Senior Counsel

Job Posting Title:

Senior Counsel

Req ID:

10157573

Job Description:

ESPN is seeking a seasoned attorney for the role of Senior Counsel. This position will report to the Lead Counsel and will assist and support the Lead Counsel, Chief Counsel, General Counsel, and other attorneys in fulfilling the legal affairs and requirements of the corporation. Areas of focus can include, but are not limited to, programming acquisitions, production agreements, marketing and promotion, digital (including social) media and platforms, and distribution, as well as legal work related to various aspects of direct-to-consumer offerings. ESPN will consider placement of this position in New York, NY, or Bristol, CT.

What You Will Do:

• Maintains current knowledge of substantial range of federal, state, and local laws and of legislative and regulatory developments, analyzes how these might impact ESPN, and conceives and recommends compliance actions
• Serves as primary Legal Department representative for assigned ESPN departments or categories
• Drafts contracts and other legal documents, recommends approval/modification of contracts proposed by outside parties, and negotiates with outside parties
• Possesses and maintains (including through continuing legal education) knowledge in specialized legal areas, including emerging trends, specifically in connection with (1) content (including audiovisual programming, licensing and production); (2) intellectual property (copyright, trademark, rights of publicity); (3) marketing and promotion; and/or (4) digital (including social) media and platforms
• Conceives and recommends strategies and tactics in response to legislative and regulatory developments and other events or anticipated actions
• Keeps internal clients (and Legal leadership team) fully informed of relevant legal issues and implications of their current operations and proposed actions and, advises them accordingly of risks and legal consequences of alternative actions
• Reviews and edits significant guidelines, policies, letters, work orders, and other documents from applicable client departments to ensure that legal implications are appropriately handled
• Manages outside counsel in their representation of ESPN on litigation and other legal service matters and analyzes the approach and effectiveness of such outside counsel
• May supervise, on a non-exclusive basis, one or more Paralegal and Legal Assistant colleagues, and may supervise individual projects of Counsel(s)
• Recommends and may implement Legal Department policy at the direction of General Counsel and Chief Counsel
• Operates within the context of defined corporate strategies
• Recommends and implements enhancements and improvements to established processes and workflows
• Translates corporate strategy into mid- and long-term goals
• Translates the analysis and evaluation of trends in ESPN's legal positioning and compliance into recommended corporate actions
• Conceives and recommends strategies and initiatives to minimize the legal risks of current operations and proposed actions
• Determines / recommends the language of template legal documents
• Analyzes the legal implications of proposed ventures and current operations and proposed actions of internal clients
• Analyzes new laws and legislative and regulatory developments for their potential impact on ESPN
• Guides or participates in the management of client organizations in the interpretation of complex information
• Contributes to ensuring the processing efficiencies at all levels of the organizations
• Ensures that internal clients have an adequate understanding of the law as it applies to their operations
• Interacts with internal client management

Required Qualifications & Skills:

• A minimum of 5 years relevant experience, including extensive drafting, in a transactional practice at a law firm, network/studio, sports league, agency, and/or other in-house legal department
• A strong understanding of contract negotiating (including, by way of example only, programming acquisition, licensing, and production agreements) and general commercial/transactional legal matters
• Familiarity with entertainment, broadcast/cable, internet, mobile, direct-to-consumer, social and other digital media, and/or sports businesses
• Excellent interpersonal, written/verbal communication, and analytical skills
• Excellent organizational, prioritization, and time management skills with the ability to work under tight deadlines and execute efficiently against multiple, high-priority and high-volume projects in a fast-paced environment
• Exceptional ability to respond to and interact with creative and business executives at all levels of seniority in a