Practice Support Project Manager

Practice Support Project Manager

Charlotte, NC; Chapel Hill, NC

Summary

This position supports the Practice Support department with analytical thinking and complex technical legal practice through application development, validation management, workflow analysis, project management and attorney training. The focus of this position is utilizing and creating best practices, handling complex legal matters and furthering the mission of Practice Support within the firm and abroad.

Responsibilities

• Maintain mastery of skills with all firm technology used at the firm and further develop nuances and better users within firm technology
• Help others in practice support with the creation of written best practice guidelines, work flows, and forms to apply within the department or in case/deal management.
• Develop workflows and changes for firm-wide use in document review software and case management software (e.g. document preservation and document production spreadsheets)
• Train attorneys, paralegals and staff on case management tools and other technology as well as best practices in leveraging technology for the most efficient practice of law
• Work with the director of practice support to develop and run annual training for newly assigned litigation attorneys on firm processes and available tools
• Present e-discovery updates and new litigation tools to litigation department at monthly meetings as appropriate
• Present corporate technology updates and new corporate technology tools to corporate department at monthly meetings as appropriate
• Maintain firm documentation of all ESI received from clients and copies of all outgoing ESI from the firm.
• Closely monitors project/case status and provides routine status reports including task completion reports and data delivery schedules
• Handle destructions and archival of all client matter data under firm retention policy guidelines.
• The position is responsible for providing consulting and project management services supporting all practice groups.
• The position will serve as the single point of contact for members of the legal team, other internal firm resources, and third-party vendors that have been engaged to provide electronic discovery, trial support, and related services.
• Specific areas of responsibility include: providing consulting services to legal teams; gathering and analyzing project requirements; preparing written project plans for client approval; managing the approved project plan regarding budget, schedule, and the quality and timeliness of all deliverables; managing external providers of the practice support department and related services; design and administration of firm applications
• Owing to the extensive consulting and project management experience required to function effectively in the position, the Project Manager will be assigned, and will be expected to manage effectively, the most demanding and complex among the matters supported by Practice Support
• Provide in-house consulting services to all firm practices regarding the use of technology to provide more efficient practice of law.
• Provide education and guidance to lawyers and paralegals regarding firm technologies, best practices, and benefits and risks.
• Prepare comprehensive project plans to meet matter requirements throughout the case/deal lifecycle, including those on specific legal points
• Manage and oversee the implementation of project plans within budget and schedule constraints and report regularly to the legal team regarding actual versus projected costs and schedule milestones.
• Interface with IT staff to ensure data integrity, security, and access.
• Assess trial support requirements and use a mix of in-house and external resources to satisfy these requirements.
• Help with the in-firm marketing of the Practice Support capabilities and services and in the assessment and implementation of new technologies, practices, and products.
• Track and record all time worked contemporaneously and accurately.
• Knowledge of presentation technology available in the market and consideration of which are best-suited for use at the firm
• Knowledge of presentation best practices
• Stay current with law and technology advances in electronic discovery and all other practice group functions
• Other Duties as assigned

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in related field of study or equivalent relevant experience.
• Minimum of three years of litigation/practice support experience in a law firm OR at least five years of project management with a vendor of legal services.
• Complete understanding of Electronic Discovery guidelines, including preservation, collection, processing and production protocol and ability to apply them to complex litigation cases
• Understanding about how corporate deals work and how a deal process gets done. Ability to apply different types of technology to help the corporate practice.
• Ability to organize and focus on many tasks and complete them under time constraints. Ability to concentrate and pay close attention to detail when evaluating legal matters.
• Able to handle stress and high pressure situations
• Project and Task Management: manages the implementation of projects and tasks in a timely and directed manner; plans, designs and executes projects or tasks with well-defined goals and outcomes; determines appropriate implementation strategies, tools and technologies; adapts to changing work priorities and workplace practices; establishes priorities to meet deadlines; carries out multiple tasks or projects.
• Critical Thinking & Problem Solving: recognizes problems or situations that are new or without clear precedent; evaluates alternatives and find solutions using a systematic, multi-step approach; develops improvements and innovations to enhance performance. Able to prioritize tasks and perform under tight deadlines
• Impeccable communication and organizational skills: excellence in both written and oral communications whether in person, on the phone, or email; able to prioritize and multitask in a fast paced environment with tight deadlines; able to organize self and work environment for efficiency and ready access to critical information
• Extreme attention to detail is required
• Mastery in a broad variety of information technology software systems including but not limited to: CaseMap, TextMap, Relativity, Eclipse SE, Legal Anywhere, DocuSign, ECapture
• Ability to effectively troubleshoot, (quickly identify problem areas or situations, evaluate probable causes) and take appropriate action to resolve issues
• Customer service attitude towards all staff including attorneys, paralegals and assistants when asked to help out with a matter or perform a specific task in any department
• Ability to provide technology training to individuals or groups, to continually learn and provide instruction on a variety of software applications
• Not easily intimidated/fearful of asking questions of a superior or attorney. Able to diplomatically point out when either is wrong in their assessments of situations.

Compensation

The estimated salary range for this role is $110,000 – $120,000 (exempt).

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