Rates Analyst

New York, NY Washington, DC, Austin, TX, Dallas, TX or Houston, TX, or Los Angeles, CA

Summary

Responsible for review, setup, and modification of timekeeper rates, client and matter level pricing, and alternative fee arrangement (AFAs) in the firm’s billing system, as well as providing assistance to firm lawyers and staff with light to moderate pricing analysis in connection with annual rate reviews and client proposals.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for the input and maintenance of timekeeper and client pricing in the Firm’s financial system, including timekeeper, client, and matter level rates as well as AFAs; includes verifying pricing requests and required approvals as well as communicating changes to billing coordinators and others.
• Collaborate with pricing personnel to provide consultation to billing coordinators and partners regarding rates and AFAs to determine best practices to achieve desired pricing results and consistency with firm philosophy and policies.
• Monitors timekeepers based on changes in practice group, office or rank and verifies and implements related rate changes.
• Assists Billing and Collections Manager and firm’s Billing Rate Committee with the annual timekeeper rate review process, including database maintenance, survey review and analysis, and preparation of reports as needed.
• Participate in the annual client rate review process, including communicating with billing attorneys to identify clients and matters that require advance notice for annual rate increases and/or e-billing requirements for rate approvals or other special requirements, and working closely with the Billing Manager and Billing Supervisor to ensure all are updated without delays in billing.
• Maintains foreign currency setup for timekeeper and client pricing.
• Assists in the development and document processes relating to pricing and rates.
• Assists with the implementation of queries, tables, databases and new forms for rate and other billing-related processes, coordinating with IT for set-up and support; assists in the design of queries and reports for ad-hoc requests not contained in pre-fabricated queries, including reporting from rates database and Web Intelligence tool.
• Prepares information for surveys such as the annual PricewaterhouseCoopers’ billing rate survey and Peer Monitor, and provides analysis of information as requested.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree preferably in finance, accounting or a related field.
• Five years’ experience in professional firm billing, pricing and analysis or related functions.
• Experience with Aderant or similar billing system; familiarity with law firm billing processes and pricing structure; knowledge of financial modeling and project coordination preferred.
• Proficient use of PC and knowledge of MS Office, including expert knowledge of Excel. Ability to learn new software and database applications quickly. SQL experience preferred.
• Must have excellent written and oral communication skills and be able to prioritize and resolve problems in a timely manner. Must be able to gather and analyze information skillfully. Ability to provide excellent customer service and adapt to change effectively. Must be able to work effectively in a team environment under tight deadlines, and to work under pressure, maintaining composure in stressful situations.  Manage time and multiple projects effectively.
• Ability to maintain confidential information.