Negotiate, draft, and advise on commercial agreements (NDAs, MSAs, SaaS, SOWs, partnerships); give practical risk-based counsel to tech clients; identify contract patterns to create templates and playbooks; collaborate with founders and engineers to shape AI-powered workflows and define matter management and client communication standards.
About Us
Blackletter is reinventing legal services from first principles.
We pair frontier automation with top-tier lawyers. This allows our firm to deliver elite legal services with fast turnaround, predictable pricing, and a transformed experience for our clients and for the lawyers doing the work.
Early traction has been strong. We are serving a growing roster of clients across venture financing, commercial, corporate, and employment, and we are backed by leading venture investors.
Our founding team brings experience from frontier AI labs, leading law firms, and some of the top law schools in North America.
The most impactful firm in the world ten years from now will not be one founded in the 1900s, or the 1800s. It was founded in 2026.
We are a small team making our earliest hires, with a significant opportunity to shape not only our company, but the entire legal profession.
The Role
You will work directly with technology companies to negotiate and advise on commercial agreements. But this is not a traditional counsel role – you will work closely with the founders and technical team to help shape how the firm operates, including the tools, workflows, and standards that make legal work faster and more consistent.
Your expertise does not just serve clients – it educates our platform, making it faster and smarter for the next matter.
What You Will Do
- Draft, review, and negotiate commercial agreements including NDAs, MSAs, SaaS agreements, SOWs, and partnership contracts
- Advise clients on risk, priorities, and how to approach negotiations
- Communicate directly with clients and counterparties to move matters forward
- Identify patterns across contracts and negotiations and translate them into better templates, clauses, and playbooks
- Provide input on the design of the AI-powered workflows to best serve our clients
- Help define what excellent legal delivery looks like, from client communication standards to matter management processes
Who We Are Looking For
Experience: 4-10 years at a leading law firm or in-house, with significant experience on commercial agreements. Experience working with technology companies, including negotiating SaaS, data processing, and other commercial agreements, is preferred.
Judgment: Strong commercial instincts and the ability to give clear, practical advice.
Orientation: You notice when the same issue comes up repeatedly and look for a way to handle it better the next time. You are frustrated by how long routine legal work takes and are open to changing how it gets done.
Compensation and Structure
Competitive salary plus equity. Compensation is commensurate with experience. This is a remote position.
Why Us
You will spend more of your time on negotiating, advising, and making judgment calls, and less on work that should already be automated. As one of our first legal hires, you will have a direct hand in shaping the future practice of law.
If some of the above doesn’t line up perfectly with your experience, we still encourage you to apply!
We value and celebrate diversity and strive to create an inclusive work environment for all. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and are committed to providing equal opportunities. Should you require any accommodations during the recruitment process, please reach out to [email protected].
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What you need to know about the Chicago Tech Scene
With vibrant neighborhoods, great food and more affordable housing than either coast, Chicago might be the most liveable major tech hub. It is the birthplace of modern commodities and futures trading, a national hub for logistics and commerce, and home to the American Medical Association and the American Bar Association. This diverse blend of industry influences has helped Chicago emerge as a major player in verticals like fintech, biotechnology, legal tech, e-commerce and logistics technology. It’s also a major hiring center for tech companies on both coasts.
Key Facts About Chicago Tech
- Number of Tech Workers: 245,800; 5.2% of overall workforce (2024 CompTIA survey)
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- Notable Investors: Pritzker Group Venture Capital, Arch Venture Partners, MATH Venture Partners, Jump Capital, Hyde Park Venture Partners
- Research Centers and Universities: Northwestern University, University of Chicago, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Illinois Institute of Technology, Argonne National Laboratory, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
