Legal Counsel - Litigation & Regulatory

Betterment • New York City, NY

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

Betterment is seeking a versatile lawyer to join its high-impact legal team. This role is central to Betterment's mission of making investing smarter, easier, and more accessible. The position involves responsibilities in disputes and arbitration, regulatory inquiries, and policy advocacy. The ideal candidate is a talented litigator looking to expand their focus and expertise. The role requires a sharp problem-solver with excellent legal judgment, strategic and practical thinking, clear communication skills, and the ability to thrive in a fast-paced, technology-driven environment. The candidate should be comfortable making decisions with ambiguity, owning projects end-to-end, managing competing priorities, and building scalable processes for a lean team. The position is based in the NYC office and offers a hybrid work model.

Requirements

• A JD, admission to the NY bar, and at least 4 years of relevant in-house or firm litigation experience.
• An adaptable mindset and innate curiosity.
• A bias toward action and solving problems, not just issue spotting.
• The ability to take ownership over your work and manage projects independently.
• Excellent writing ability.
• Comfort navigating complexity and creating simplicity.
• Passion for Betterment’s products and mission.

Nice To Haves

• Knowledge of financial services regulation, especially the Advisers Act, ERISA, securities and/or banking law and related regulations.
• Arbitration experience, especially FINRA or AAA proceedings.
• Familiarity with privacy and/or information security issues.
• Experience in retail financial services or representing financial services clients.
• In-house experience at a startup or high growth company.

Responsibilities

• Build and own legal processes to manage and respond to claims and threatened claims.
• Identify and mitigate legal risk.
• Defend Betterment in litigations, arbitrations, and regulatory proceedings (both directly and by managing outside counsel).
• Analyze legislative and regulatory changes relevant to Betterment’s business.
• Advise business partners to improve Betterment’s products and services.
• Serve as trusted legal partner to business, triaging and investigating escalated concerns.
• Resolve and avoid potential disputes, driving pre-litigation strategy.
• Represent Betterment in litigation, arbitrations, and regulatory proceedings.
• Manage and collaborate with outside counsel.
• Coordinate responses to third-party subpoenas.
• Navigate legal and regulatory requirements to address operational issues and enhance Betterment’s products and services.
• Support Betterment’s policy advocacy efforts by analyzing proposed legislation and rule-makings relevant to Betterment’s business.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Life and AD&D insurance
• STD and LTD benefits, including infertility support and World Professional Association for Transgender Health approved benefits
• Generous parental leave
• Flexible paid time off (and encouragement to use it!)
• Meaningful opportunity for community building through our 7 Employee Resource Groups
• Empowerment to own and lead change and affect the business
• Dedicated professional development opportunities
• Lunch from our in-house chef at our NYC headquarters

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree