Knowledge & Innovation Counsel

Build your big career with the firm that does Big Law, Better . McDermott Will & Schulte is a leading global law firm that brings together more than 1,700+ lawyers and 1,400 business professionals. We celebrate excellence, collaboration, and community and have been recognized as a top workplace by USA Today, Fortune, The American Lawyer, Vault and others. That includes supporting you both in and outside of the office. Wellness is integral to building a successful career and a rich life. That's why our benefits program supports your physical, emotional, mental, and financial health, with an emphasis on work-life balance. Position Summary: The Knowledge & Innovation Counsel (KIC) plays a key role in advancing the firm’s use of AI and legal technologies by combining knowledge management, solution development, user enablement, and hands-on support to drive meaningful adoption and measurable impact across practice groups. The KIC serves as the primary point of contact for one or more assigned practice groups on all things knowledge and AI, setting the strategic direction for AI and knowledge initiatives within those groups, curating practice expertise so that AI can put it to work, partnering with the firm’s Applied AI team to develop and customize practice solutions, guiding attorneys to the tools and technology solutions best suited to a given task across the lifecycle of a matter, supporting substantive and technical training that builds real comfort and fluency with AI, driving innovation and AI adoption within the assigned practice group(s), and representing the Innovation function to practice group leadership and other senior firm stakeholders. Regulatory (including AT and DP&C) Private Client & Tax Financial Institutions Serve as the primary point of contact and face of the Innovation function within one or more assigned practice groups, building strong working relationships with attorneys to understand their workflows, substantive needs, and knowledge gaps. Serve as a go-to resource for associates seeking guidance or the knowledge that expertise produces, providing access to relevant knowledge assets and practice solutions in the course of their day-to-day work. Collaborate with attorneys, clients, and cross-functional teams to identify high-value use cases and contribute to the design and deployment of AI and technology solutions that enhance legal service delivery. Guide attorneys on which AI tools and technology solutions are best suited to different stages and tasks across the lifecycle of a matter, drawing on familiarity with the firm’s general AI platforms (e.g., Contribute meaningfully to both substantive legal training and training on AI tools for the practice group, leading group and one-on-one sessions and proactively identifying skill and comfort gaps to build attorney confidence. Structure and curate the practice group’s precedents, playbooks, and institutional knowledge to support that work, keeping assets organized, well-maintained, and readily usable by attorneys. Monitor developments in AI and legal technology as well as the practice group’s substantive area, identifying opportunities to improve legal work product and client service. Create and distribute current awareness updates that connect legal, industry, and AI developments to what they mean in practice for the practice group. Gather and analyze usage data and attorney feedback to identify training and development opportunities, ensuring technology initiatives align with practice group priorities and firmwide objectives. Support broader innovation projects and collaborate with international offices as needed, including flexibility to accommodate work outside standard U.
Mentor and provide guidance to Knowledge & Innovation Attorneys or analysts supporting the practice group(s). Demonstrated interest in and working familiarity with the firm’s AI platforms (e.g., Harvey, Claude, ChatGPT, CoCounsel, Copilot) and how they apply to legal work in the practice area Experience working with other practice technology and knowledge platforms (e.g., Practical Law and Practical Guidance, litigation analytics tools, brief analyzers, deal closing tools, document automation tools, data extraction tools, etc.) Strong communication and facilitation skills, with experience delivering training and driving user adoption Experience or aptitude structuring and curating legal knowledge and work product so it can be effectively used, including by AI systems Strong organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple priorities using data to inform decisions Ability to work independently and exercise sound judgment while contributing to team-based innovation efforts Ability to handle and maintain confidential information Prior experience mentoring, training, or supervising junior attorneys or professional staff Successful candidates will be provided with outstanding career opportunities and