Fairstone Bank is a leading alternative lending bank in Canada, providing innovative financial solutions. The Legal Counsel will provide legal expertise and support to various departments, manage litigation files, and draft and review commercial contracts to ensure compliance with consumer lending laws and regulations.
Responsibilities
- Providing strategic legal support to, amongst others, the operations, human resources, risk, finance, marketing, product development and corporate development teams
- Managing of litigation files (customer and employment-related) in conjunction with external counsel
- Drafting, negotiating and reviewing commercial contracts and related documents to support consumer lending and credit card products, retail point-of-sale financing agreements and real estate leases for retail branches
- Advising business units on all aspects of federal and provincial consumer lending laws and regulations, including consumer protection
Skills
- Experience practicing corporate and commercial law in an in-house legal department or law firm
- Ability to understand the operational and systematic complexity of the company's products and services to provide practical legal support on new initiatives, products and services
- Strong interpretation, organizational, and drafting skills
- Exceptional verbal and written communication skills
- Analytical capability and judgement as well as strong problem-solving skills and the ability to deal with ambiguity
- Demonstrated ability to provide ideas, advice and practical solutions relative to legal and regulatory issues
- Results oriented, efficient, driven and self-motivated with a commitment to excellence
- Ability to prioritize and manage individual and team workload and competing priorities
- 1 - 3 years of corporate commercial experience gained from a law firm or in-house legal department, with exposure to the areas of banking, corporate, and/or consumer finance
- Juris Doctor (JD) or Bachelor of Laws (LLB)
- Licensed to practice law in Canada and a lawyer in good standing with a provincial law society (Ontario or Quebec bar membership preferred), or Member of the Chambre des Notaires du Québec
- Ability to work independently and as a member of a team in a fast-paced environment with the ability to adapt to change and meet aggressive timelines
- A positive attitude, a desire to learn, and a willingness to roll up your sleeves to get work done
- Bilingual (English/French, written and spoken) preferred
- Experience with privacy and/or technology law is an asset
Benefits
- Generous vacation based on your role, statutory holidays, plus 6 wellness days to prioritize your well-being.
- Competitive base salary plus an annual incentive bonus tied to performance.
- Robust health and dental coverage through Manulife, as well as virtual healthcare through Dialogue.
- Group Retirement Savings Plan with up to 7% employer match.
- Discounts from top retailers via WorkPerks, plus location-based perks like gym memberships and Toronto Bike Share.
- Gym access at our London and Montreal offices.
- Education Assistance Program and Fairstone Academy for training and skill development.
- Parental leave top-up program to help you during life’s big moments.
- One paid volunteer day to give back to causes that matter to you.
Company Overview
- Fairstone Bank is a non-bank provider of responsible lending solutions for near-prime and non-prime borrowers. It was founded in 1923, and is headquartered in Montréal, Quebec, CAN, with a workforce of 1001-5000 employees. Its website is https://www.fairstone.ca.