Commercial Litigator & Appellate Specialist

Trellis Group; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 105,000 - 325,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental, and vision insurance

Paid holidays and PTO

Flexible work arrangements

Job summary

Axiom is seeking a Commercial Litigator & Appellate Specialist to support a major tech client, developing litigation scenarios and evaluating AI-driven legal work. The role offers a hybrid arrangement with Mountain View or San Francisco locations and on-site presence at least 3 days per week.

Requirements include California Bar admission and 5+ years of active practice, BigLaw or boutique background, and strong research, drafting, and legal strategy skills.

Qualifications

• Active California Bar admission and 5+ years of active legal practice experience.
• BigLaw or litigation boutique experience is preferred.
• Experience with legal research, document drafting and review, and legal strategy.
• Familiarity with CourtListener, Caselaw Access Project, and Westlaw and/or LexisNexis.
• Juris Doctor degree and licensed to practice law.

Responsibilities

• Develop litigation scenarios, prompts, training data, and evaluation rubrics for legal AI models.
• Conduct iterative legal research, citation verification, discovery/deposition analysis, and opposing argument analysis.
• Own training and evaluation workflows from scenario development through quality checks, validation, and rating.
• Stress-test legal AI outputs and collaborate with researchers and vendors to improve model performance.
• Review model-generated legal analysis for accuracy, reasoning quality, and use of authorities.
• Identify challenging litigation issues and fact patterns to test and improve model capabilities.

Skills

Litigation experience

Appellate experience

BigLaw experience

Legal research

Education

Juris Doctor (JD)

Tools

Westlaw/LexisNexis

CourtListener

Caselaw Access Project

Job description

Join Our Team as a Commercial Litigator & Appellate Specialist at Axiom

Location: Hybrid – Mountain View or San Francisco, California | On-site at least 3 days per week

We are seeking a Commercial Litigator & Appellate Specialist to support our client, one of the largest tech companies in the world. In this role, you will apply your litigation expertise to help researchers develop and evaluate legal AI models by creating realistic legal scenarios, training data, and evaluation frameworks.

Responsibilities:

• Developing litigation scenarios, prompts, training data, and evaluation rubrics for legal AI models.
• Conducting iterative legal research, citation verification, discovery/deposition analysis, and opposing argument analysis.
• Owning training and evaluation workflows from scenario development through quality checks, validation, and rating.
• Stress-testing legal AI outputs and collaborating with researchers and vendors to improve model performance.
• Reviewing model-generated legal analysis for accuracy, reasoning quality, and appropriate use of supporting authority.
• Identifying challenging litigation issues and fact patterns that can be used to test and improve model capabilities.

Qualifications:

• Active California Bar admission and 5+ years of active legal practice experience, including BigLaw or litigation boutique experience.
• Strong complex commercial litigation experience; appellate experience is a strong plus.
• Experience with legal research and analysis, document drafting and review, and legal strategy.
• Familiarity with CourtListener, Caselaw Access Project, and Westlaw and/or LexisNexis.
• Juris Doctor degree or equivalent and licensed to practice law in an applicable jurisdiction.

Preferred Skills:

• A blend of BigLaw, mid-size/boutique, and/or in-house experience.
• Strong interest in legal AI and understanding what makes complex legal tasks challenging.

Compensation:

The estimated total compensation for full-time Axiom attorney roles is $104,500-325,000 per year and for non-attorney roles is $71,250-309,750 per year. Compensation decisions are based on various factors, including, but not limited to, experience, skills, certifications, location, and business needs. Employees may be eligible for additional benefits, including health, dental, and vision insurance; paid holidays and PTO; flexible work arrangements; and professional development opportunities and tools.

About Axiom:

For over 25 years, Axiom has pioneered the alternative legal services industry, now serving more than 1,500 legal departments globally with our unique blend of world-class legal talent and advanced AI tools, delivering innovative solutions ranging from that combine top-tier talent with cutting-edge technology. We tackle complex legal matters across 12 practice areas for clients ranging from Fortune 100 to SMBs, empowering our legal professionals to engage in meaningful work that advances their careers. Our Talent NPS score of +71% and our Client NPS score of +64% highlight our commitment to excellence (Reported scores were Axiom’s average for 2025 – the legal industry average NPS score is +35%). Join our forward-thinking community where you’ll keep your career dynamic and multi-faceted, be part of a company that values agility, collaboration, and excellence, and love both the law and your life.

Axiom is the global leader in high-caliber, on-demand legal talent. Covering North America, the UK, Europe, and APAC, we enable legal departments to drive efficiency and growth and meet the demands of today’s business landscape with best inclass alterative legal services.

Diversity is core to our values and we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. Axiom ensures equal employment opportunity in recruitment and employment, without discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, nationality, national or ethnic origin, religious creed or belief, political opinion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender identity status, pregnancy or maternity, age, disability, alienage or citizenship status, marital (or civil or other partnership recognized by law) status, genetic predisposition or carrier status, sexual orientation, military service, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Axiom prohibits and will not tolerate any such discrimination or harassment.

Upon request and consistent with applicable laws, Axiom will provide reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities who require accommodations to participate in each stage of the recruitment process. To request an accommodation, please contact [e-mail].

Axiom respects your privacy. For an explanation of the kind of information we collect about you and how it is used, our full data privacy notice is available here.

Employment with Axiom may be contingent upon successful completion of a background check, providing proof of identity, and possessing the necessary legal authorization to work. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, NY Fair Chance Act, and Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.