Junior Data Scientist

Katten is a full-service law firm with approximately 700 attorneys in locations across the United States and in London and Shanghai. Clients seeking sophisticated, high-value legal services turn to Katten for counsel locally, nationally and internationally. The firm’s core areas of practice include corporate, financial markets and funds, insolvency and restructuring, intellectual property, litigation, real estate, structured finance and securitization, transactional tax planning, private credit and private wealth. Katten represents public and private companies in numerous industries, as well as a number of government and nonprofit organizations and individuals.

Junior Data Scientist

Under the direction of the Chief Innovation Officer and the Data Scientist, and in accordance with established firm policies and procedures, the Junior Data Scientist supports the collection, management, analysis, and visualization of data to help develop innovative and efficient solutions for the firm.

The Junior Data Scientist assists with business case development, data preparation, exploratory analysis, and reporting. This role supports the use of machine learning, natural language processing, and AI tools to contribute to internal and client-facing solutions under guidance.

In this position, the Junior Data Scientist, works with a variety of stakeholders, including attorneys, business professionals, vendors, and clients, while maintaining professionalism and strict confidentiality in all firm and client matters.

The Junior Data Scientist will be located in the Chicago office.  Katten offers a hybrid work model, allowing the flexibility to work both on-site and remotely on a regular basis (KattenFlex).

Essential Duties and Responsibilities include, but may not be limited to, the following. Other duties may be requested and/or assigned. Essential functions are primary job duties that an individual must be able to perform successfully with or without a reasonable accommodation. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Assist with data science and AI projects by supporting data collection, cleaning, and preparation activities.
• Collaborate with attorneys, business professionals, and Firm leadership to understand project goals and data needs.
• Contribute to client and internal projects through the firm’s data science team, DataLAB.
• Write and maintain code and basic AI workflows to support data processing and insight generation.
• Perform exploratory data analysis to identify trends, patterns, and data quality issues.
• Assist in applying statistical techniques and machine learning models under supervision.
• Support research into business problems and help identify data-driven insights and potential solutions.
• Assist with data-driven root-cause analyses and summarize findings with attention to organizational impact.
• Manipulate and analyze structured and unstructured datasets using industry-standard tools and techniques.
• Support the development and testing of AI- and LLM-based tools for internal and client-facing applications.
• Prepare documentation, reports, and data visualizations for review by senior team members and Firm leadership.
• Assist with testing and evaluating new technologies, tools, and data sources.
• Stay informed about emerging technologies, standards, and best practices in data science and AI.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Bachelor’s degree in data science, statistics, computer science, engineering, applied mathematics, or a related quantitative field required; an advanced degree is a plus.
• 0–2 years of relevant work experience, internships, or academic project experience in data science, analytics, or related areas.
• Familiarity with some or all of the following tools:
  • Python (e.g., Pandas, basic NLTK usage)
  • SQL
  • Data visualization tools such as Power BI or similar
• Foundational understanding of:
  • Probability and statistics
  • Data cleaning and exploratory data analysis
  • Basic machine learning and data visualization concepts
• Exposure to cloud or big data platforms (e.g., Azure) is a plus but not required.
• Displays intelligence, creativity, resilience, and persistence in solving varied, complex, and non-routine problems.
• Comfortable working both independently and in diverse teams.
• Excellent interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills.  Ability to communicate with courtesy and diplomacy, efficiently follow written and verbal instructions, provide information, and maintain effective relationships with a diverse group of attorneys, clients, staff, and outside contacts.
• Displays excellent time management and project management skills to meet objectives and deadlines.
• Able to effectively distill complex information, synthesize, simplify, and present to Firm Management, attorneys, and business professionals.
• Possess excellent reading, writing, grammar, spelling, punctuation, proofreading, and formatting skills in order to interpret and analyze source data, prepare correspondence and documentation, and proofread material for grammatical, typographical and spelling errors.
• Able to perform mathematical calculations and apply mathematical concepts when computing, reconciling balances, verifying numerical data, and preparing various reports.
• Able to operate standard office equipment including computers, printers, telephones, photocopiers, scanners, calculators, facsimiles, etc.
• Able to regularly lift and/or move up to 10 pounds.

The annualized salary range for this position can range between $60,000 to $80,000. Actual pay will be adjusted based on location, experience, and other job-related factors permitted by law. 

We offer an outstanding benefit package which includes: medical/dental/vision, 401k with employer contribution, parental leave, transportation fringe benefit program, back-up care option, generous paid time off policy and long-term and short-term disability policies. 

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP in an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.