Legal Director

Group Director, Legal OperationsReports to: President / Vice President of Legal OperationsDirect reports: Managing Lawyers and, through them, their attorney teamsLocation: San Antonio, Texas — with regular travel to Corpus Christi, Austin, Houston, and DallasCompensation: $350,000 – $450,000 annually, depending on experience, plus discretionary performance bonus and full benefitsStatus: Full-time, exempt, executivePosition SummaryThe Group Director is a senior, trial-credentialed leader who oversees a group of Managing Lawyers and is accountable for the trial readiness, case progression, performance, and development of every attorney beneath them.This is a hands-on operating role, not an advisory one. The Group Director exists to add real leadership capacity at the layer between executive legal operations and the managing-lawyer bench — closing the coverage gap that currently allows junior attorneys to reach trial without genuine, early, individual preparation.Three non-negotiables define this position:Extend leadership coverage across a group of Managing Lawyers that existing executive leadership cannot personally cover.Own individual 60- and 90-day pre-trial readiness meetings as separate, standalone sessions — never merged into routine docket review and never deferred until days before trial.Guarantee the leadership meeting cadence happens — scheduled, attended, documented, and followed up, without exception.Core Responsibilities1. Trial Readiness — 60/90-Day Pre-Trial DisciplineThis is the highest priority of the role.Personally conduct or directly supervise individual, standalone 90-day and 60-day pre-trial readiness meetings on every case set for trial within the group.Keep these meetings structurally separate from routine manager docket meetings. Pre-trial preparation is not a line item inside a multi-case docket review and will not be treated as one.Enforce a hard rule that no case reaches meaningful trial preparation seven days out. Preparation begins at 90 days.Provide direct, substantive review for first- and second-year attorneys, who cannot be assumed to run a thorough pre-trial analysis on their own. Verify the work; do not accept a manager's assumption that it was done.Escalate any case that is not trial-ready at the 60-day gate, with a written remediation plan.2. Managing Lawyer Leadership and AccountabilityDirectly manage a group of Managing Lawyers: set expectations, run one-on-ones, review scorecards, and hold them to measurable standards.Own the leadership meeting cadence for the group and guarantee it runs. Missed leadership meetings are a performance failure of this role.Audit manager performance against reports and dashboards: productivity, insurance calls, demands, late breakdowns, client complaints, past-due calls, and case progression.Coach managers who are underperforming; recommend performance plans, reassignment, or removal where coaching does not work.3. Attorney Development and RetentionBuild and protect the development path for junior attorneys — mentoring, second-chairing, structured feedback, and real trial exposure.Partner with the firm's attorney-development function on onboarding, 12-month progression, and time-to-productivity.Own retention outcomes inside the group. Turnover in the group is this role's number.Conduct stay interviews and surface the real reasons attorneys leave before they leave.4. Case Progression and Operating StandardsDrive inventory health, case velocity, demand timeliness, and file quality across the group.Enforce firm litigation standards and trial-first culture — every case worked as if it is going to trial.Balance case counts so junior attorneys carry a workload they can execute at standard.5. Executive Support and Bench DepthServe as an extension of executive legal operations, capable of representing leadership in the group's day-to-day and stepping into higher-level coverage when needed.Provide leadership with honest, unfiltered reporting on what is happening at the manager and attorney level.Develop successors — identify and grow Managing Lawyers who can become deputies or directors themselves.QualificationsRequiredJ.D. and active license in good standing with the State Bar of Texas, or immediate eligibility for Texas admission.10+ years of plaintiff personal injury litigation experience, with substantial first-chair trial work.Meaningful jury trial history — a documented record of verdicts. A trial-history summary is required at application.Proven experience managing lawyers who manage lawyers: supervising a multi-team group, not just a single docket or pod.Demonstrated ability to run pre-trial readiness discipline at volume across a large docket.Track record of improving attorney retention, performance, and case outcomes with measurable results.Comfort operating in a metric-driven, dashboard-accountable environment.Based in or willing to relocate to San Antonio, with willingness to travel to Texas offices regularly.PreferredExperience in a high-volume plaintiff personal injury platform.Experience building or running attorney training, mentorship, or academy programs.Background scaling attorney headcount without degrading case quality.Bilingual English/Spanish.Top-tier BenefitsPaid vacation, holidays, and leave401(k) with 4% match (immediate vesting)80% employer-paid medicalDental, vision, and supplemental insuranceRelocation assistanceBar dues paid (first 3 years)Career advancement and leadership opportunitiesGym membership and Employee Recognition ProgramsThe position is full-time and exempt. Final offer within the band will be determined by trial record, prior span of control, and demonstrated results in attorney performance and retention.#IND-HP