Description

General Counsel New Jersey

At Justice Grown, the General Counsel serves as a strategic advisor to executive leadership and a key legal partner across the organization. This role provides enterprise-wide legal guidance while helping the company navigate the complexities of operating in a highly regulated, multi-state industry.

This is a hands-on leadership role for an experienced attorney with strong litigation and dispute-management experience who is comfortable moving between executive-level strategy and the direct management of legal matters. The General Counsel will work closely with executive leadership, and cross-functional business partners to assess risk, develop legal strategy, manage litigation and disputes, oversee legal filings, negotiate agreements, support regulatory matters, and provide practical legal guidance that advances business objectives.

The General Counsel will have broad responsibility across litigation, employment law, corporate governance, regulatory compliance, commercial contracts, real estate, intellectual property, strategic transactions, and other legal matters affecting the organization.

A significant component of this position is the ability to independently assess and manage litigation and pre-litigation matters from inception through resolution, including developing case strategy, drafting and reviewing pleadings and legal filings, managing discovery, responding to administrative charges and demand letters, participating in settlement negotiations and mediations, and effectively directing outside counsel.

We are looking for a business-minded legal leader who can provide clear, thoughtful, and actionable counsel while building trusted relationships across the company. The right person will bring strong litigation judgment, sound legal strategy, exceptional writing skills, and the ability to balance legal risk with operational and business priorities.
Duties and Responsibilities
Litigation, Disputes & Risk Management

• Serve as the organization's primary internal legal resource for litigation, threatened litigation, disputes, claims, investigations, and administrative proceedings.
• Independently assess legal claims and develop litigation and dispute-resolution strategies based on legal exposure, business risk, and organizational objectives.
• Manage matters from initial demand or complaint through discovery, mediation, settlement, trial preparation, and resolution as appropriate.
• Draft, review, and respond to pleadings, motions, briefs, demand letters, position statements, discovery requests, administrative responses, settlement agreements, legal correspondence, and other litigation-related documents.
• Oversee discovery strategy, document preservation, litigation holds, document production, witness preparation, and other litigation requirements.
• Partner with internal stakeholders to investigate claims, preserve evidence, develop factual records, and prepare company representatives and witnesses.
• Support and participate in mediations, settlement conferences, negotiations, hearings, and other dispute-resolution proceedings.
• Evaluate litigation exposure and provide executive leadership with clear recommendations regarding strategy, settlement, defense, and risk.
• Select, retain, and manage outside counsel when appropriate, including oversight of legal strategy, case performance, budgets, staffing, and legal spend.
• Hold outside counsel accountable for delivering timely, practical, and cost-effective legal services.
• Identify patterns or emerging legal risks and recommend operational, policy, training, or compliance changes to reduce future exposure.

Executive Legal Counsel & Enterprise Risk Management

• Serve as a trusted legal advisor to executive leadership on corporate, operational, regulatory, commercial, employment, and strategic matters.
• Provide practical legal guidance that supports business objectives while appropriately managing organizational risk.
• Identify emerging legal risks and develop strategies to mitigate exposure.
• Advise leadership on significant business decisions, strategic initiatives, transactions, and matters with legal or regulatory implications.
• Provide timely legal analysis and recommendations on complex or sensitive matters.
• Monitor legal developments that may impact the organization and advise leadership regarding potential business implications.
• Balance legal risk with operational realities and provide clear recommendations that allow leaders to make informed business decisions.

Employment Law & Employee Civil Matters

• Partner directly with the Head of People & HR on employment-related legal matters, employee claims, investigations, and workplace risk.
• Provide legal guidance regarding employee relations, discipline, terminations, accommodations, leave matters, wage and hour issues, restrictive covenants, employment agreements, and workplace policies.
• Manage and respond to EEOC charges, state and local agency complaints, attorney demand letters, employee civil claims, and employment litigation.
• Draft and review EEOC position statements, administrative responses, briefs, pleadings, demand responses, settlement agreements, releases, severance agreements, and other employment-related legal documents.
• Develop legal strategy for employment litigation and administrative proceedings.
• Support mediations, settlements, agency investigations, hearings, and related employment disputes.
• Partner with HR on internal investigations involving significant legal exposure or allegations of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wage and hour violations, or other legal claims.
• Provide proactive guidance designed to reduce employment-related legal risk while supporting effective business and people practices.

Regulatory Compliance & Governance

• Provide strategic legal advice regarding cannabis operations, licensing, regulatory compliance, and related business risks.
• Oversee legal aspects of corporate governance and ensure compliance with applicable ownership, reporting, licensing, and operational requirements.
• Monitor federal, state, and local legal and regulatory developments impacting cannabis operations.
• Provide legal guidance across dispensaries, cultivation sites, production facilities, and corporate operations.
• Advise on product liability, data privacy, environmental matters, safety, regulatory investigations, and other compliance matters.
• Manage responses to regulatory agencies, inquiries, investigations, subpoenas, notices, and enforcement matters.
• Support cannabis licensing applications, renewals, ownership disclosures, regulatory filings, and related legal requirements as appropriate.
• Support corporate governance documentation, policies, legal records, and internal compliance initiatives.

