Legal Research, Operations Associate

Legal Research & Operations Associate — Part-Time (JD/LLM Student)

About Rainy Day Pets

Rainy Day Pets is a growing pet-care company based in New York City. We provide highly personalized, trust-based pet care and are currently building the operational, legal, and technology infrastructure needed to expand into additional markets.

As we grow, we're encountering increasingly interesting questions involving contracts, caregiver relationships, employment and independent-contractor issues, insurance, liability, consumer policies, background checks, privacy, and multi-state expansion.

We're looking for a current JD or LLM student who enjoys digging into complicated questions, conducting rigorous research, and helping an early-stage company build its legal and compliance foundation.

This is not a traditional law-firm internship. You'll work closely with the founders on real issues arising from a growing operating business.

What You'll Work On

Depending on current priorities, you may:

• Conduct legal and regulatory research on issues affecting the business.
• Research federal, state, and local requirements as we evaluate new markets.
• Research employment and independent-contractor classification issues.
• Assist with research involving caregiver agreements, client agreements, insurance, liability, background checks, privacy, and other operational matters.
• Review and compare contracts, policies, regulations, and other legal materials.
• Prepare concise research memos summarizing findings, sources, unresolved questions, and potential issues requiring attorney review.
• Help organize and maintain our contracts, policies, compliance records, and legal documentation.
• Build compliance checklists and trackers.
• Assist with first-pass drafting and document preparation where appropriate.
• Prepare organized materials and questions for review by licensed outside counsel.
• Help the founders identify when an operational decision creates a legal or regulatory question that requires further review.

You will not be expected to act as the company's attorney or independently provide legal advice. Matters requiring licensed legal counsel will be escalated accordingly.

Who We're Looking For

You may be a strong fit if you:

• Are currently enrolled in an accredited JD or LLM program.
• Have excellent legal research and analytical skills.
• Can distinguish between what the law actually says, what you're inferring, and what still needs to be verified.
• Write clearly and can turn complicated research into concise, practical summaries.
• Are extremely organized and detail-oriented.
• Are comfortable working independently without receiving a perfectly defined assignment every time.
• Ask thoughtful questions when business context is unclear.
• Enjoy investigating unfamiliar subjects.
• Have strong judgment regarding confidential and sensitive information.
• Are interested in startups, small businesses, employment law, contracts, regulatory/compliance work, technology, or entrepreneurship.

Prior professional legal experience is helpful but not required. We're more interested in intellectual curiosity, research ability, judgment, reliability, and initiative.

What This Role Is NOT

We're not looking for someone to pretend to know an answer.

We'd much rather hear:

"I'm not sure. Here's what I found, here's the authority supporting it, here's where the answer becomes unclear, and here's what I recommend we ask counsel."

That kind of intellectual discipline is extremely valuable to us.

Schedule

• Part-time
• Approximately 8–12 hours per week initially
• Flexible around law-school coursework
• Primarily remote
• Some availability during New York/Eastern Time business hours preferred
• Opportunity for the scope to grow as Rainy Day Pets expands

Compensation

Paid position. Hourly compensation will be based on experience, academic background, availability, and expected scope.

Why This Could Be Interesting

You'll get exposure to legal and operational questions that normally don't appear together in a classroom.

You'll see how contracts, regulation, risk, operations, technology, customer experience, and growth interact inside an actual early-stage company—and have an opportunity to help build systems rather than simply observe them.

You'll work directly with Rainy Day Pets' founders and gain exposure to the decisions involved in taking a local service business and preparing it for expansion.

We're looking for someone intellectually curious enough to enjoy that ambiguity.

To Apply

Please submit your résumé and answer the application questions included with this posting.

Rainy Day Pets is an equal opportunity employer and considers qualified applicants without regard to legally protected characteristics.