Legal Operations Lead

Job Description

Job Description

The Legal Production Lead is the operational leader of the firm's legal production team and is responsible for ensuring that client matters move efficiently, accurately, and consistently from engagement through completion.

This role combines case management, client advocacy, team leadership, operational oversight, performance management, and KPI accountability. The Legal Production Lead serves as the primary operational resource for the legal production team and works closely with the Firm Administrator, Managing Attorney, Billing, Attorneys, and other departments to identify and resolve issues that impact client service, profitability, production, or firm performance.

The Legal Production Lead is accountable for knowing the status of the legal production pipeline at all times: What needs to be done? Who owns it? Is it on schedule? What is holding it up? What needs to be escalated?

This position is both a working leader and an operational leader. The Legal Production Lead may carry a caseload and act as a Case Manager while simultaneously ensuring the broader legal production team is meeting firm standards and performance expectations.

Compensation:

$65,000 to start

Responsibilities: Legal Production Operations

• Serve as the operational lead for the Legal Production department.

• Monitor the status of all active legal production matters.

• Ensure required tasks are completed accurately and within established deadlines.

• Identify overdue, stalled, or at-risk matters and take appropriate action.

• Maintain visibility into the legal production pipeline and workload.

• Identify bottlenecks and implement solutions to improve workflow.

• Ensure legal production processes and SOPs are consistently followed.

• Coordinate with attorneys, paralegals, legal assistants, billing, and other departments to keep matters moving.

• Escalate significant production issues to the Firm Administrator and/or Managing Attorney.

• Assist leadership in developing and implementing improvements to legal production processes.

KPI & Performance Management

• Own and maintain the firm's Legal Production KPIs.

• Monitor department performance against established goals and benchmarks.

• Develop and maintain regular KPI reporting for leadership.

• Identify trends, gaps, and performance issues before they become larger problems.

• Track metrics related to production volume, turnaround times, task completion, client communication, invoicing, collections-related workflow, and other departmental KPIs.

• Ensure team members understand the metrics for which they are responsible.

• Use data to identify opportunities for coaching, process improvement, and increased efficiency.

• Participate in regular leadership meetings and provide clear reporting on legal production performance.

Invoicing & Billing Coordination

• Serve as the primary Legal Production partner to Billing regarding invoicing.

• Ensure legal production activities are properly documented and ready for invoicing.

• Review matters for invoicing readiness and identify missing information or documentation.

• Coordinate with Billing to resolve invoicing issues.

• Monitor outstanding production-related billing issues and ensure appropriate follow-up.

• Help identify workflow problems that create billing delays.

• Ensure legal production understands its responsibilities related to billing and invoicing processes.

• Escalate recurring or significant billing/production issues to the Firm Administrator.

Case Management & Client Advocacy

• Serve as a client advocate throughout the legal production process.

• Monitor client experience and identify opportunities to improve communication and service.

• Help resolve client concerns, delays, or service issues.

• Partner with the Firm Administrator and Managing Attorney to resolve escalated client issues.

• Ensure client concerns are documented and appropriately addressed.

• Identify recurring client issues and recommend systemic solutions rather than simply resolving individual problems.

• Maintain appropriate professional boundaries and never provide legal advice outside the scope of the role.

Team Leadership & Coaching

• Provide day-to-day leadership and support to the Legal Production team.

• Coach team members on workflow, productivity, communication, client service, and firm expectations.

• Help team members prioritize competing demands.

• Monitor adherence to established processes and SOPs.

• Identify training needs and recommend appropriate training solutions.

• Provide real-time coaching and feedback when performance or workflow issues arise.

• Recognize strong performance and reinforce positive behaviors.

• Partner with the Firm Administrator on performance management when additional intervention is necessary.

• Help create a culture of accountability, ownership, teamwork, and exceptional client service.

Issue Resolution & Escalation

• Act as the first operational escalation point for Legal Production.

• Troubleshoot issues that prevent matters from moving forward.

• Determine whether an issue can be resolved within the department or requires leadership involvement.

• Partner with the Firm Administrator and Managing Attorney on complex or sensitive client issues.

• Track recurring problems and recommend permanent solutions.

• Ensure issues are documented and resolved rather than repeatedly passed between team members.

• Communicate material risks to leadership promptly.

Quality Control

• Monitor legal production work for compliance with firm processes and standards.

• Identify missing tasks, incomplete documentation, missed deadlines, or workflow gaps.

• Conduct appropriate quality-control reviews.

• Ensure client matters are progressing according to established timelines.

• Help develop and maintain Legal Production SOPs.

• Recommend improvements to processes, templates, workflows, and technology.

Qualifications:

• Experience in legal operations, case management, paralegal work, legal production, client services, or a related professional services environment preferred.

• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple client matters and competing priorities.

• Strong understanding of legal workflow and client service.

• Demonstrated leadership or team-lead experience preferred.

• Strong organizational and project-management skills.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

• Strong problem-solving and decision-making abilities.

• Comfortable working with KPIs, reports, and performance data.

• High attention to detail.

• Strong client-service orientation.

• Ability to handle sensitive client situations with professionalism and discretion.

• Ability to coach and hold team members accountable.

• Comfortable learning and using technology, case-management systems, CRM systems, and reporting tools.

About Company

Hailey-Petty Law Firm, PLLC makes estate planning your Legacy, not a burden for your loved ones.

Our commitment is to support clients at every stage, guided by a few core principles:

• Education. We focus on helping clients fully understand their legal situations and options to ensure they feel informed and confident in making the best decisions.
• Building Trust. We aim to build that trust by maintaining open, transparent communication and providing honest guidance.
• Collaboration. We foster a collaborative environment where clients' thoughts, concerns, and questions are always welcomed, ensuring that our legal strategy reflects their unique perspective.