About Aspiriant:

Aspiriant is a leading independent wealth management firm. They provide a full suite of sophisticated wealth planning, implementation, and management services along with discretionary management of clients’ investment portfolios. Their service offerings for individual families include financial planning and investment management, plus comprehensive wealth management and family office services. They also advise on trusts, estates, private foundations, and business entities, and provides investment management services to institutions. Additionally, they identify registered investment advisors that operate in a similar manner in terms of suite of services and operating philosophy for purposes of merging clients, people and operations. They recognize, respect and value the contributions of each employee, and they strive to cultivate a work environment that strikes a balance between their professional and personal lives.

The Role:

The General Counsel is a critical role that oversees and manages the provision of all legal services to the firm, providing strategic guidance, consultation, and support on a comprehensive range of legal and associated issues involved in carrying out Aspiriant’s mission. The role partners directly with the CEO, CFO, CPO, and other key firm leadership to ensure appropriate measures are taken to manage legal risks and opportunities for the firm.

Responsibilities:

• Provides counsel and guidance to the firm on all legal matters relevant to an employee-owned private organization, including employment law, provision of financial advisory services, issuance of securities, LLC and S Corp operating governance, contracts, tax matters, insurance matters, and client matters.
• Advises Executives, senior management, and Board of Directors on various matters such as legal rights, and new and existing laws.
• Reviews, researches, interprets, and prepares both written and oral opinions on a wide variety of legal topics.
• Anticipates and identifies legal issues and develops strategies and solutions, often in situations of financial risk or significance.
• Drafts, reviews, and approves policies and procedures, regulations, bylaws, employment and partnership governing documents, contracts, leases, and other legal documents.
• Examines and creates key firm agreements, such as employment, client engagement, and vendor agreements.
• Coordinates all legal aspects involving equity transactions among partners Manages and validates all partnership voting activity Provides direct support to the Board of Directors and various Committees Selects and interacts with outside counsel on a regular basis regarding complex issues.
• Collaborates with insurance carriers as required, to obtain legal opinions or to handle claims and litigation.
• Possesses knowledge of organization’s operations and legal documents. Preserves all corporate records.
• Promulgates and creates directives of corporate acts and decisions.
• Handles statutory filings, such as entity registrations, licenses, and intellectual property.

Requirements:

• J.D. and admitted and good standing to a state bar.
• 10+ years of experience practicing at a reputable law firm and as an in-house counsel at a financial services industry.
• Subject matter expertise in executing M&A matters and in the 1940 Investment Company Act and SEC rules regarding Registered Investment Advisors. Experience with an employee ownership model preferred.
• Ability to develop and implement legal strategies and solutions and provide sound legal advice and counsel to management on a wide range of legal and policy issues.
• Knowledge of the range of applicable laws and regulations which impact firm policy and operations, and the principles and procedures of legal research. Knowledge of legal documentation procedures and requirements.
• Ability to analyze and interpret issues and to prepare legal opinions.
• Ability to communicate and interact with all levels of the firm including the Executive Team and Board of Directors.
• Experience with corporate governance issues, negotiating skills, and corporate secretarial duties.
• Ability to succeed in and foster a cooperative work environment.
• An operational mindset and willingness to get in the weeds, gaining exposure to many parts of the business.

You are:

• Leading By Example: Demonstrating and fostering a sense of urgency, strong commitment, demonstrated accountability, and sound decision making to achieve goals.
• Inspirational: Encouraging and inspiring colleagues and subordinates to stretch beyond what they thought they could accomplish.
• Possessing Business Acumen: Knowledge of the competitive landscape, current and emerging practices within the human resources function, as well as for the business overall.
• Professional: Display a level of professionalism that inspires confidence in team members.
• Driving Vision and Purpose: Embrace and communicate Aspiriant’s vision, its goals and its business needs. Inspire and motivate others to achieve goals. Lives by Aspiriant’s core values.
• Adept at Dealing with Change: Can effectively cope with change; adaptable and inclined toward change.
• Skilled in Conflict Management: Make conflicts opportunities for improvement; strive for win/win resolutions.

Benefits:

• Partnership Opportunities
• Collaborative environment
• 401(k) match
• Individual and cash profit sharing bonuses
• Flexible/hybrid work environment

Compensation:

Kerwin and Aspiriant are committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. The salary range for this position in the U.S. is $270,000 - $320,000 per year + equity + benefits. A candidate’s salary is determined by various factors including, but not limited to, relevant work experience, skills, certifications and location.

Core Values:

Aspiriant’s core values guide them to seek out a broad range of perspectives, talent, and backgrounds to achieve our mission; one where all staff contribute to and share our success. Aspiriant is committed to diversity, and as an equal opportunity employer, they are committed to employment practices that ensure that employees and applicants for employment are provided with equal opportunities without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, age, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any other factor that is not related to the position. Aspiriant is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is in compliance with San Francisco’s “Fair Chance Ordinance” (FCO). https://aspiriant.com/

Aspiriant is a Registered Investment Adviser, subject to SEC regulation, and requires all employees (and at times, family members) to disclose securities holding and transactions. There are also restrictions on trading certain securities. Candidates are encouraged to request further information regarding these policies.

Aspiriant has exclusively engaged Kerwin Associates to conduct this search.  Any resumes sent directly to Aspiriant will be forwarded to Kerwin Associates.  If you are interested in speaking about or applying for this role, please contact Maddie Payne Murray (maddie@kerwin.com) or Krithi Byadgi (krithi@kerwin.com) at Kerwin Associates.