Legal Assistant (Legal & Licensing)

About ASCAP

The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) is a professional membership organization of songwriters, composers and music publishers of every kind of music. ASCAP's mission is to license and promote the music of its members and foreign affiliates, obtain fair compensation for the public performance of their works and to distribute the royalties that it collects based upon those performances. ASCAP members write the world's best-loved music and ASCAP has pioneered the efficient licensing of that music to hundreds of thousands of enterprises who use it to add value to their business - from bars, restaurants, and retail, to radio, TV and cable, to Internet, mobile services and more. The ASCAP license offers an efficient solution for businesses to legally perform ASCAP music while respecting the right of songwriters and composers to be paid fairly. With more than 850,000 members representing more than 16 million copyrighted works, ASCAP is the worldwide leader in performance royalties, service and advocacy for songwriters and composers, and the only American performing rights organization (PRO) owned and governed by its writer and publisher members. Learn more and stay in touch at www.ascap.com, on Twitter and Instagram @ASCAP and on Facebook.

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Job Overview:

ASCAP is looking to hire a Legal Assistant (Legal & Licensing) to support transactional attorneys in the Business and Legal Affairs department (BALA). Ideal candidates will have licensing contract administrative experience with the ability to handle high volume contracts, interpretation, and extraction of information. This role requires exceptional organizational skills with a keen attention to detail. The Legal Assistant will draft and review correspondence, agreements, and other legal documents, assist with contract administration, legal and factual research, and handle general administrative duties. 

Areas of responsibility/accountability:

• Providing the attorneys with transactional support, including preparing and revising correspondence,      agreements, and other legal documentation, as well as performing legal and factual research.
• Coordinating and drafting the licensing agreement contract administrative process from intake to execution to renewal/ expiration.
• Creating and maintaining legal template contracts in legal department’s management database.
• Assisting with the development and updating of contract forms/ templates and the maintenance of files of all contracts including creation of deal binders and agreement abstracts.
• Researching, comparing, and contrasting internal/ external Licensing contracts, terms and conditions, and substantive additions to ensure legal consistency, accuracy, and completeness.
• Managing incoming requests for legal review or work from internal clients.
• Working collectively with administrative support staff to provide coverage of cross functional support of answering phones, maintaining calendars, and booking travel.
• Preparing and submitting expense reports for attorneys.
• Processing legal and other invoices
• Assisting the department with other projects as assigned.

Qualifications and Requirements: 

• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent 
• Experience with License administration tracking and reporting
• Prior Licensing agreement experience in a corporate legal department preferred.
• Experience interacting with senior level management.
• Proven proficiency with Excel, PowerPoint and Word and the ability to learn and utilize other software.
• Familiarity with Salesforce preferred.
• Ability to maintain the highest level of confidentiality.
• Ability to work well with others in a collaborative, team environment.
• Ability to think analytically, take direction well, take initiative, and work independently and proactively.
• Strong organizational and administrative skills with excellent attention to details and ability to prioritize a high-volume workload.

Besides providing a unique and dynamic work environment, there are a few other reasons you should consider ASCAP in your career planning. We also offer generous benefit options that are comprehensive and provide the flexibility that most employees want and need. These health care and financial plan options include the following:

• A choice of either network only provider medical and dental plans or more flexible medical and dental plans where you can see providers in or out-of-network 
• Vision plan that offers both in and out- of network provider options
• Immediate eligibility for 401(k) participation with an employer provided match
• An additional Employer paid retirement savings program regardless of your participation in the 401(k) Plan
• Generous time-off policy
• Health care and dependent care flexible spending accounts
• Short term disability Insurance / salary continuation and Long term disability insurance
• Company provided basic life and accidental death and dismemberment insurance
• Supplemental and dependent life insurance options

As a condition of employment, ASCAP requires all employees to be fully vaccinated (including a first booster, when eligible) against COVID-19.  ASCAP will make reasonable accommodations for those who are unable to obtain a COVID-19 vaccination, where required by federal, state and local law, and in accordance with ASCAP’s policies.

ASCAP is an equal opportunity employer. All ASCAP employment decisions are made on the basis of individual qualifications and performance and not on the basis of race, national origin, ethnicity, sex, age, marital status, sexual orientation or preference, gender identity, genetic information, disability, handicap, color, creed, religion, veteran status, or any characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local laws.