Legal Assistant - Paid Internship
uShip is seeking a smart, talented, and driven individual to join the uShip Legal team as Legal Intern. Reporting to uShip’s Corporate Counsel, this Legal Intern will collaborate with cross-functional team members to identify and provide creative solutions to mitigate legal risks impacting uShip’s online shipping marketplace. As a Legal Intern, you’ll participate in key legal activities, including working with customers and law enforcement to respond to subpoenas and UCC filings and supporting cross-functional legal initiatives. You will work to help ensure our legal contracts are reviewed, catalogued, and up to company legal standards. uShip is looking for someone who is not shy about tackling the unknown, a problem solver who strives to understand the intricacies of transportation law on a global scale and the impact it has on marketplace platforms. This role is perfect for someone seeking hands-on experience with transportation and intellectual property law, contracts, brand expansion, and compliance.
Job Responsibilities
- Support the legal needs of uShip and its wholly owned subsidiary
- Analyze, summarize, and respond to legal requests and other documents (e.g. subpoenas)
- Research and analyze law for response to, and preparation of, legal documentation
- Cooperate with law enforcement in escalated disputes
- Perform administrative duties including the tracking and cataloguing of contracts
- Draft, review, negotiate, and interpret a wide variety of corporate / transactional contracts with a focus on commercial agreements, including MSAs, NDAs, vendor services contracts, SaaS, strategic partnerships, M&A, and paid media contracts
- Support uShip’s Corporate Counsel in their role of Data Protection Officer (DPO) by becoming familiar with various laws and regulations affecting privacy in e-commerce and online businesses, ranging from the GDPR (EU/UK), CPRA, and the Texas TDPSA to propose solutions to mitigate risk in relation to those regulations
- Establish best practices and formulate new legal processes in connection with business needs
- Provide basic legal research in response to incoming requests for legal advice/business guidance from cross-functional partners and exercise judgment in prioritizing requests.
- Support management of the copyright portfolio by working with cross-functional partners in securing new product line lists, procuring photos and all other information needed for filing, finalizing product list before product launch, assisting with registration of Copyrights and owning the organization and filing process of same
- Provide support for brand protection projects such as drafting Cease & Desist letters or supporting IP infringement takedowns
- Create legal education materials for cross-functional partners
- Assist with miscellaneous projects for the department as requested such as business licenses, insurance or risk management, sustainability, regulatory review, employment, privacy, or any other legal matters
- Projects:
- Assist in the setting up and implementation of the Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) system to ensure that our contracts and intellectual property documents are organized, compliant, and efficiently and effectively managed
- Update and improve upon data retention and naming convention policies throughout our Legal ecosystem to comply with data protection and privacy regulations
- Develop, standardize, and automate customer outreach and communications for legal matters in our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system
Skills & Experience Required
- Completed 1+ year(s) of law school
- Enrolled in a nationally accredited law school and pursuing JD or recent JD graduate
- Strong academic record
- Exhibit accountability, reliability, and initiative
- High degree of professionalism and ethics
- Ability to maintain confidentiality and discretion
- Working knowledge of legal research and writing and the Microsoft Office Suite, including Excel
- Exceptional organizational and presentation skills with strong attention to detail
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Extremely detail oriented and strong analytical skills
- Ability to effectively prioritize job duties based on company needs
- Demonstrated ability to work independently, remain organized, and document progress
- Highly self-motivated with a can-do, flexible attitude and an understanding that no job is too big or too small
Skills & Experience Preferred
- Minimum GPA of 3.0
- Undergraduate degree from an accredited university
- Experience with FastCase, Westlaw, LexisNexis, or other legal research system
- Experience with corporate and/or transactional law and agreements
- Experience handling cases/investigations related to e-commerce, online payments, or other digital fraud
- Experience with litigation, court filings, arbitration, mediation, or settlement negotiations
- Experience with employment contracts and/or familiarity with employment law
- Knowledge of national and global privacy laws including GDPR (EU/UK), CPRA, and the Texas TDPSA
- Knowledge of FMCSA and transportation laws
Pay Rate: $20 per hour
Location: Remote with hybrid ability, office located downtown Austin, TX
*Unfortunately, we are unable to employ remote employees in the following locations: New York City, Massachusetts, Montana, Hawaii, Alaska, California, and anywhere outside of the U.S.
*We are unable to transfer or sponsor visas.
*No agencies or independent contractors please
Why uShip?
uShip offers big-company benefits in a small-ish sized company because we really value and are committed to our people. There are even some extras that will surprise you.
- Remote or hybrid work options
- Monthly Wellness Reimbursements
- Home office Reimbursements
- Company paid meal delivery pass, plus monthly credit
- 100% Paid Health and Dental available
- 401(k) matching, no vesting
- Stock Options
- Pet Insurance
- Dog-friendly downtown office
- So much more!
Company Overview
uShip is the world’s first and largest shipping marketplace, making it quicker, easier, and more affordable to ship large or bulky items. Consumers and businesses can compare and book bids from hundreds of thousands of customer-reviewed transportation service providers, ranging from independent owner-operators to the largest freight carriers and brokers. From cars to cranes and furniture to freight, our straightforward and transparent platform helps people, businesses, e-commerce sellers, and multinational logistics companies ship with greater speed and efficiency. Customers save money and service providers make money using their empty cargo space – everyone wins!
We welcome diversity in all its forms, and believe we’re better collaborators, strategizers, and thinkers because of it. uShip is an equal opportunity employer. We are inspired to find candidates who embody our Core Values. uShip prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type and affords equal employment opportunities to employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, age, parental status, national origin, disability, or veteran status. We celebrate our differences and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.