The Northwestern Mutual Law Department is seeking an experienced and agile transactional or investment attorney, who ideally has significant M&A or private equity experience, to join a diverse, challenging, and fast-paced practice advising the Company on a wide range of issues as the Company works to transform how clients experience financial security.
What’s the role:
This attorney will be a member of the Department’s Private Securities Investments Team and will support the Company’s transactional initiatives and its $230+ billion investment portfolio. Specifically, this attorney will provide legal advice on transactional matters, including M&A and joint ventures. This attorney will also provide advice relating to the Company’s institutional investment portfolio. As a member of the team, and working collaboratively with other Department members, this attorney’s responsibilities will include some or all of the following:
- Advising the Company’s leaders and investment professionals on Company initiatives including M&A, capital markets transactions, investment fund formations, venture capital investments, joint ventures, management of third-party capital and other transactional matters;
- Being a trusted advisor helping investment professionals review and negotiate complex, multi-million dollar domestic and foreign investments including First Lien, Second Lien, Senior Unsecured, Unitranche, Mezzanine, HoldCo PIK, Preferred Equity, Common Equity, Structured and Project Finance, Limited Partnerships and/or Syndicated Bank Loans; and
- Providing legal support for a wide range of asset management activities for the Company’s investment portfolio including amendments and waivers, restructurings, bankruptcies, realizations, and regulatory matters.
Bring Your Best! What this role needs:
- Candidates must have five or more years of legal experience in one or more of the following areas: private equity, M&A, corporate finance, commercial lending, structured finance, private placements, securities offerings, fund formation, private fund investment or Advisers Act. M&A or private equity experience is preferred and bankruptcy and restructuring experience would be a plus.
- To qualify, this candidate must be able to analyze a variety of legal issues, synthesize complex information, and provide solution-oriented legal advice to business professionals throughout the enterprise.
- A candidate must have an exemplary academic record and a Juris Doctorate degree; note that a license to practice law in the State of Wisconsin or a commitment to become licensed within the first year of employment is required.
Desired personal attributes:
- The scope of this role may change over time to respond to business needs. The successful candidate will be flexible and adaptable in terms of general skill sets & aspirations.
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, a highly analytical and curious mind, creativity, comfort dealing with ambiguity, integrity, high ethical standards, and a positive demeanor.
- Demonstrated ability to collaborate and contribute effectively in a team environment and to manage a multijurisdictional practice.
- Ability to work autonomously as well and to deal with multiple tasks at the same time.
- A keen problem-solving approach using sound legal reasoning and practical business judgment to identify and address risks and achieve results that balance benefits for all stakeholders of the enterprise.
Information About Northwestern Mutual and the Law Department:
Of the Northwestern Mutual Law Department’s approximately 130 people, roughly 80 are lawyers, having come to Northwestern Mutual from all around the country after having graduated from a multitude of law schools and undergraduate institutions and having practiced in a wide variety of settings. The balance of the Department consists of highly-skilled paralegals and research and administrative professionals who support significant aspects of the Department’s operations. Our Law Department (in every aspect of its operation, including the Law Department Leadership Team, the Department’s practicing lawyers, and the Department’s professional administrative staff) is inclusive and diverse, comprising a rich mixture of men and women who come from a wide variety of ethnic and religious backgrounds and includes people of color and those who are openly gay or lesbian.
The Northwestern Mutual Law Department provides the vast majority of legal services in nearly all disciplines directly to the Company, with only select utilization of outside counsel. There are nine main practice teams within the Law Department: Insurance Products and Operations; Digital Products and Operations; Investment Products and Advisory Services; Corporate; Distribution; Litigation; Enterprise Governance; Private Securities Investments; and Real Estate Investments. Lawyers have the opportunity to develop a thorough understanding of the Company’s business needs and are fully engaged in the execution of the Company’s business strategy. This allows members of the Law Department to provide the most timely and effective counsel in an efficient manner and leads to greater career satisfaction for our attorneys, paralegals, and professional administrative staff.
