Jobs › IMC Trading

Legal Counsel

IMC Trading · Chicago, IL · Legal & Compliance

Posted Sep 30, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 2026

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Likely interview questions for this role

Written from this job description, not a generic list. Each one notes what the interviewer is really checking.

About your past

Tell me about a negotiation where you had to give up something important. How did you decide what to trade?

What they are checking: Commercial judgment about which points matter most to the business and which are worth conceding.

Tell me about a time you had to push back on a business team that wanted to move faster than was legally safe.

What they are checking: Whether they hold the line on real risk while staying a partner to traders, not a blocker.

What would you do

A prime broker wants to tighten its margin terms during a volatile market. How do you advise the business?

What they are checking: Whether they can balance legal leverage with keeping a critical counterparty relationship working.

How would you lead implementation of a new transaction reporting rule that affects both the US and EU entities?

What they are checking: Whether they can run a regulatory project across jurisdictions with Risk, Treasury and operations.

Treasury asks you how a capital or liquidity rule change affects the firm. How do you explain it to non-lawyers?

What they are checking: Whether they turn complex regulation into clear guidance that internal teams can act on.

You have several urgent agreements from different desks due the same week. How do you prioritize?

What they are checking: How they manage a heavy workload by weighing business impact and risk across desks.

About the work

Walk me through the provisions you focus on first when negotiating an ISDA Master Agreement and CSA for a trading firm like this one.

What they are checking: Real depth in OTC derivatives documentation and knowing which terms carry the most risk.

How do netting and collateral arrangements protect us if a counterparty fails, and where do they fall short?

What they are checking: Understanding of close-out netting enforceability and the practical limits of collateral protection.

What are the key points you look at in a give-up agreement for futures clearing?

What they are checking: Familiarity with clearing relationships and the responsibilities split among executing and clearing brokers.

How do securities lending and repo documentation differ, and what risks do you watch for in each?

What they are checking: Breadth across financing documents named in the posting, including the GMSLA and GMRA style terms.

What do you look for in an account control agreement or deposit agreement with a bank?

What they are checking: Practical knowledge of banking documents that protect the firm's cash and control rights.

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The full job description

As published by IMC Trading.

IMC seeks a Legal Counsel (5 years’ experience) to provide in-house corporate legal support in the U.S. for a multi-entity international proprietary trading organization. This position primarily focuses on researching, drafting, and offering legal advice as it relates to corporate law, entity formation, corporate transactions, intracompany dealings, and tax matters.  This position also will provide general commercial contract review support as needed. Your Core Responsibilities: • Review, draft, and negotiate, intracompany agreements related to a wide variety of matters including, among other things, services, cost allocations, transactions, credit, and resource sharing. • Provide advice on corporate law and organizational structure. • Work with members of the Finance team to provide support on tax implications related to the various entities’ structures and activities. • Partner closely with Finance and other internal cross-functional teams to support business objectives while ensuring appropriate legal and regulatory safeguards are maintained. • Research and prepare legal memoranda on matters related to intracompany transactions, tax issues, corporate actions, corporate law, or any other topics as needed. • Review, draft, and negotiate contracts, including vendor agreements, trading agreements, technology agreements (e.g., SAS), consulting agreements, NDAs, leases, and other business, corporate, and legal arrangements. Your Skills & Experience: • Candidate must have a Juris Doctorate and top academic credentials; must be a member in good standing of the Illinois bar. • 5 years in-house experience with concentration in corporate law, entity structures, cost allocations/transfer pricing, and a general understanding of related tax issues, preferably in a financial services, trading, or technology company setting. • Strong business judgment and decision-making skills, with the ability to provide advice that reflects an understanding of IMC’s business, commercial objectives, the regulatory environment, and risk-reward tradeoffs. • The ideal candidate will be able to work independently under tight deadlines and possess excellent organizational and interpersonal skills. • Excellent research, drafting, and communication skills, including the ability to clearly convey legal concepts to non-legal stakeholders both verbally and in writing. • Candidate must be willing to demonstrate leadership as necessary to bring stakeholders across various teams together to set clear expectations and ensure a project’s timely completion. • Collaborative and effective in building relationships across diverse teams. Please note that immigration sponsorship is not offered for this specific opening. The Base Salary range for the role is included below. Base salary is only one component of total compensation; all full-time, permanent positions are eligible for a discretionary bonus and benefits, including paid leave and insurance. Please visit Benefits - US | IMC Trading for more comprehensive information. Salary Range $170,000 — $230,000 USD About Us IMC is a research-driven trading firm where quantitative modeling, machine learning, and engineering shape how modern markets are traded. A stabilizing force in markets since 1989, we provide liquidity across trading venues, delivering the best outcome in value and risk management to investors. Using our own technology and capital, we build proprietary systems and algorithms that operate across global markets. Our researchers, traders, and engineers work as a collective, combining rapid experimentation, advanced infrastructure, and real-time feedback to turn insight into execution and execution into advantage.  

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