Employment Counsel (US)

About Us Blackletter is reinventing legal services from first principles. We pair frontier automation with top-tier lawyers. This allows our firm to deliver elite legal services with fast turnaround, predictable pricing, and a transformed experience for our clients and for the lawyers doing the work. Early traction has been strong. We are serving a growing roster of clients across venture financing, commercial, corporate, and employment, and we are backed by leading venture investors. Our founding team brings experience from frontier AI labs, leading law firms, and some of the top law schools in North America. The most impactful firm in the world ten years from now will not be one founded in the 1900s, or the 1800s. It was founded in 2026. We are a small team making our earliest hires, with a significant opportunity to shape not only our company, but the entire legal profession. The Role You will work directly with emerging companies to advise on the full range of employment matters that arise as they hire, scale, and restructure their teams. But this is not a traditional counsel role. You will work closely with the founders and technical team to help shape how the firm operates, including the tools, workflows, and standards that make legal work faster and more consistent. Your expertise does not just serve clients. It educates our platform, making it faster and smarter for the next matter. What You Will Do Draft, review, and advise on employment agreements, offer letters, contractor and consulting arrangements, and separation agreements Counsel founders on hiring, worker classification (employee vs. independent contractor, exempt vs. non-exempt), wage and hour compliance, and the employment terms that accompany equity grants Draft and maintain workplace policies and employee handbooks across multiple states as clients grow Guide clients through terminations, reductions in force, severance, and releases, including age-related waiver requirements and managing exposure Advise on restrictive covenants, confidentiality, and IP assignment, accounting for variation in state enforceability Support clients on workplace investigations, discrimination and harassment issues, and responses to EEOC, Department of Labor, and state agency charges Identify patterns across matters and translate them into better templates, clauses, and playbooks Provide input on the design of the AI-powered workflows to best serve our clients Help define what excellent legal delivery looks like, from client communication standards to matter management processes Who We Are Looking For Experience : 4-10 years at a leading law firm or in-house, with significant experience advising on US employment matters. Licensed to practice in a US jurisdiction. Judgment : Strong commercial instincts and the ability to give clear, practical advice in situations that are often time-sensitive and high-stakes. Orientation : You notice when the same issue comes up repeatedly and look for a way to handle it better the next time. You are frustrated by how long routine legal work takes and are open to changing how it gets done. Compensation and Structure Competitive salary plus equity. Compensation is commensurate with experience. This role is fully remote within the United States. Why Us You will spend more of your time on negotiating, advising, and making judgment calls, and less on work that should already be automated. As one of our first legal hires, you will have a direct hand in shaping the future practice of law. If some of the above doesn’t line up perfectly with your experience, we still encourage you to apply! We value and celebrate diversity and strive to create an inclusive work environment for all. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and are committed to providing equal opportunities. Should you require any accommodations during the recruitment process, please reach out to [email protected] .