Legal Counsel, Litigation and Copyright

Spotify; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 170,000 - 243,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Six months parental leave

401(k) retirement plan

Monthly meal allowance

23 paid days off

13 paid flexible holidays

Paid sick leave

Job summary

Spotify's Legal team seeks a seasoned Litigation Counsel to manage a broad mix of disputes, including copyright and patent matters. You will coordinate strategy, budgets, and collaboration with outside counsel while aligning risk with business goals.

You will guide processes, develop risk-based defenses, and translate technical copyright issues for non-lawyers. A New York in-house readiness and 5+ years of experience are preferred.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of litigation experience at a law firm, in-house, or both.
• Meaningful experience with copyright litigation.
• Experience with e-discovery and multi-jurisdictional disputes.
• Ability to evaluate copyright claims, work with technical experts, and develop defense strategies.
• Clear communication of legal concepts to non-lawyers.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate litigation and related dispute matters across copyright and patent litigation.
• Work with outside counsel to develop case strategy and manage budgets.
• Partner with the business to balance legal risk with company objectives.
• Develop litigation strategies and coordinate with communications on plans.
• Provide proactive advice on dispute avoidance and risk mitigation.

Skills

Litigation experience

E-discovery

Copyright law

Patent law

Risk assessment

Technical intuition

Education

Juris Doctor (JD)

Qualified in NY for in-house

Tools

Legal research databases

Job description

Spotify's Legal team is growing. We're facing innovative challenges that mirror the groundbreaking industry and product at the heart of our company. As we've expanded into more than 180 markets and our business has grown tremendously, we find ourselves facing new and interesting legal issues every day — including an increasing volume of patent disputes alongside the copyright and content matters that have always been central to our work.

As Legal Counsel, Litigation, you will work on a variety of litigation, copyright, patent, and other contentious and advisory matters, and help craft the way our company thinks about and handles them. The work we face is constantly developing, and the workload is growing faster than we can, so we will look to you to think thoughtfully about processes and policies that will help meet our goals. Your experience making risk-based assessments and proactively finding solutions to complex problems will be crucial. Significant e-discovery experience and experience conducting confidential inquiries are a plus.

What You'll Do

• Coordinate litigation, pre-litigation, regulatory, and other dispute matters across multiple practice areas, including copyright and patent litigation.
• Work with outside counsel to develop case strategy, manage budgets, and drive efficient resolution of contentious disputes.
• Partner with the business on litigation and legal risk issues and work with colleagues to fashion solutions that balance legal risk with company objectives.
• Develop litigation case strategies, work closely with Spotify's communications team, and formulate plans to resolve disputes efficiently.
• Plan strategically and coordinate internally with legal and non-legal personnel on issues of the moment.
• Provide proactive advice to internal team members on dispute avoidance and resolution, including risk mitigation.
• Identify and mitigate threats against the company, whether from partners, users, content owners, or others.
• Handle requests for information from the company, including subpoenas and requests from law enforcement.
• Build scalable processes to address a growing number of claims across copyright, patent, and other areas.
• Train teams and draft workflows and policies to help establish effective internal risk mitigation procedures.
• Stay current on developments in patent and copyright law, particularly as they affect the technology and media industries.

Who You Are

• You hold a law degree (or equivalent) from a top-flight law school and are qualified to practice law as in-house counsel in the State of New York.
• You have 5+ years of litigation experience at a law firm, in-house, or both, including meaningful experience with copyright litigation.
• You have experience with e-discovery and managing complex, multi-jurisdictional disputes.
• You have experience contributing to teams that drive successful outcomes on complex matters.
• You have a demonstrated ability to evaluate copyright claims, work with technical experts, and develop defense strategies.
• You have a passion for solving legal problems and can explain legal concepts — including technical copyright issues — to non-lawyers.
• You are comfortable working with large data sets and technical subject matter; you may not be an engineer, but you can speak the language and understand the concepts.
• You are a problem solver who can stay calm when problems come your way.
• You have excellent judgment — you can think a problem through when you need to, but have also developed instincts that you can trust.
• You are self-motivated and can identify and complete work that needs to be done without being instructed.
• You can advocate for a position while balancing risk and multiple colleagues' and business considerations.
• You can balance many simultaneous tasks and triage to make sure the right matters get your attention.
• You're willing to roll up your sleeves and dig in on projects.
• You work well as part of a team — both with other lawyers and with non-legal business partners.
• You have very effective written and oral communication skills.
• Knowledge of music, media, tech, IP, and/or consumer issues is a plus.
• A technical background or experience with software, streaming, or audio technology patents is a plus but not required.

Who You’ll Be

• Onsite: (For example: You’ll be based in our New York office)
• We offer you the flexibility to work where you work best! There will be some in person meetings, but still allows for flexibility to work from home.

The United States base range for this position is $170,366 to 243,380, plus equity. The benefits available for this position include health insurance, six month paid parental leave, 401(k) retirement plan, monthly meal allowance, 23 paid days off, 13 paid flexible holidays, paid sick leave. These ranges may be modified in the future.

Spotify is an equal opportunity employer. You are welcome at Spotify for who you are, no matter where you come from, what you look like, or what’s playing in your headphones. Our platform is for everyone, and so is our workplace. The more voices we have represented and amplified in our business, the more we will all thrive, contribute, and be forward-thinking! So bring us your personal experience, your perspectives, and your background. It’s in our differences that we will find the power to keep revolutionizing the way the world listens.

At Spotify, we are passionate about inclusivity and making sure our entire recruitment process is accessible to everyone. We have ways to request reasonable accommodations during the interview process and help assist in what you need. If you need accommodations at any stage of the application or interview process, please let us know - we’re here to support you in any way we can.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us. Find our AI notice here: https://lifeatspotify.com/ai-notice

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