CORPORATE COUNSEL

ACA INTERNATIONAL

ACA International, the Association of Credit and Collection Professionals, provides education, business services and government affairs advocacy for companies and individuals wanting to succeed in the accounts receivable management industry. Founded in 1939, ACA offers annual memberships to debt collection companies, law firms, asset buyers, credit professionals, and vendor affiliates.

ACA offers employees a competitive benefits package including health, dental and vision coverage; life insurance; a 401(k) plan with employer contribution; short- and long-term disability plans; and more.

Remote work environment

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Corporate Counsel position leads the management of the Association’s: (1) efforts to proactively obtain positive litigation precedent in order to advance the business of the Association’s members; (2) provide relevant and timely compliance tools and information to Association members and (3) is the face of the external Compliance function for ACA. This role will lead a team of analysts, will interface with outside counsel(s) and will enthusiastically embrace the use of AI and other automation tools and resources to efficiently and accurately produce a variety of compliance materials for the credit and collection industry and ACA’s members. This role will also produce timely and relevant legal analysis for both the Judicial Committee (and will be one of the main liaisons to the committee) and the Board Advocacy Committee as various cases for support from the Association’s Industry Advancement Fund are considered.

ACA’s Compliance Department currently produces:

• Federal Guides: TCPA, FDCPA, FCRA
• State Guide
• Creation and maintenance of the Search Point library
• Case analysis for the Judicial Committee and the Board Advocacy Committee
• Case analysis for publication in the ACA Daily

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The essential duties and responsibilities of the position include those listed below. Other duties may be assigned.

• Timely and relevant liaison for the Judicial Committee and support for its chair
• Timely and relevant legal analysis of cases to be considered by the Judicial Committee and Board Advocacy Committee
• Use AI tools wherever relevant and additive;
• Effectively lead the team, in the timely creation and maintenance of the member facing guides, publications, events and articles;
• Maintain a high-level of understanding of the litigation and compliance environment of the credit and collection industry and the Association’s membership;
• Lead member-facing discussions related to Compliance at the Huddle, at the State Guide Cohort meetings, at the “At-the-Bar” meetings, and in other member-facing educational offerings;
• Determine appropriate litigation matters for which Association support is advisable and manage outside counsel in connection with such litigation and/or amicus support;
• Research and monitor case law impacting the credit and collections industry;
• Drive the development and enhancement of metrics and key performance indicators to monitor success toward the strategic plan; develop and produce reporting to be delivered to the Executive Team, Board, committees and the entire membership;
• Assist the Education Department in identifying relevant CLE topics and potential speakers;
• Write content, and edit content of team members, for the relevant guides and publications;
• Provide direction and leadership to a team of compliance professionals and create an environment that fosters individual and team growth, and successful delivery of timely and relevant outputs—using AI to create content and the team to edit and approve; lead the team in developing and refining processes and prompts with AI tools;
• Participate in special projects and perform other functions as requested and assigned; and
• Travel to meetings/seminars/events a few times per year.

The above information on this description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities and qualifications required of employees assigned to this job.

QUALIFICATIONS

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE

Juris Doctor (JD) from an accredited law school; superior academic credentials preferred; seven or more years of relevant compliance and/or litigation experience in financial services industry

CERTIFICATES, LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS

Currently licensed to practice law in a U.S. state