Legal Counsel - Commercial

Clio; Vancouver; Hybrid; CAD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work environment

20 days off per year

Counseling benefit (CAD 2,000)

Job summary

Clio is hiring a Legal Counsel to join our AI-first legal team. You will support the Sales function across SMB, Enterprise, and Public Sector, negotiating and closing deals at pace while handling a broad range of business questions.

You’ll influence privacy, IP, and technology law in an evolving AI landscape and help shape scalable legal operations. The role emphasizes rapid adaptation, collaboration with cross-functional teams, and building a consistent, scalable approach to a growing legal

Qualifications

• Called to the bar in a Canadian province or territory, in good standing.
• 3–5 years as a commercial or technology lawyer with SaaS, NDAs, privacy, and partnerships.
• Comfortable with fast pace and changing scope; strong judgement under uncertainty.
• Curious about AI and legal tech; actively using tools in practice.

Responsibilities

• Sales Agreements: own full lifecycle from NDAs to closing, coordinating with Compliance and Security.
• Public Sector Contracting: support SLED deals and government procurement frameworks.
• Referral & Partnership Agreements: advise on partnerships and revenue agreements.
• Technology & IP: advise on licensing, IP, and technology law in AI context.
• Privacy: support DPIAs, data breach response, and regulatory guidance across jurisdictions.
• Legal Ops: contribute to process improvements and AI tool usage.

Skills

Bar admission Canada

Commercial/Tech law

Negotiation skills

AI in legal tech

Strong communicator

Education

Law degree (LL.B./J.D.)

Job description

Clio is the global leader in legal AI technology, empowering legal professionals and law firms of every size to work smarter, faster, and more securely.

Clio is the global leader in legal AI technology, empowering legal professionals and law firms of every size to work smarter, faster, and more securely.

We are transforming the legal experience for all by bettering the lives of legal professionals while increasing access to justice.

Summary:

Clio's legal team punches above its weight, and we're looking for someone who wants to do the same. If you're a sharp commercial lawyer who moves fast, adapts, and gets genuinely excited about what AI can do for legal practice, not just in theory, but in how you work every single day, read on.

We're an AI-first company. That means we build AI products that are changing how legal professionals work, and we run our own legal function the same way: AI isn't a nice-to-have here, it's how we operate. We expect every member of the team to embrace it, experiment with it, and push what's possible with it.

We're hiring a Legal Counsel to be a core part of a high-impact team supporting the commercial business. The bulk of your time will be spent supporting our Sales team: negotiating and closing across SMB, Enterprise, and Public Sector. You'll also be pulled into a wide range of business questions, expected to context-switch without losing altitude, and trusted to figure out what good looks like in situations that don't always come with a playbook. The one constant: consistency in how we work is what makes scale possible, and you'll be a large part of building that.

What you'll be doing

• Sales Agreements (your bread and butter): You own the full lifecycle: NDAs, drafting, redlining, negotiating and closing, at pace. You develop real relationships with Compliance, Security, Channel Partnerships, and other internal stakeholders to move deals forward. You know where to push back and you do so without bringing things up to a screeching halt.
• Public Sector Contracting (a growing area): We're working with SLED (State, Local, Education) and municipal customers, and this role supports those deals. That means navigating government procurement frameworks, public sector-specific terms, and partnering with sales to move transactions forward compliantly and efficiently.
• Referral & Partnership Agreements: You'll work closely with our business development team, providing legal advice that supports partnership strategy and getting referral and revenue partnership agreements structured and closed efficiently.
• Technology & IP: You'll advise on IP, licensing, trademarks, and technology law as they arise, and stay ahead of how the landscape is evolving — particularly at the intersection of AI and legal.
• Privacy: You'll work with and in support of our privacy compliance program: policies, data breach response, DPIAs, and regulatory guidance, working with our EMEA and UK colleagues where crossing across jurisdictions.
• Legal Ops (yes, this matters here): We take legal operations seriously, and we invest in it. You'll contribute to process improvement, help shape how we use AI and our tools. We're looking for someone with a keen eye to process improvement, and who's energized by the opportunity to actively participate in building a legal function that gets smarter and faster over time.

What we're looking for

• Called to the bar in a Canadian province or territory, in good standing
• 3 - 5 years as a commercial or technology lawyer, with real depth in SaaS agreements, NDAs, privacy law, and partnerships
• Genuinely enjoys the deal side of legal work — you like negotiating, you're good at it, and you don't treat every contract as a mere exercise in risk elimination
• Comfortable with rapid pace and variable scope: you adapt quickly, stay organized under pressure. You show good judgement in all your work, do not need perfect information to make a good call, but do not hesitate to pause and elevate when appropriate
• Deeply curious about AI and legal tech, and already using these tools in your practice (or itching to)
• Strong communicator who can translate legal risk clearly for non-lawyers of all functions and levels
• A team player in the truest sense. We're a genuinely cohesive team, and attitude counts

Bonus points if you have:

• Experience with public sector or SLED transactions government procurement processes

Why this role

You’ll work on real, complex sales from day one, with autonomy and a team that has your back. Part of your job is making your own job easier. We want you thinking about workflow improvements, within the legal team and across the broader systems and processes you touch. If you see a better way, we want to hear it. And you’ll be at a company that’s genuinely changing how legal professionals work. As a lawyer, it’s a pretty interesting place to be.

This is a new role.

What you will find here:

Compensation is one of the main components of Clio’s Total Rewards Program. We have developed a series of programs and processes to ensure we are creating fair and competitive pay practices that form the foundation of our human and high-performing culture.

Some highlights of our Total Rewards program include:

• Competitive, equitable salary with top-tier health benefits, dental, and vision insurance
• Hybrid work environment, with expectation for local Clions (Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Dublin, London, New York City and Sydney) to be in office min. twice per week.
• Flexible time off policy, with an encouraged 20 days off per year.
• $2000 annual counseling benefit
• RRSP matching and RESP contribution
• Clioversary recognition program with special acknowledgement at 3, 5, 7, and 10 years

The expected salary range for this role is $140,300 to $189,800 CAD. Initial placement within the range is informed by geographic region, experience, and skillset, with room to progress as impact and tenure grow. Final offer amounts will vary based on candidate profile.

Diversity, Inclusion, Belonging and Equity (DIBE) & Accessibility

Our team shows up as their authentic selves, and are united by our mission. We are dedicated to diversity, equity and inclusion . We pride ourselves in building and fostering an environment where our teams feel included, valued, and enabled to do the best work of their careers, wherever they choose to log in from. We believe that different perspectives, skills, backgrounds, and experiences result in higher-performing teams and better innovation. We are committed to equal employment and we encourage candidates from all backgrounds to apply.

Clio provides accessibility accommodations during the recruitment process. Should you require any accommodation, please let us know and we will work with you to meet your needs.

Learn more about our culture at clio.com/careers

We're a Human and High Performing AI company, meaning we use artificial intelligence to improve all of our operations. In recruitment, AI helps us streamline the process for greater efficiency. However, we've built our systems to ensure that a human always reviews AI-generated output, and we never make automated hiring decisions.

Disclaimer: We only communicate with candidates through official @clio.com email addresses.