Contracts & Commercial Matters

• Draft, review, revise, and negotiate a wide range of commercial agreements.
• Review vendor agreements, service agreements, real estate leases, confidentiality agreements, licensing agreements, partnership agreements, consulting agreements, technology agreements, and other business contracts.
• Identify contractual risk and provide practical recommendations aligned with the company's business objectives and risk tolerance.
• Support contract disputes, enforcement matters, defaults, terminations, and related commercial claims.
• Support strategic transactions, including joint ventures, acquisitions, divestitures, partnerships, restructurings, and other business opportunities.
• Develop and improve contract review, approval, and legal matter-management processes.
• Create and maintain appropriate contract templates and standardized legal provisions to improve efficiency and consistency.

Intellectual Property

• Oversee protection of company intellectual property, including trademarks, trade secrets, proprietary information, brand assets, and licensing arrangements.
• Manage intellectual property disputes and coordinate with outside counsel when necessary.
• Advise business partners on brand protection, confidentiality, intellectual property use, licensing, and related legal considerations.
• Support trademark registrations, enforcement matters, and protection of company brands and proprietary information.

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Work directly with executive leadership, the Head of People & HR, Operations, Compliance, Finance, Marketing, Real Estate, and other business functions.
• Serve as an accessible legal partner who provides clear, practical, and business-focused guidance.
• Develop and review policies, procedures, training materials, SOPs, agreements, and internal legal guidance.
• Provide legal training and education to leaders and employees when appropriate.
• Build strong relationships across the organization and serve as a trusted resource for legal questions and emerging issues.
• Develop and oversee legal resources, processes, systems, and controls that support the continued growth of the organization.
• Establish effective legal matter-management, litigation-management, document-preservation, and outside-counsel processes.
• Mentor and provide guidance to junior legal staff, legal interns, or other legal resources as applicable.

Education and Experience
Education & Licensure

• Juris Doctor (JD) from an accredited U.S. law school.
• Active and in-good-standing admission to practice law in the State of New Jersey is required.
• Active Pennsylvania bar admission is strongly preferred.
• Admission in additional states in which Justice Grown operates is a plus.
• Must remain eligible and in good standing to practice law throughout employment.

Experience

• 5+ years of progressive legal experience, with meaningful experience managing litigation and complex legal disputes.
• Significant litigation experience, whether gained through private practice, in-house counsel work, or a combination of both.
• Demonstrated ability to independently evaluate claims, develop litigation strategy, manage discovery, draft substantive legal documents, negotiate resolutions, and oversee matters through conclusion.
• Experience serving as a senior legal advisor to executives and business leaders.
• Strong experience managing litigation, threatened litigation, legal claims, disputes, investigations, and outside counsel.
• Experience drafting or substantially reviewing pleadings, motions, briefs, demand letters, settlement agreements, discovery responses, position statements, and other substantive legal filings.
• Experience handling EEOC charges, state agency complaints, employee civil claims, employment litigation, and administrative proceedings.
• Demonstrated experience drafting or reviewing EEOC position statements, administrative responses, demand responses, settlement agreements, releases, and related employment documents.
• Experience supporting mediations, negotiations, hearings, depositions, investigations, and settlement discussions.
• Strong background in corporate law, regulatory compliance, enterprise risk management, commercial agreements, and contract negotiation.
• Experience advising on or managing government and regulatory investigations.
• Experience supporting employment law and workplace-related legal matters.
• Proven ability to manage outside counsel effectively, challenge legal strategy when appropriate, establish budgets, and control legal spend.
• In-house legal experience strongly preferred.
• Experience in cannabis, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, financial services, gaming, alcohol, or another highly regulated industry strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated understanding of federal, state, and local laws affecting cannabis operations preferred.

Skills & Attributes

• Exceptional litigation judgment and demonstrated ability to develop and execute legal strategy.
• Strong legal writing skills, including the ability to draft sophisticated legal arguments, responses, briefs, pleadings, and executive-level legal analyses.
• Strong knowledge of civil litigation procedures, discovery obligations, evidence preservation, litigation holds, and dispute-resolution processes.
• Ability to quickly assess legal exposure and distinguish between matters requiring aggressive defense, negotiated resolution, outside counsel involvement, or another strategic approach.
• Strong legal judgment and the ability to balance legal risk with practical business considerations.
• Ability to operate as both a strategic executive advisor and a hands-on attorney.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong legal research, drafting, negotiation, and analytical skills.
• Ability to translate complex legal issues into clear, actionable guidance for non-legal audiences.
• High attention to detail with the ability to manage multiple complex matters simultaneously.
• Strong executive presence and ability to build trust with senior leadership.
• Ability to work independently while collaborating closely with cross-functional partners.
• Strong organizational, project-management, and time-management abilities.
• Ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced, evolving, multi-state environment.
• High degree of professional ethics, discretion, confidentiality, sound judgment, and integrity.

Leadership & Collaboration

• Builds trusted relationships across departments and levels of leadership.
• Provides objective, thoughtful, and solution-oriented legal counsel.
• Balances legal considerations with broader organizational priorities.
• Communicates legal risk clearly without unnecessarily slowing business decisions.
• Takes ownership of legal matters and drives them toward timely resolution.
• Demonstrates confidence challenging assumptions and providing candid legal advice when necessary.
• Contributes to a collaborative and accountable leadership culture.
• Provides mentorship and guidance to internal legal resources.
• Supports the development of scala