Emerging Companies & Venture Capital Attorney Associate

You came up doing ECVC work because you wanted to build something — to be the lawyer founders actually call, not the one who shows up after the term sheet is signed to clean up the docs.

Then you landed at a firm where the venture practice is a feeder for the M&A group. You spend your days papering Series Seeds and convertible notes for companies you'll never hear from again, because the moment they hit a real growth round or a strategic exit, the deal gets handed to a corporate partner who doesn't know the founder, doesn't know the cap table, and doesn't care that you've been the de facto outside GC for two years.

You're doing the relationship work without getting any of the relationship credit.

Chicago has a venture ecosystem that's quietly become one of the strongest outside the coasts — healthtech, fintech, B2B SaaS, climate, logistics. The capital is flowing, the exits are happening, and the founders here want lawyers who actually live in this market, not someone parachuting in from Palo Alto for the closing dinner.

A nationally recognized AmLaw firm with a deep emerging companies practice is hiring a mid-level ECVC associate in Chicago. This is a seat where you own the client relationship from formation through exit — not one where you get rotated off the moment the deal gets interesting.

The work includes:

• Advising emerging companies from formation through Series A, B, C, and beyond — term sheets, NVCA financing docs, convertible notes, SAFEs
• Representing venture capital funds and strategic investors on the buy side of financings
• Outside general counsel work for early- and late-stage private companies — governance, equity, commercial contracts, employment
• M&A, joint ventures, and strategic transactions when portfolio companies hit liquidity events
• Direct founder, GC, and investor contact at every stage

What you bring:

• 3-5 years of ECVC experience at a major law firm (strong 3rd years and rising 6th years should reach out too)
• Comfort drafting and negotiating NVCA and related financing documents independently
• Experience playing outside GC to private company clients
• Illinois bar or ability to obtain

What you get:

• A practice where you keep the client through the lifecycle, not just the formation phase
• A Chicago platform with national reach — local relationships, institutional firm resources
• Cravath scale ($260K-$365K depending on class year) plus discretionary bonus

Apply here directly or send your resume confidentially to srushing@laterallink.com