Wilson Kester · 1 day ago
Managing Attorney
Michigan, United States
Full-time
Hybrid
Director/Executive
10+ years expWilson Kester is seeking a Managing Attorney to lead their legal team towards success. This role involves providing supervision, managing key performance indicators, and ensuring high-quality legal representation while fostering a culture of continuous learning and collaboration within the team.
Law Practice
Hiring Manager
L'Tanya Miles
Responsibilities
Provides direct supervision of 7-10 attorneys and the Case Manager(s)
Attends weekly case reviews of each attorney/paralegal “pod”
Communicates, coaches and trains on standards, expectations, use and deployment of available legal tools and resources within the firm, promoting training and efficient use of available tools, ethical use of available technology in consultation with the leadership team, and use consistent with firm policies and procedures
Conducts bi-weekly 1:1 meetings with each attorney and with Case Manager(s) to provide individualized guidance, support, and performance feedback
Ensures appropriate and balanced workloads, identifying opportunities to allocate work to the lowest cost role capable of performing the work to firm standards, to increase capacity, reduce bottlenecks, and generally improve productivity, profitability, and client value
Ensures the Master Client List (MCL) is maintained as a source of truth for the organization
Promotes an environment where team members feel empowered to contribute ideas
Recognizes and acknowledges contributions by legal team members, while providing performance accountability as necessary and in accordance with policies
Collaborates with department heads as necessary
Attends leadership meetings as representative of the Legal Department as directed
Identifies and communicates areas for improvement and implement solutions to streamline workflows, improve templates, incorporate automations, and otherwise create efficiencies
Ensures the legal team is appropriately supported with legal resources, technology, and tools. In collaboration with the leadership team, assigns and oversees team members to investigate and make recommendations for additional tools to enhance organizational legal operations
Provides exceptional client service by addressing inquiries, directly or indirectly, ensuring client education and understanding around client questions, case strategy, and resolving issues to ensure client satisfaction and inspire positive client reviews
Serves as subject matter expert for legal team, including for complex cases, unique legal issues, and for all client matters
Develops in-house training resources to memorialize and enhance legal acumen
Evaluates and makes recommendations for attorney continuing education opportunities
Fosters a culture of continuous learning and skill development within the legal team and encourages collaboration and knowledge sharing
Identifies and provide opportunities for legal team members to share their talents, expertise and to develop leadership and management skills through professional publications, speaking engagements and other professional development
Oversees attorney participation in the ICLE Partnership Family Law Certificate program, and coordinates attorney attendance at industry events as appropriate
Manages and supports exceptional case management practices across the firm, marked by timeliness, organization, adherence and maintenance of case file standards, naming nomenclature, strategic planning, discovery plan creation, utilization of marital balance sheets, fact development, case progress, creation and clarity of assigned tasks to designated roles, exemplary calendaring practices, and effective documentation management and client communication and education
Supports organization in maintaining 360-degree awareness when a client is not in alignment with fee agreement to avoid conflict and allow early identification of when additional communication, withdrawal, or modification of the scope of legal services are appropriate
Develop, implement, and continuously refine comprehensive legal processes and standard operating procedures (SOPs) for all aspects of legal service delivery, ensuring consistent excellence in client outcomes, enhanced client education and communication protocols, and streamlined workflows that optimize case resolution timelines and quality of results across all practice areas
Coordinates across the organization (Sales, Billing) as necessary to transition cases as part of retention/off-boarding efforts
Ensures accurate/timely recording of time, adherence to firm billing policies and procedures
Ensures adherence to all relevant legal and ethical standards. Avoids and navigates conflicts of interests, and manages/educates the organization on client confidentiality, client secrets, sensitive and/or protected information
Ensure all organizational legal policies and procedures are followed
Performs pre-bill audits to ensure consistency with policies and further ensures employee education to remediate future issues
Protects proprietary firm assets
Supports Human Resources in continual recruitment and hiring of top talent consistent with company strategic objectives. Assesses and appropriately communicates organizational capacity/need. Jointly assesses new candidates for culture fit, professional maturity, and alignment with mission, values, and strategic plans
Manages performance to provide feedback, support growth, manage the improvement process and support retention of the legal team talent
Makes recommendations for, and develops legal team members for promotion, and in consultation the leadership team, identifies, develops and make recommendations for leadership and/or career advancement
Identifies and makes recommendations to the leadership team for family law specializations or legal service offerings
80 hours/month billable hours or 960/year
Meets firm targets by managing KPI’s for each legal team role, setting clear expectations, and providing accountability in accordance with policy and with the support of Human Resources. Provides and receives feedback as necessary
Supports Billing & Collections efforts to avoid Accounts Receivable balances on cases
Reports regularly on legal team performance, including client satisfaction and other key metrics
Direct supervision of 7-10 attorneys
Direct supervision of Case Manager(s)
Indirect supervision of paralegals, legal assistants
Qualification
Required
Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from an accredited law school
Admission to the State Bar of Michigan and in good standing, no disciplinary action in any State
Minimum of 10 years litigation experience, or in a judicial or semi-judicial role, with demonstrated expertise in legal strategy, family law, rules of evidence, negotiation, case management, and litigation
Ability to establish strong client relationships and trust, leading to repeat business and referrals
Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment and prioritize tasks effectively
Business acumen and fiscal management skills
Commitment to upholding ethical standards and maintaining client confidentiality
Commitment to WKEDS firm values
Participation with plan to complete Family Law Certificate Program through ICLE
Proven leadership and management experience, including management of a legal team and overseeing performance evaluations and professional development
Proven record of successful case management and client satisfaction
Record of mentoring and developing junior attorneys. Experience providing feedback on performance and managing accountability against KPI's for individuals and a team
Strong communication, interpersonal and conflict resolution skills
Strong networking and relationship-building abilities
Company
Wilson Kester
At Wilson Kester, we approach each client with commitment to deliver a positive outcome.
11-50 employees
Funding
Current Stage
Early StageCompany data provided by crunchbase