Legal Executive Assistant

Legal Executive Assistant

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

• Supports and demonstrates fluency in the Firm's Trusted Advisor and Proactive Assistance programs.
• Demonstrates a professional demeanor in appearance and behavior.
• Maintains strict confidentiality in all interactions.
• Possesses exceptional verbal and written communication skills adhering to proper business writing standards while demonstrating a keen eye for detail in informal and formal communications.
• Works effectively with other departments, seeking solutions to business problems and demonstrates a solid ability to communicate with all levels of the organization.
• Possesses strong interpersonal skills, maintains a positive and professional attitude at all times (i.e. an openness to constructive feedback and a flexibility to adjust behavior or performance as needed) and demonstrates an intellectual curiosity and continuous drive to improve service.
• Composes, edits and proofreads correspondence, presentations and other documents while demonstrating exceptional technological/document production skills.
• Monitors lawyer's inbox. Cleans-up, organizes and/or responds per lawyer preferences. Organizes and cleans up Outlook folder structure. Ensures client/matter related documents and emails are stored in iManage Workspaces.
• Organize and maintain paper and electronic files in accordance with Firm records retention policies.
• Applies best practices when arranging travel, utilizing agent assist and on-line tools appropriately and maintains up-to-date travel preferences (frequent flyers, Known Traveler Number, passport, etc.).
• Monitors lawyers' travel to ensure smooth arrival and departure.
• Provides superior client service with internal and external clients displaying a proactive, "can do" attitude when meeting individuals, answering telephone calls, and acting on behalf of the lawyers.
• Assist with new client and new matter intake utilizing prescribed best practices, monitor progress and follow-up as necessary.
• Acts as the gatekeeper prioritizing conflicting needs. Handles matters confidentially, expeditiously, proactively and independently and follows through on tasks until successful completion.
• Demonstrates intimate knowledge of lawyers' work habits and preferences. Anticipates needs and shepherds work forward with limited direction and can suggest new processes/procedures to expedite projects and day-to-day workflow.
• Maintains a professional relationship with other legal counsel, courts, agencies and professional organizations on behalf of the lawyer.
• Works closely with, and effectively manages, lawyers' practice to keep him/her well informed of upcoming commitments and responsibilities, following up appropriately.
• Maintains updated client contacts in InterAction, as well as detailed client/matter lists.
• Obtains subject matter expert level knowledge of the billing process.
• Actively manages lawyers' diaries. Creates draft entries based on knowledge of lawyer activity, review of inbox, diary entries or other knowledge. Edits and reviews entries to ensure conformity to best practices.
• Proactively manages lawyers to ensure entries meet submission, target and year-end deadlines.
• Proactively communicates and collaborates with assigned billing coordinators. Coordinates the proper review of proformas, tracks, edits and updates, and facilitates final approval of bill to ensure timely delivery to client.
• Efficiently reconciles and processes expenses.
• Reviews inbox, diary entries, calendar and other items to classify business and personal expenses.
• Reviews Chrome River and American Express Card to allocate expense items by obtaining receipts from lawyer or other means if available and collaborate with internal or external resources to address all outstanding Chrome River or AMEX items within payment window, running inquiries when necessary.
• Proactively coaches lawyers to delegate non-billable tasks to their LEA allowing the lawyer to focus on legal work and engage in their practice. Tasks include, but are not limited to, printing, scanning, copying/binding, filing, notary services, document preparation and package shipment.
• Demonstrates an exceptional understanding of Microsoft Outlook while utilizing creative problem solving to solve challenging scheduling requirements. Manages multiple calendars and supports scheduling requirements across multiple lawyers, clients, offices and time zones.
• Proactively coordinates internal/external meetings with limited direction. Arranges proper logistics based on meeting requirements (visitor offices, conference room, video conference and dial-in number, as appropriate).
• Tracks lawyers' business development activities utilizing firm prescribed best practices and software. Fosters open and frequent communication with teammates to ensure smooth and expeditious support to assigned lawyers. Cross-trains teammates ensuring same first-class service while away or out of the office.
• Maintains collaborative and respectful relationships with teammates, managers, and firmwide colleagues, in line with the firm's core values and one-firm approach.
• Actively contributes to secretarial huddles and other team related activities.
• Participates in focus groups, lunch and learns, and other knowledge sharing activities including the mentor program, when necessary.
• Maintains subject matter level expertise in the Firm's core applications and understands and adheres to best practices.
• Performs other work-related duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• College degree or equivalent.
• Expert proficiency with the MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook) applications.
• Strong organizational skills that reflect ability to seamlessly perform and prioritize multiple tasks with excellent attention to detail.
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to build relationships with internal and external lawyers, staff and clients.
• Expert written and verbal communication skills.
• Proactive approach to problem-solving and strong decision-making capability.

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 of posting. In addition, this role is eligible for a discretionary bonus based on performance. The actual offered rate for this position will be determined based on job-related, non-discriminatory factors, including qualifications and experience, geographic location, education, external market data and consideration of internal equity.

• San Francisco, CA ($87,500 - $133,450)

Working Conditions

This position requires hybrid on-site presence as an essential function of the role. Consistent and predictable on-site presence is required for ongoing business continuity, professional development and effective collaboration with colleagues and management.