Senior Legal Operations Specialist

Senior Legal Operations Specialist

Requirements

• Extensive experience in vendor management is preferred but not required.
• Highly analytical with mastery of advanced data functions (pivots, vlook, formulas, etc.).
• Willingness to ramp up on new technologies and act as a subject matter expert (e.g., e-Billing, SAP, CLM, Matter Management, etc.)
• Advanced Office 365 experience (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.).
• Excellent negotiation, communication, and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to analyze financial data and legal billing practices effectively.
• Ability to communicate insights clearly, both in writing and verbally, to a diverse audience, accounting for varying subject matter backgrounds.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple relationships and projects simultaneously.
• Ability to interpret and negotiate basic engagement terms.
• Proven ability to effectively collaborate with internal teams.
• Ideally a strong understanding of legal services, law firm operations, and the legal industry landscape.
• Experience in a corporate outside counsel management function or law firm equivalent (pricing, budgeting, project management, etc.) preferred but not required.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain strong, strategic relationships with billing departments to foster collaboration and trust.
• Act as a liaison between internal Legal teams and vendors to ensure seamless information flow.
• Collaborate with internal Legal teams to understand their needs, project scopes, and identify suitable outside counsel for specific matters.
• Ensure alignment of outside counsel services with business objectives and Legal requirements by conducting needs assessments and regular check-ins.
• Manage the onboarding process for new vendors, ensuring they understand expectations and procedures.
• Analyze billing practices, scrutinize invoices, and manage legal spend associated with outside counsel, identifying opportunities for cost savings and efficiencies.
• Negotiate fee structures, billing terms, and other contractual arrangements with vendors to maximize value.
• Prepare and present regular reports on outside counsel performance, engagement metrics, and legal spend to senior management and stakeholders.
• Utilize data analytics to identify trends, performance gaps, and opportunities for improvement in outside counsel relationships.
• Monitor and assess the performance of vendors against established service level agreements (SLAs) and key performance indicators (KPIs).
• Conduct regular reviews of outside counsel engagements, including feedback sessions and performance evaluations, to identify strengths and areas for improvement.
• Implement strategies to enhance vendor quality and efficiencies.
• Develop and implement budgetary controls and processes to better manage vendor spend.
• Ensure that vendors adhere to company policies, compliance requirements, and best practices in risk management.
• Conduct due diligence on outside counsel to assess their capabilities, areas of expertise, and risk profiles.
• Facilitate training sessions for internal teams on best practices for managing vendors and outside counsel relationships, including communication and performance feedback.
• Keep internal stakeholders informed about changes in outside counsel practices, capabilities, and offerings through regular updates and workshops.
• Advise on strategic ad-hoc projects and initiatives.
• Support existing tools and processes.

Preferred Qualifications

• Extensive experience in vendor management is preferred but not required.
• Experience in a corporate outside counsel management function or law firm equivalent (pricing, budgeting, project management, etc.) preferred but not required.