Counsel

Public; New York (NY); On-site; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental, and vision plans

Generous PTO and parental leave

401(k) with company match

Career growth and professional dev

Job summary

Public is the world’s first agentic brokerage combining AI-powered tools with multi-asset investing. This role is a generalist in the Legal team focusing on litigation, regulatory matters, compliance, privacy, and AI governance, with exposure to a regulated financial services environment.

The attorney will work from the New York City office, Monday through Thursday, handling matters across broker-dealer, investment adviser, and related regulatory regimes.

Qualifications

• J.D. from ABA-approved law school is required.
• Admission to at least one U.S. bar in good standing.
• 2–5 years of legal experience, ideally at top law firm and then in-house at tech/finserv.
• Experience with a broad range of legal matters and cross-functional collaboration.
• Ability to balance legal/compliance with business objectives.
• Comfort with ambiguity and rapid issue resolution.
• Experience using AI tools to enhance legal processes.

Responsibilities

• Manage litigation, investigations, and regulatory examinations from start to finish.
• Regulatory oversight for SEC/FINRA/CFTC/NFA obligations and AML filings.
• Develop and govern AI governance programs and privacy initiatives.
• Partner with Compliance, Product, Engineering, and Marketing to navigate regulations.
• Draft, review, and negotiate a wide range of commercial agreements.
• Build playbooks and improve legal systems using AI to increase efficiency.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Cross-functional collaboration

Analytical thinking

Adaptability

Education

J.D. from ABA-approved law school

U.S. bar admission

Tools

Project management tools

Compliance tools

Job description

Public is the world’s first agentic brokerage, combining a comprehensive multi-asset investing experience with all the advantages of AI Agents.

Members can invest in stocks, options, bonds, crypto, and event contracts, and manage a variety of accounts including their personal brokerage, margin, retirement accounts, and business accounts - all in the same place.

Since 2019, Public has raised $400 million. Investors include Accel, Tiger Global, Will Smith's Dreamers VC, The Chainsmokers' Mantis VC, as well as renowned figures in business and culture, like Maria Sharapova, Tony Hawk, and NYU Stern professor Scott Galloway.

About the role

We’re looking for a sharp, enthusiastic attorney to join our Legal team. This is a generalist role with an emphasis on litigation, regulatory matters, compliance, privacy, and product counseling. You will also help expand our AI governance program.

Public is a highly regulated financial services and technology company. Experience in a regulated financial field is a plus, but this role would also suit a strong generalist who is willing to climb the regulatory learning curve.

This role is based in New York City, and you’ll work from our office Monday through Thursday.

What you’ll do

You’ll handle a little bit of everything, including:

• Litigation, investigations, and exams. You’ll manage disputes from start to finish, including escalated customer complaints, FINRA arbitrations, privacy claims, and civil litigation, handling many matters yourself and overseeing outside counsel on others. On the regulatory side, you’ll respond to inquiries and investigations, partner with Compliance on examinations, and help turn lessons learned into better products and processes.
• Broker-dealer, investment adviser, and prediction markets regulation. Public owns an SEC-registered investment adviser and a FINRA-member broker-dealer that is also a CFTC-registered futures commission merchant. You’ll partner with Compliance on our SEC, FINRA, CFTC, and NFA obligations, including AML, regulatory filings, and registrations. You’ll also monitor regulatory developments, help keep our policies and procedures current, and translate complex rules into practical advice and training for our business teams.
• AI governance. You’ll work on the program that governs both our customer-facing AI products and the AI tools our teams use internally. That includes setting practical policies and quality assurance processes, assessing new AI use cases, and tracking emerging laws and guidance.
• Privacy and cybersecurity. You’ll own our privacy program, from privacy notices and consumer requests to data mapping and record retention. You’ll also partner with Engineering and IT on cybersecurity, fraud prevention, and incident response, including any resulting customer remediation.
• Product counseling. Regulations shape every part of our business, from the customer-facing product to back-end operations. You’ll work closely with our Product, Engineering, and Marketing teams from concept through launch, spotting risks early and finding practical ways to navigate those rules.
• Contract negotiation. You’ll help draft, review, and negotiate a wide range of commercial agreements, including vendor, marketing, and data agreements.
• Legal processes and systems. You’ll build playbooks and templates that help our business teams navigate legal and compliance requirements and negotiate the best deals possible. You’ll also keep improving the tools, systems, and processes our team relies on, using AI to make our work faster and more efficient.

Qualifications

• J.D. from an ABA-approved law school (or foreign equivalent)
• Admission to at least one U.S. bar, in good standing
• 2-5 years of legal experience, ideally at a top law firm and then in-house at a technology or financial services company / start-up
• Experience with a broad range of legal matters
• Strong leadership and communication skills, with the ability to collaborate cross-functionally and influence senior stakeholders
• A high level of integrity and the ability to balance legal and compliance obligations with business objectives
• Comfort with ambiguity and pressure, and the ability to identify, prioritize, and resolve issues quickly and independently
• A track record of quickly learning and using new software, such as project management and compliance tools
• Experience using AI tools responsibly to make legal processes and systems more efficient, or a demonstrated willingness to learn

Experience with any of the following:

• Litigation, arbitration (especially FINRA), or regulatory examinations and investigations
• Broker-dealer, investment adviser, or futures regulation
• Privacy, cybersecurity, or AI governance programs
• Negotiating commercial agreements, such as vendor, marketing, and market data agreements
• Partnering with compliance teams to build efficient, effective compliance systems and processes

Compensation

The base salary range for this role is $120,000 to $170,000 plus equity, depending on skills and experience.

• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision plans
• Generous PTO and parental leave policy
• 401(k) plan with company match
• Opportunities for career growth and professional development

Public is an equal employment opportunity employer to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type. We celebrate people of all race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression.