Corporate Counsel – Transaction Attorney

Townsend Corporation; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 130,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Townsend Company LLC in Indianapolis, IN, is seeking a Corporate Counsel - Transactional Attorney to lead high-impact M&A and commercial contracting. You will work with business leaders to across the acquisition lifecycle from LOI to integration, negotiating complex agreements and managing post-closing obligations.

You'll serve as a practical legal partner, advising Operations, HR, Finance, and Safety, while maintaining multi-entity governance and handling outside counsel with purpose.

Qualifications

• J.D. from an accredited law school and in good standing.
• 7+ years of substantive transactional experience.
• Experience in utility/line services or related industries.
• Strong drafting and negotiation of commercial agreements.

Responsibilities

• Support acquisitions from LOI through closing and integration, including asset and stock transactions.
• Coordinate due diligence focusing on employment, contracts, licensing and liability exposure.
• Draft and negotiate purchase agreements, disclosure schedules and transition services agreements.
• Partner with HR, Finance, Safety, and Operations to identify integration issues before closing.
• Manage post-closing obligations, escrows, earnouts, and indemnification claims.

Skills

M&A experience

Commercial contracting

Strategic partnership

Project leadership

Education

J.D. from an accredited law school

Job description

Position:Corporate Counsel - Transaction Attorney

Location: Indianapolis, IN

Job Id:1444

# of Openings:1

Corporate Counsel - Transactional Attorney

Townsend Company LLC

Help Shape the Legal Foundation of a Growing, Multi-State Organization

This is more than a traditional transactional counsel role. As Corporate Counsel - Transactional at Townsend, you'll have meaningful ownership across acquisitions, commercial contracting, and the day-to-day legal matters that support a complex,

growing field-services organization.

You'll work directly with business and operational leaders, support acquisitions from letter of intent through integration, negotiate agreements with sophisticated customers and partners, and help build consistent legal practices as Townsend continues to grow.

For an attorney who enjoys being close to the business, solving practical problems, and seeing transactions through from strategy to execution, this role offers the opportunity to make a visible impact across the organization.

Who We Are

The Townsend Company and its subsidiaries provide utility vegetation management, right-of-way maintenance, roadside and highway services, and storm restoration across multiple states. We employ approximately 4,000 people, with the large majority working in field-based, safety-sensitive roles across a broad geographic footprint. Our teams support investor-owned utilities, municipalities, cooperatives, and state agencies through master service agreements, project work, and emergency response.

Our continued growth and active acquisition strategy are expanding the organization - and creating an opportunity for legal counsel to play an important role in how we transact, integrate, manage risk, and support the business going forward.

What You'll Do

Drive M&A From Diligence Through Integration

• Support acquisitions from letter of intent through closing and integration, including asset and stock transactions.
• Coordinate legal due diligence, with particular attention to employment, contract, licensing, environmental, and successor liability exposure.
• Draft and negotiate purchase agreements, disclosure schedules, transition services agreements, and ancillary documents.
• Partner with HR, Finance, Safety, and Operations to identify integration issues before closing rather than after.
• Manage post-closing obligations, escrows, earnouts, and indemnification claims.

Own Commercial Contracting

• Own the contract lifecycle - drafting, reviewing, negotiating, and administering the agreements the business runs on.
• Negotiate master service agreements and work orders with utility, municipal, cooperative, and government customers, including indemnity, insurance, and limitation-of-liability terms.
• Handle subcontractor agreements, equipment leases, fleet and vendor contracts, purchase terms, NDAs, and site access agreements.
• Advise on bid and proposal terms, bonding, prevailing wage and Davis-Bacon requirements, and public procurement conditions.

Be a Practical Legal Partner to the Business

• Serve as day-to-day counsel to Operations, HR, Safety, and Finance on legal questions that arise in a distributed field-services business.
• Advise on employment matters in coordination with HR, including wage and hour, classification, leave, restrictive covenants, and separations, and know when to engage specialist counsel.
• Support risk and claims management, including insurance coverage, incident response, and early-stage disputes.
• Advise on regulatory matters affecting field operations, including DOT, OSHA, environmental, and state licensing requirements.
• Maintain corporate governance and entity records across a multi-entity structure, including qualifications, registrations, and annual filings.

Manage Outside Counsel With Purpose

• Select, engage, and manage outside firms across corporate, labor and employment, litigation, environmental, and specialty matters.
• Coordinate outside counsel across transactions and other legal matters by establishing clear scopes, priorities, and timelines.
• Monitor legal budgets, review invoices, and evaluate responsiveness and work quality to ensure effective use of external expertise.

What You'll Bring

• J.D. from an accredited law school and active good standing in at least one U.S. jurisdiction.
• 7+ years of legal practice with substantive transactional experience.
• Experience at a law firm or in-house within utility and line services, vegetation management, telecommunications and energy infrastructure, electrical and specialty trade contracting, environmental and waste services, transportation and logistics, facilities services, heavy or civil construction, or a comparable industry.
• Demonstrated M&A experience, including diligence and drafting on completed transactions.
• Strong commercial contracting experience, particularly negotiating customer-side agreements with sophisticated counterparties.
• Sound judgment and the ability to translate complex legal issues into clear, timely, business-minded guidance.
• Comfort working without a large support structure, setting priorities independently, and making decisions with incomplete information.

Even Better If You Have

• Experience in utility services, vegetation management, infrastructure, construction, environmental, transportation, or another field-services industry.
• Exposure to a multi-state hourly workforce and the wage, hour, licensing, and tax complexity that comes with it.
• Experience with collective bargaining agreements or union environments.
• Prevailing wage, Davis-Bacon, or public contracting experience.
• Experience supporting integrations after closing.
• Experience with private equity or institutional ownership and the reporting rhythms that come with it.

Why This Role Stands Out

You'll be close to the decisions that move the business forward. Townsend's active acquisition strategy means this role can touch transactions from early diligence through post-closing integration, while also owning the commercial agreements and legal questions that shape day-to-day operations.

Rather than operating in a narrow legal lane, you'll partner across functions, work directly with business leaders, and help create greater consistency across an expanding multi-entity organization. It's an opportunity to combine strong transactional skills with practical business judgment and see the impact of your work firsthand.

Build What's Next

Townsend is continuing to grow, and the legal function has an important role in supporting that growth thoughtfully and practically.