Legal Executive Assistant

Legal Executive Assistant At Ropes & Gray

Ropes & Gray is a preeminent global law firm. The firm has been ranked in the top three on The American Lawyer's prestigious A-List for eight consecutive years and #1 on Law.com's UK A-List twice in the past three years - rankings that honor the "best of the best" law firms. The firm has approximately 2,500 lawyers and professionals serving clients in major centers of business, finance, technology, and government in Boston, Chicago, Dublin, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Milan, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Seoul, Shanghai, Silicon Valley, Singapore, Tokyo and Washington, D.C.The firm has consistently been recognized for its leading practices in many areas, including asset management, private equity, M&A, finance, real estate, tax, antitrust, life sciences, health care, intellectual property, litigation & enforcement, privacy & cybersecurity, and business restructuring. Ropes & Gray is an equal opportunity employer.

Overview

Why become a Legal Executive Assistant (LEA) at Ropes & Gray? Because with great responsibility comes great opportunity. A LEA works alongside industry-leading lawyers to serve as a lawyer's right hand and joins the practice as an integral member of the group. A LEA plays a vital role in managing day-to-day activities by managing the flow of information while screening, organizing and prioritizing requests from both internal and external clients.

Being a LEA at Ropes & Gray is a challenging and rewarding career ideal for a self-starter with high energy who can work independently and identify creative solutions to complex business problems.

Responsibilities

Essential Capabilities

• Demonstrates a track record of supporting partners, senior executives, or other senior-level professionals, earning trust through reliability, discretion, and sound judgment.
• Builds and nurtures strong professional relationships with attorneys, clients, and colleagues at all levels, developing a deep understanding of the practice, the client base, and each attorney's work style and preferences.
• Anticipates needs and shepherds work forward proactively with limited direction, acting as a true extension of the professionals supported.
• Maintains strict confidentiality in all interactions and demonstrates a professional demeanor in appearance, behavior, and communication.
• Possesses exceptional verbal and written communication skills adhering to proper business writing standards, with a keen eye for detail in both formal and informal communications.
• Maintains a positive, solutions-oriented attitude and works effectively across departments, demonstrating intellectual curiosity and a continuous drive to improve service.
• Demonstrates openness to constructive feedback and flexibility to adjust behavior or performance as needed.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

Client Service and Relationship Management

• Develops and maintains strong, trusted relationships with assigned attorneys and their clients. Invests the time to understand each attorney's practice, client roster, and business development priorities so as to serve as a knowledgeable and effective representative on their behalf.
• Acts as a gatekeeper and liaison, prioritizing conflicting demands and handling sensitive matters confidentially, expeditiously, and independently. Follows through on all tasks until successful completion.
• Anticipates attorneys' needs based on an intimate knowledge of their work habits, preferences, and upcoming commitments. Keeps attorneys well-informed and moves work forward with minimal direction, suggesting process improvements to expedite projects and day-to-day workflow.
• Maintains professional relationships with a range of internal and external clients, and professional organizations on behalf of assigned attorneys. Keeps client contacts current in InterAction and maintains detailed client and matter lists.
• Fosters open and frequent communication with teammates to ensure smooth and continuous first-class service to assigned lawyers, including cross-training to maintain service standards during absences.

Research and Proactive Support

• Conducts research as directed by assigned attorneys, gathering and synthesizing information from internal and external sources to support client matters, business development, and practice management.
• Proactively coaches attorneys to delegate non-billable tasksincluding printing, scanning, copying, binding, filing, notary services, document preparation, and package shipmentallowing them to focus on legal work and client engagement.

AI-Enabled Administration and Technology

• Leverages artificial intelligence tools to manage high-volume email inboxes efficiently, including triaging, organizing, drafting routine responses, and flagging priority communications per attorney preferences.
• Applies AI and other technology solutions to gain efficiencies across core administrative functions such as scheduling, document handling, expense processing, and information management.
• Monitors and manages attorneys' Outlook inboxes, organizing folder structures and ensuring client- and matter-related documents and emails are properly stored in iManage Workspaces.
• Demonstrates exceptional proficiency with Microsoft Outlook and the full Microsoft Office suite, utilizing creative problem-solving skills to manage complex scheduling across multiple lawyers, clients, offices, and time zones.

Billing Management

• Efficiently reconciles and processes expenses. Reviews inbox, diary entries, calendars, and other items to classify business and personal expenses. Reviews Chrome River and American Express accounts to allocate expense items, collaborating with internal and external resources to address outstanding items within the payment window.
• Actively manages timekeepers' diaries, creating draft entries based on knowledge of attorney activity and reviewing entries for conformity to best practices. Proactively manages attorneys to ensure entries meet submission deadlines.
• Communicates and collaborates with assigned billing coordinators, coordinating the review of proformas, tracking edits and updates, and facilitating final approval of bills to ensure timely delivery to clients.

Project Management

• Composes, edits, and proofreads correspondence, presentations, and other documents with exceptional attention to detail and strong document production skills.
• Proactively coordinates internal and external meetings with limited direction, arranging all logistics including visitor offices, conference rooms, videoconference links, and dial-in numbers as appropriate.
• Applies best practices when arranging travel, utilizing agent-assist and online tools. Monitors travel to ensure smooth arrivals and departures, maintains up-to-date travel preferences, and manages airline check-in and boarding passes as needed.

Training and Professional Development

• Actively contributes in team huddles, focus groups, lunch-and-learns, and other knowledge-sharing activities, including the mentor program as appropriate.
• Maintains subject-matter-level expertise in the firm's core applications and adheres to established best practices. Stays current on emerging technologies, including AI-driven productivity tools, and shares insights with colleagues.

Other Responsibilities

• Performs other work-related duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• College degree or equivalent.
• Minimum of five years of experience providing direct administrative support to partners, senior executives, or other senior-level professionals, preferably in a law firm or professional services environment.
• Demonstrated use of artificial intelligence tools (e.g., AI-assisted email management, scheduling assistants, or document automation) to drive efficiency in day-to-day administrative work.
• Expert proficiency with the Microsoft Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook).
• Proven ability to build and sustain strong relationships with professionals and clients at all levels, with a genuine curiosity about the business and a commitment to understanding client needs.
• Strong organizational skills reflecting the ability to seamlessly perform and prioritize multiple tasks with excellent attention to detail.
• Expert written and verbal communication skills.
• Proactive approach to problem-solving, with strong decision-making capability and the ability to work independently with sound judgment.
• Ability to conduct research and synthesize information clearly and concisely.
• A track record of anticipating needs, exercising discretion, and moving work forward on behalf of the professionals supported.

Compensation and Total Rewards Package

Ropes & Gray is proud to offer a comprehensive Total Rewards package to our business support team members. The firm also offers comprehensive health and well-being benefits, personal and professional development, career growth opportunities and a collegial and supportive culture. The anticipated pay range for this role is listed below and represents our good faith and reasonable estimate of the starting salary range at the time