Staff Manager/Legal Assistant

Seward Henderson PLLC | Royal Oak, Michigan | Full-Time, In Office

Seward Henderson PLLC is a civil defense litigation firm in Royal Oak, Michigan. We are looking for an experienced Legal Assistant who is ready to take on a larger leadership role within the firm.

This is not a traditional office manager position, and it is not a position for someone who wants to manage from a distance. We are looking for a working manager—someone who understands what it takes to support busy litigation attorneys, can perform that work, and can use that experience to train, supervise, and hold other staff accountable.

The right person will initially divide their time between legal assistant responsibilities and management of our support staff. As they learn our firm and demonstrate their ability to manage people and systems effectively, we expect the management side of the position to grow.

As a Legal Assistant, you will work directly with attorneys on active litigation matters and will be expected to understand and perform the core functions of the position, including:

• Managing attorney calendars, deadlines, hearings, depositions, and other litigation dates
• Preparing, formatting, filing, and serving pleadings and other court documents
• Maintaining electronic case files and ensuring documents and correspondence are properly organized
• Coordinating depositions, meetings, records, experts, and other case-related logistics
• Communicating professionally with courts, clients, opposing counsel, vendors, and others
• Assisting attorneys with the day-to-day administration of an active litigation caseload
• Stepping in to provide coverage when another legal assistant is absent or overloaded

As Staff Manager, you will be responsible for making sure our support team is functioning effectively. That includes:

• Supervising legal assistants, administrative staff, and other support personnel
• Training new staff and developing existing staff
• Monitoring workloads and helping distribute work appropriately
• Making sure assignments are completed accurately and on time
• Identifying performance or workflow problems early and addressing them
• Establishing and reinforcing consistent procedures across the firm
• Providing meaningful feedback and holding employees accountable to expectations
• Helping attorneys and staff resolve day-to-day operational problems
• Looking for ways to improve how the firm operates rather than simply maintaining existing processes

We are looking for someone who has significant experience as a legal assistant, litigation secretary, or similar litigation-support professional and is ready to use that experience to lead others.

You should be someone who:

• Understands litigation workflow and the responsibilities of a strong legal assistant
• Is highly organized and comfortable managing competing priorities
• Can give clear direction and follow up to make sure things actually get done
• Is comfortable addressing performance problems instead of avoiding difficult conversations
• Notices problems before they become emergencies
• Can train people without doing all of their work for them
• Takes ownership and looks for solutions
• Communicates directly, professionally, and clearly
• Can work independently without needing constant direction
• Understands that good management requires both accountability and support

Prior management experience is strongly preferred, but we are more interested in whether you have the judgment, confidence, and follow-through necessary to lead a team effectively.

Seward Henderson is a growing civil defense firm handling sophisticated litigation throughout Michigan in both state and federal court. Our work includes municipal and public-entity defense, civil-rights litigation, law-enforcement and EMS liability, premises liability, and other complex civil matters.

We are a fully in-office firm because we believe people learn faster, communicate better, and solve problems more effectively when they work together.

Our environment is busy and our expectations are high. We value people who are independent, self-aware, persistent, and internally driven. We do not expect employees to know everything. We do expect them to take responsibility for figuring things out.

This position has the opportunity to become an important leadership role within the firm. For the right person, the long-term goal is not simply to supervise legal assistants. It is to develop into someone who can help manage the people, systems, and daily operations of the firm.

Schedule: Full-time, Monday through Friday, in office in Royal Oak, Michigan.

Compensation: Salared, competitive and commensurate with experience. Starting at $70,000 plus benefits.

To apply, please submit a resume along with a short explanation of your experience supporting litigation attorneys and any experience you have supervising, training, or managing other employees, through our website: https://www.sewardhenderson.com/careers