Vice President and Associate General Counsel - Litigation

The Vice President, Litigation, reporting to the Senior Vice President/Chief Litigation Counsel (SVP), serves as a senior litigation leader responsible for managing complex litigation matters and leading critical litigation functions within FINRA's OGC Litigation Office. The Vice President, Litigation provides expert legal counsel, directs litigation matters, and ensures effective execution of the department's litigation strategy and objectives. This role requires exceptional judgment, litigation expertise, and the ability to provide sound counsel to senior leaders on matters of significant importance to the organization. The Vice President, Litigation works closely with the SVP to ensure effective representation of FINRA in litigation and provides pre-litigation counseling to mitigate risk, while working closely with the SVP to manage the work of the OGC Litigation group.

Essential Job Functions:

Leadership and Management

• Act on behalf of the SVP when needed.
• Provide strategic counsel and legal advice regarding litigation matters to the Chief Legal Officer, CEO, and other senior leaders.
• Mentor and develop attorneys and staff members to achieve desired outcomes.
• Foster excellence in legal practice through mentorship, performance feedback, and professional development.
• Drive operational effectiveness through process improvements and quality assurance.
• Demonstrate FINRA’s values.
• Collaborate both in-person and virtually, in furtherance of FINRA’s mission of investor protection and market integrity.

Litigation Management

• Provide leadership of OGC Litigation office.
• Lead significant litigation matters and represent FINRA directly in complex judicial proceedings.
• Provide strategic pre-litigation counseling to FINRA management.
• Oversee and manage outside counsel on major litigation matters, ensuring cost-effectiveness and strategic alignment.
• Review and approve legal pleadings filed on behalf of FINRA in external litigation matters prepared by staff attorneys or outside counsel.
• Oversee responses to subpoenas and information requests from external parties.
• Monitor outside counsel expenditures and provide recommendations to optimize litigation budget and resource allocation.
• Prepare litigation reports for FINRA’s Board of Governors.
• Report claims and litigation developments to internal and external parties as needed.
• Lead settlement negotiations for matters with significant financial or reputational implications.
• Monitor the external legal environment to identify trends, regulatory developments, and emerging litigation risks that may impact the organization.

Education/Experience Requirements:

• A law degree and appropriately licensed to practice law in all applicable jurisdictions based on the relevant licensing requirements.

• Minimum of ten years of high-quality practice experience as a litigation attorney, with substantial experience in complex litigation.

• Strong leadership capabilities with experience managing legal teams and multiple concurrent priorities.

• Substantial depth and scope of knowledge with respect to securities regulation, litigation, and the laws and procedural rules of the federal and state courts.

• Knowledge of law regarding self-regulatory organizations preferred.

• Substantial experience managing outside counsel and significant litigation budgets.

• Expert-level written and oral communication skills, including ability to present complex legal issues to senior management and department leadership.

• Experience providing strategic counsel and legal advice to senior executives.

• Advanced analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills with strong attention to detail.

• Demonstrated sound judgment in sensitive situations requiring discretion and independent decision-making.

Working Conditions:

• Hybrid work environment, with defined in-person presence requirements.

• Occasional travel is required.

• Must be able to work outside of normal business hours frequently, as needed.

• Flexibility to respond to urgent matters may be required.

For work that is performed in CO, FL, TX, IL, PA, MA, MD, VA, Washington, DC, NY and NJ, please refer to the chart below for the salary range for the corresponding location. FINRA complies with all state and local pay transparency laws and regulations requiring the disclosure of salary ranges for the position. In addition to location, actual compensation is based on various factors, including but not limited to, the candidate’s skill set, level of experience, education, and market considerations. 

CO/FL/TX: Minimum Salary $192,800, Maximum Salary $379,700

IL/PA: Minimum Salary $192,800, Maximum Salary $379,700

MA/MD/VA/Washington, DC: Minimum Salary $192,800, Maximum Salary $379,700

NY/NJ: Minimum Salary $192,800, Maximum Salary $379,700

#LI-Hybrid

To be considered for this position, please submit an application. Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.

The information provided above has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work of the position. It is not a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities and qualifications required.

Please note: If the “Apply Now” button on a job board posting does not take you directly to the FINRA Careers site, enter www.finra.org/careers into your browser to reach our site directly.

Employees may be eligible for a discretionary bonus in addition to base pay. Non-exempt employees are also eligible for overtime pay in accordance with federal, state, or local law. As part of its dedication to employee wellness, FINRA provides comprehensive health, dental and vision insurance. Additional insurance includes basic life, accidental death and dismemberment, supplemental life, spouse/domestic partner and dependent life, and spouse/domestic partner and dependent accidental death and dismemberment, short- and long-term disability, long-term care, business travel accident, disability and legal. FINRA offers immediate participation and vesting in a 401(k) plan with company match and eligibility for participation in an additional FINRA-funded retirement contribution, tuition reimbursement, commuter benefits, and other benefits that support employee wellness, such as adoption assistance, backup family care, surrogacy benefits, employee assistance, and wellness programs.

Time Off and Paid Leave*

FINRA encourages its employees to focus on their health and wellness in many ways, including through a generous time-off program of 15 days of paid time off, 5 personal days and 9 sick days, unless otherwise required by law (all pro-rated in the first year). Additionally, we are proud to support our communities by providing two volunteer service days (based on full-time schedule). Other paid leave includes military leave, jury duty leave, bereavement leave, voting and election official leave for federal, state or local primary and general elections, care of a family member leave (available after 90 days of employment); and childbirth and parental leave (available after 90 days of employment). Full-time employees receive nine paid holidays.

*Based on full-time schedule

Important Information

FINRA’s Code of Conduct imposes restrictions on employees’ investments and requires financial disclosures that are uniquely related to our role as a securities regulator. FINRA employees are required to disclose to FINRA all brokerage accounts that they maintain, and those in which they control trading or have a financial interest (including any trust account of which they are a trustee or beneficiary and all accounts of a spouse, domestic partner or minor child who lives with the employee) and to authorize their broker-dealers to provide FINRA with duplicate statements for all of those accounts. All of those accounts are subject to the Code’s investment and securities account restrictions, and new employees must comply with those investment restrictions—including disposing of any security issued by a company on FINRA’s Prohibited Company List or obtaining a written waiver from their Executive Vice President—by the date they begin employment with FINRA. Employees may only maintain securities accounts that must be disclosed to FINRA at one or more securities firms that provide an electronic feed (e-feed) of data to FINRA, and must move securities accounts from other securities firms to a firm that provides an e-feed within three months of beginning employment.

You can read more about these restrictions here.

As standard practice, employees must also execute FINRA’s Employee Confidentiality and Invention Assignment Agreement without q