San Diego Elder Law Center is a full-service estate planning, trust and probate administration firm founded in 1997 by Attorney Philip Lindsley. Phil is a nationally recognized Certified Elder Law Attorney (CELA) and a State Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trusts and Probate. San Diego Elder Law Center is recognized as the region’s premier Elder and Special Needs law firm, focusing on long term care challenges, incapacity planning and advocacy, asset protection, Medi-Cal/Medicaid benefits, and Special Needs Planning. Our two mottos, "We're here to help", and "Our Knowledge, Your Peace of Mind" both speak to the core philosophy of our team. We take particular pride in knowing that we can bring relief and reassurance to our clients, many of whom are navigating difficult or uncertain circumstances.

Law Firm Administrator / Director of Operations

San Diego Elder Law Center – San Diego, California

We are an established and respected San Diego law firm practicing Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Administration, Elder Law, and Special Needs Law. We currently have approximately 15 total employee. We have an excellent firm culture and team approach.  We are seeking an experienced Law Firm Administrator / Director of Operations to assume substantial responsibility for the business and administrative operations of the firm.

This is a senior management position. We are not looking for someone who simply executes administrative assignments or waits for direction. We are looking for an experienced law-firm administrator who understands how a well-run law practice operates, recognizes what needs attention, establishes priorities, delegates appropriately, follows through, and brings significant issues and recommendations to the Managing Attorney.

The successful candidate should be capable of becoming a meaningful operational resource to firm leadership relatively quickly. Familiarity with our particular areas of law is not required. Substantial experience managing the operations of a law firm is essential.

The Role

The Law Firm Administrator will have primary responsibility for coordinating and overseeing the firm's non-legal operations and will supervise and work through other members of our administrative staff.

The Administrator will meet regularly with the Managing Attorney to review firm operations, personnel, financial and performance information, pending issues, and longer-term priorities. The Managing Attorney will remain available for consultation and decisions requiring attorney or ownership involvement, but the Administrator will be expected to exercise independent judgment and take ownership of matters within the Administrator's areas of responsibility.

Our objective is straightforward: the Managing Attorney should not need to personally identify, initiate, assign and follow up on every administrative matter in order for it to get done.

Primary Responsibilities

Responsibilities will include substantial ownership of:

Firm Operations and Administration

• Direct and oversee the day-to-day administrative operations of the firm.
• Identify operational problems, inefficiencies, and emerging needs and develop practical solutions before they become larger problems.
• Establish, maintain, and improve administrative procedures, workflows, policies, and internal controls.
• Determine what needs to be handled personally and what should be delegated to other administrative personnel, and ensure delegated matters are completed.
• Coordinate administrative projects and firm initiatives from planning through implementation and follow-through.
• Assist firm leadership in evaluating growth, staffing, technology, and operational priorities.

Personnel and Human Resources

• Oversee recruiting, hiring, onboarding, orientation, personnel administration, and offboarding.
• Supervise administrative employees and help coordinate effective supervision and accountability throughout the firm.
• Maintain and improve job descriptions, personnel policies, performance review systems, and management procedures.
• Work with supervisors and firm leadership to identify performance issues early and see that they are addressed.
• Coordinate employee benefits, leave administration, payroll-related personnel information, and relationships with outside HR and benefits professionals as appropriate.
• Promote a professional, accountable, collegial workplace in which expectations are clear and problems are addressed rather than allowed to drift.

Performance Management and KPIs

• Work with firm leadership to establish, refine, monitor, and report meaningful key performance indicators for attorneys, paralegals, and administrative staff.
• Regularly review productivity, utilization, billing, collections, workflow, caseload and other relevant performance information.
• Develop useful dashboards and management reports that allow leadership to recognize trends and problems early.
• Follow up with attorneys and staff regarding established performance expectations and identified issues.
• Help distinguish between an individual performance problem, a workload or staffing problem, and a systems or workflow problem, and recommend appropriate responses.
• Ensure that data collected by the firm is converted into useful management information rather than simply accumulated.

The Administrator will not supervise attorneys' substantive legal judgment or the quality of their legal advice. The Administrator will, however, be expected to understand and monitor the business and operational aspects of attorney performance.

Financial and Business Administration

• Oversee and coordinate billing, accounts receivable, collections, accounts payable, payroll administration, banking, and financial reporting, working with internal personnel and outside accounting professionals as appropriate.
• Participate in preparation and monitoring of firm budgets.
• Monitor revenue, expenses, collections, profitability, staffing costs and other financial indicators important to management of the practice.
• Identify unusual trends or developing concerns and bring them to firm leadership with sufficient information to permit informed decisions.
• Assist in evaluation of compensation, staffing levels, major expenditures, vendor contracts, and other business decisions.

Technology and Information Systems

• Oversee the firm's administrative use of practice-management and other technology systems, including effective use of Clio and related applications.
• Work with internal and outside technology resources to ensure that systems support efficient firm operations.
• Identify opportunities to improve workflow, reporting, document management, automation, and information access.
• Coordinate implementation and adoption of new technology and processes when appropriate.
• Maintain appropriate attention to security, confidentiality, backup, access controls, and business continuity.

Vendors, Facilities and General Administration

• Oversee significant vendor relationships, contracts, purchasing, equipment and facilities matters.
• Ensure that administrative needs of attorneys and staff are anticipated and addressed.
• Manage outside providers and consultants and hold them accountable for agreed services and results.
• Coordinate insurance, records, office systems, regulatory and administrative compliance, and other operational matters as appropriate.

What We Are Looking For

The successful candidate will have:

• Significant, recent experience managing the administrative operations of a law firm.
• Demonstrated responsibility across several of the following areas: personnel/HR, financial administration, performance management, law-firm technology, facilities, vendors, and general operations.
• Experience supervising employees and successfully delegating work through an administrative team.
• A solid understanding of law-firm economics, billing and collections, attorney and paralegal productivity, and the operational metrics used to manage a professional-services practice.
• Experience developing, monitoring, and using KPIs and other management information to improve performance.
• The judgment and confidence to address problems proactively, including personnel and performance problems.
• The ability to move comfortably between higher-level management issues and hands-on problem solving.
• Excellent organizational, communication, follow-through, and interpersonal skills.
• High professional standards and discretion in handling confidential financial, personnel, client, and firm information.
• The ability to work effectively with attorneys and other professionals who expect both competence and sound judgment.

Experience with our specific substantive practice areas is not required. Experience understanding and operating a law firm is.

Experience with Clio or a comparable legal practice-management platform is desirable.

Professional education or credentials relevant to law-firm management, human resources, finance, or business administration — including Association of Legal Administrators experience or Certified Legal Manager (CLM) credentials — are welcome, but demonstrated ability and experience are more important than credentials alone.

The Person We Hope to Find

We are particularly interested in someone who has reached the point in their career where they can walk into an established law practice, learn how it operates, ask intelligent questions, and begin taking responsibility.

We expect there will be things to learn about our firm. We do not expect an experienced administrator to arrive knowing our people, history, or systems on the first day. We do expect the successful candidate already to understand the business of operating a law firm.

This position will work closely with the Managing Attorney, but its success will ultimately be measured in part by how much less day-to-day administrative management needs to pass through the Managing Attorney.

Position: Full-time

 Location: San Diego, California

 Compensation: $115,000 to $145,000 plus bonus opportunity

Benefits: Retirement pan, Health, Dental, Life and Disability Insurance

Resumes without cover letter will not be considered. Cover letter should discuss why your are applying to be the Office Administrator/Director of Operations at San Diego Elder Law Center