Litigation & Employment Counsel

We're looking for a self-motivated, intellectually curious, and pragmatic Litigation & Employment Counsel to join our lean, high-impact Legal team. You should be comfortable using AI tools to drive efficiency in your legal work and eager to help build scalable processes as the company grows.

The Opportunity

This role starts with hands-on ownership of Instawork's individual employment and worker-classification claims — and it's designed to grow. As you build streamlined, scalable processes for that caseload, your scope expands into platform-level litigation, product counseling, and broader advice-and-counsel work across the business.

What You'll Do:

• Assess individual claims, directly engage with opposing counsel to negotiate resolutions, and identify trends across matters that should be addressed proactively
• Handle a wide variety of litigation and pre-litigation matters in state and federal courts and administrative forums, especially matters involving worker classification and employment-related claims, and help shape the team's overall litigation strategy as the caseload evolves
• Advise Instawork's Trust and Safety on investigations of employment-related claims, on-platform incidents, or policy violations
• Create and implement scalable processes for the legal team, including identifying opportunities for automation and process innovation
• Leverage AI and other technology tools to increase efficiency, improve work product, and support the team's continuous improvement goals
• Manage the relationship with relevant outside counsel as needed, including strategy, discovery, and work product
• Partner with senior members of the Legal team, the People team, and business leaders throughout the company to evaluate legal risks and provide subject matter expertise on a broad range of issues — including developing and delivering related training for HR and business teams
• Help prepare for and mitigate exposure that may create litigation risk in the future

Who You Are:

• JD and California bar admission in good standing (or barred in another state and qualified for and willing to maintain Registered In-House Counsel status with California State Bar)
• 5+ years of legal experience in a law firm and/or in-house
• Experience in the technology, gig economy, or marketplace industry strongly preferred
• Mature judgment, with the ability to distill complex, competing legal risks into clear, actionable guidance
• Tolerance for ambiguity and reprioritizing quickly in a fast-paced environment
• Team mentality and recognition that no task is too small
• Proven ability to manage a high volume of matters while maintaining quality and composure
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with a sense of perspective and humor

Nice to Have:

• Prior in-house counsel experience
• Experience with workers' compensation and insurance coverage matters
• Proficiency with AI-assisted legal research, drafting, or workflow tools
• Continuous learning mindset: you bring strong skills and experience to the table and are open to new approaches, tools, and ways of working

For CA-based applicants:

• The base salary for this position is $175,000 - $225,000
• This position is eligible for equity in the form of stock options
• This position is eligible for Instawork benefits, including:
• A variety of medical, dental, and vision plans with coverage beginning on the date of hire
• Flexible paid time off
• At least 8 paid company holidays annually
• Phone stipend
• Commuter stipend
• Supplemental pay on qualified leaves
• Employee health savings accounts (HSA) contribution
• Flexible spending plans
• 401K plan
• Perkspot - discount program through Lumity