Litigation Department Manager- Charlotte, NC

Job Description

Job Description

Position Overview

McIntyre Elder Law is seeking an experienced Litigation Department Manager to lead the day-to-day operations of our Litigation Department across multiple North Carolina offices.

We are looking for an experienced litigation paralegal who is ready to take the next step into meaningful department leadership.

This is not simply a senior paralegal position with supervisory responsibilities. Although the Litigation Department Manager must have strong substantive litigation skills and be willing to step into case work when necessary, the primary responsibility of this position is to make sure the entire Litigation Department functions effectively.

That means ensuring cases are moving, responsibilities are clearly assigned, deadlines are protected, workloads are appropriately distributed, attorneys and paralegals have the support they need, and problems are identified before they become emergencies.

We are looking for someone who takes ownership, provides structure, delegates effectively, follows through, and is comfortable holding others accountable.

What You'll Do:

Lead the Litigation Department

• Manage and provide day-to-day direction to litigation paralegals across multiple offices.
• Coordinate workloads, assignments, and priorities across the department.
• Establish clear ownership of cases, projects, and assignments.
• Delegate work effectively and follow through to ensure completion.
• Hold team members accountable for timely and accurate work.
• Train, mentor, and develop litigation paralegals.
• Identify staffing, workload, performance, and communication issues and address them proactively.
• Maintain a positive, professional, accountable, and solutions-oriented department culture.

Keep Cases Moving

• Maintain department-level visibility into active litigation matters.
• Ensure new cases are properly handed off to the responsible attorney and paralegal.
• Monitor significant deadlines, hearings, mediations, depositions, trials, and other critical events.
• Identify stalled or underprepared matters and ensure appropriate action is taken.
• Make sure attorneys have appropriate paralegal support and that responsibilities are clearly assigned.
• Monitor case-management systems and workflows to ensure they are being consistently used.
• Identify problems, bottlenecks, and risks before they become emergencies.

Manage Risk and Communication

• Maintain awareness of significant upcoming deadlines and case events.
• Identify potential deadline, discovery, client-service, staffing, or workflow problems.
• Escalate significant risks to firm leadership when appropriate.
• Provide firm leadership with concise, reliable visibility into the overall health of the Litigation Department.
• Communicate regularly with attorneys regarding case status, priorities, staffing needs, and upcoming events.

Provide Substantive Litigation Support  When Needed

The successful candidate must have the technical skills of a highly experienced litigation paralegal and be capable of stepping into substantive work when circumstances require it, including:

• Preparing pleadings, discovery, subpoenas, notices, and correspondence;
• Assisting with hearings, depositions, mediations, and trials;
• Managing exhibits, discovery materials, medical records, and case documentation; and
• Coordinating with clients, courts, opposing counsel, experts, and vendors.

However, this position is not intended to carry a traditional full paralegal caseload.

The Manager's success will be measured primarily by how effectively the department performs, not by how many individual tasks the Manager personally completes.

What Success Looks Like

Our ideal Litigation Department Manager creates a department where:

• Every case has clear ownership.
• Cases consistently move forward.
• Important deadlines do not become surprises.
• Attorneys and paralegals understand their responsibilities and priorities.
• Work is delegated to the right people and followed through to completion.
• Workloads are visible and appropriately distributed.
• Stalled matters and emerging problems are identified early.
• Attorneys receive reliable litigation support.
• Leadership knows about significant risks before they become crises.
• The department becomes stronger and less dependent upon any one person over time.

In short, we are looking for someone whose mindset is:

“I don't have to personally do everything—but I am responsible for making sure everything gets done.”

Who We're Looking For:

The successful candidate will be:

• An experienced litigation paralegal with strong technical knowledge.
• A natural leader who is comfortable providing direction and accountability.
• Highly organized and capable of seeing both the details and the larger picture.
• Proactive rather than reactive.
• Comfortable delegating instead of simply absorbing additional work.
• Able to anticipate problems and take action before being asked.
• Confident addressing performance, workload, and workflow issues.
• Solutions-focused and willing to bring recommendations, not just problems.
• Dependable, responsive, and strong on follow-through.
• An excellent communicator who works well with attorneys, paralegals, clients, and firm leadership.
• Someone who takes pride in building a high-performing team, not merely being a high-performing individual contributor.

Qualifications

• Significant litigation-paralegal experience required.
• Prior supervisory, team-lead, training, or management experience strongly preferred.
• Strong knowledge of litigation procedure, discovery, court filings, calendaring, and deadline management.
• Experience managing substantial caseloads and competing priorities.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong organizational and time-management skills.
• Ability to exercise independent judgment and take initiative.
• Experience with legal case-management software and modern office technology.
• North Carolina litigation experience strongly preferred.
• Experience in a multi-office law firm environment is a plus.

Schedule & Location

This is a full-time position based in our Charlotte, North Carolina office, with responsibility for supporting and managing litigation operations across all firm offices.

The Litigation Department Manager will occasionally be expected to attend and assist with firm seminars or events outside normal office hours, typically approximately one seminar per month depending on the firm's event schedule.

Eligible time worked outside regular working hours will be compensated in accordance with firm policy and applicable law. Mileage for approved seminar-related travel will be reimbursed in accordance with firm policy.

At McIntyre Elder Law, we’re dedicated to assisting North Carolina and South Carolina families, seniors, and their loved ones as they plan for the future.

Company Description

At McIntyre Elder Law, we’re dedicated to assisting North Carolina and South Carolina families, seniors, and their loved ones as they plan for the future.