgment.
Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
Good judgment and strong interpersonal communication skills.
Ability to manage multiple projects with competing deadlines and priorities and work effectively under pressure.
Strong analytical skills and a proactive approach to problem-solving.
Ability to work harmoniously and effectively with others.
Ability to preserve confidentiality and exercise discretion in all interactions.

Nice To Haves

Transactional legal practice experience, such as finance, capital markets, commercial and technology transactions, or mergers and acquisitions.
Experience developing standardized legal templates, playbooks, clause libraries, or similar knowledge resources.
Familiarity with large language model concepts and technologies, including retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), embeddings, agents, evaluation frameworks, and AI- or code-based prototyping tools.
Experience with Agile product delivery practices and tools.
Knowledge of applicable AI regulatory, governance, and legal ethics frameworks.
Experience presenting or publishing on legal AI, legal technology, or related topics.
Relevant AI governance or privacy certification.

Responsibilities

Serve as a senior legal subject matter expert for the AI Engineering team, applying practitioner insight into legal workflows, work product standards, and client expectations throughout product development.
Shape product requirements and priorities with AI Engineering leadership and Product Design & UX, translating lawyer workflows and quality expectations into requirements, user stories, acceptance criteria, and product improvements.
Lead discovery with lawyers and practice groups to identify and prioritize opportunities for AI-enabled legal work, including drafting, contract review and analysis, due diligence, research, summarization, and knowledge retrieval.
Partner with Product Design & UX and Engineering to improve product experiences, interfaces, prompts, agentic workflows, and outputs to meet lawyers’ expectations for accuracy, citation, format, tone, and usability.
Lead legal-quality evaluation of AI products by developing evaluation rubrics, gold-standard datasets, and test cases; coordinating expert review; and identifying improvements to prompts, retrieval, grounding, and model configuration.
Partner with Knowledge Management and practice groups to incorporate Firm expertise, precedents, playbooks, clause libraries, templates, and other legal content into AI products.
Advocate for the Firm’s AI products by demonstrating use cases, cultivating champions and early adopters, incorporating user feedback into product priorities, and supporting pilots, training, and adoption.
Embed responsible AI considerations into product development with the Office of General Counsel, Risk, Information Security, and Privacy, translating professional responsibility obligations, client requirements, and applicable regulations into product guardrails and controls.
Evaluate legal AI vendors, models, and emerging capabilities, contributing to build-versus-buy decisions, vendor due diligence, and technology and market assessments.
Advance legal AI product practices and team capabilities by improving processes and standards for defining, evaluating, and launching products; communicating direction, outcomes, risks, and tradeoffs to senior stakeholders; and guiding and coaching other professionals.
Perform the role’s duties satisfactorily and meet its requirements; reasonable accommodations are available for individuals with disabilities.