Senior Manager, Legal Operations

Job Description

Job Description

Description

The Social Justice Legal Foundation seeks an experienced, resourceful, and detail-oriented operations manager, legal professional, or attorney to join our team as Senior Manager of Legal Operations.  Reporting to the Executive Director, the Senior Manager of Legal Operations will develop systems that enable and support the work of our litigators, both within SJLF and across its pro bono support teams of legal assistants and paralegals.  This is a unique role for a flexible, resourceful person who wants to leverage a background in either fast-paced operations or in a legal environment to help a young nonprofit build its litigation capacity and ensure its resources are strategically and efficiently deployed.  The ideal candidate will have a demonstrated interest in social and racial justice issues and will thrive in developing this role alongside the Executive Director.

This role is hybrid and will require significant in-person responsibility at our downtown Los Angeles office every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, as well as the occasional Monday and / or Friday.

What You'll Do

This is a unique role combining elements of operations management, legal case management, and nonprofit administration.  The key responsibilities are below, but the ideal candidate will be willing to jump in on any number of cross-functional projects and implement solutions to a variety of operational challenges.

Legal Practice Development & Management

• Monitor resource allocation within the legal team and, with the Executive Director and Fellowship Director, assist in decision-making based on strategic and programmatic objectives
• Work with the Fellowship Director to develop fellowship pipelines at law schools and clinics and develop opportunities for year-round legal work and special projects
• Administer case management systems through Asana and SharePoint, working with attorney case leads to project-manage complex litigation and assist in staffing
• Develop strategies and systems to properly leverage existing pro bono paralegal and legal assistant support and to systematically expand pro bono relationships
• Support SJLF’s litigators in the day-to-day management of pro bono legal assistance and support, including managing staffing of legal support, new matter openings and close-outs, document retention, conflicts checks, tracking of client information, docketing, and file management
• Working with the Executive Director, and in consultation with the senior litigators, identify and pursue ways to improve work and information flow within case teams
• Working with the Executive Director, and in consultation with the senior litigators, identify and implement best practices, including for retainer agreements, timekeeping, expense-splitting, and co-counsel agreements
• Oversee the orientation and training of new staff, in coordination with senior litigators and Fellowship Director
• Oversee case schedule and deadlines for SJLF cases
• Draft materials highlighting SJLF’s docket and work for external audiences
• Ensure SJLF has the software and tools it needs from high-quality legal vendors and serve as primary contact for all vendors, including document management and review vendors, deposition and trial vendors, translators, legal research vendors, and others

Organizational Operations

Human Resources & Teams

What You'll Bring

The following list of core competencies and experiences is meant to provide insight into the general level of experience we seek in candidates.  We encourage all qualified candidates and those with relevant or transferable experience to apply, even if you are new to mission-based work, returning to work after a gap in employment, or transitioning from a different sector.

Preferred Qualifications & Pluses :

What We Offer

We care deeply about making SJLF an incredible place to work, so in addition to competitive pay, we offer great benefits to support our team and are always looking for ways to improve those offerings.  Currently, they include :

Beyond those tangible benefits, though :