Legal Operations Manager

About Us

Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C. (SDV) is a nationally recognized law firm dedicated exclusively to representing policyholders in insurance coverage disputes. With headquarters in Connecticut and offices in California and Florida, we handle complex, high-stakes matters across the country.

We are proud to be Mansfield Certified, reflecting our commitment to equitable talent practices, inclusive leadership development, and a diverse, collaborative workplace. At SDV, your ideas are heard, your growth is supported, and your impact is visible.

Role Overview

The Legal Operations Manager is the firm’s operational owner of matter flow and the direct manager responsible for leading, developing, and supporting the legal support staff, including paralegals, legal assistants, and clerks. The LOM ensures that support staff receive clear expectations, consistent coaching, workflow guidance, and growth opportunities aligned with firm needs.

In addition to managing and developing the legal support team, the LOM monitors attorney workloads, identifies gaps in capacity, and proactively ensures new attorneys receive appropriate matter assignments to build their workload and integration into the practice. The LOM maintains visibility into who is staffed on what matters across the firm and works closely with Professional Development and Managing Partners to place new attorneys on suitable matters based on skills, development needs, and availability.

The LOM also reallocates work for legal support and attorneys, ensures coverage for leaves and redistribution upon departures, drives adoption of the matter‑management system, and delivers reporting leaders need to balance demand, skills, and capacity across the practice. The LOM partners with PD and HR when performance or development needs arise.

Core Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain level‑specific curricula (first‑year, mid‑level, senior; paralegal/assistant paths) for coverage law and litigation skills; measure impact and iterate.
• Maintain a learning roadmap aligned with firm strategy and competencies.
• Own end‑to‑end orientation for new attorneys and legal support; coordinate with HR on start logistics and with LOM to align early assignments to learning goals.
• Coordinate Caret Legal, Westlaw, and research tool training with SMEs.
• Plan and execute Summer Associate Program structure, rotations within the program, feedback, and events across offices; conduct mid‑ and end‑of‑summer reviews.
• Assist Talent Acquisition Lead in coordination of OCI logistics (scheduling, materials, school liaison). OCI interviews are conducted by attorneys (alumni preferred).
• Oversee firmwide CLE tracking and reporting; manage bar admissions, pro hac vice, and renewals via PD Coordinators; maintain a compliance calendar and documentation standards.
• Standardize mentorship cadence and expectations; design mentor training; ensure feedback loops inform curricula and coaching resources.
• Maintain a menu of vetted external education programs; manage professional association memberships and participation, aligning spend to development priorities.
• Lead the PD Coordinators; manage the PD budget (CLE, admissions, memberships, programming); report participation and outcomes.
• Own the lifecycle of all firmwide training resources, including creation, maintenance, version control, and retirement of outdated materials.
• Audit firmwide training content regularly to ensure accuracy, alignment with current legal standards, and consistency.
• Develop a centralized knowledge hub (templates, guides, playbooks, checklists, exemplars) and ensure easy access for attorneys and legal support staff.
• Partner with subject‑matter experts to update technical materials, ensuring content reflects evolving case law, coverage trends, and firm best practices.
• Design and coordinate internal training series (e.g., litigation fundamentals, coverage bootcamps, writing workshops, case strategy labs, leadership fundamentals).
• Recruit internal SMEs to deliver training, and support them in creating clear, high‑quality training materials.
• Manage all logistics for internal training sessions, including scheduling, communications, materials preparation, and follow‑up evaluations.
• Track attendance, engagement, and learning outcomes to inform curriculum refinement and leadership reporting.
• Identify, vet, and manage relationships with external training providers, including CLE vendors, writing/advocacy trainers, and professional skills consultants.
• Evaluate external programs for quality, cost‑effectiveness, and alignment with attorney skill‑building needs.
• Coordinate registration, budgeting, and communication for attorneys attending external CLEs, conferences, or workshops.
• Leverage external offerings to fill internal training gaps, ensuring a holistic and scalable development portfolio.

Qualifications

• 7 years in legal operations/legal support management/professional services operations.
• Paralegal Certificate or 7 years of paralegal experience, Bachelor’s degree or other advanced degree preferred.
• Demonstrated success managing work allocation at scale and implementing workflow or matter‑management systems.
• Strong communication, stakeholder management, conflict resolution, and change‑management skills.
• Multi‑office law firm experience; exposure to insurance coverage/litigation workflows.
• Experience leading operational technology rollouts and process standardization.
• JD or advanced degree (not required).

Benefits

• Competitive compensation with year-end performance-based bonus.
• Generous PTO and hybrid work arrangements.
• Comprehensive health, dental, vision, and additional insurance options.
• 401(k) with firm match.
• Robust professional development, training, and advancement opportunities within a growing national practice.

Please apply directly via LinkedIn and include your resume. For additional details or to submit supplemental documents, you may also email: careers@sdvlaw.com.

Compensation: $115,000 – $140,000, commensurate with experience.

Recruiter submissions are not being accepted for this position.