Legal Project Manager

Job Description

At K&L Gates, we are looking for smart, imaginative and hard-working people with diverse backgrounds, experiences and ideas to join us.  Perhaps our search for talented visionaries and your search for important and impactful work lead to the same place.

We are seeking a Legal Project Manager to join the Boston office. The Legal Project Manager will be part of the Matter Planning team.  The Legal Project Manager will be responsible for working closely with legal teams to manage a portfolio of high priority and complex matters at the firm.  At times he/she will be called upon to embed within the legal team, working alongside the lawyers and allied professionals as a key member of the client team.  The role may also be called upon to consult on an on-demand basis at various stages of the life cycle of a matter (i.e. matter initiation, delivery, or evaluation).  In addition, the person in this role will help with the development and implementation of firmwide training on legal project management, practice or industry based LPM templates, and development of project management tools.  This role is part of a highly cross-functional team and must be able to coordinate and work across firm departments to provide the highest level of client service to the firm’s key client relationships.   Candidates must be self-starters who possess the ability to work independently and as part of a team. Excellent communication skills and a commitment to providing the highest quality client service are strongly preferred.

Key relationships
Practice Area Leaders, Office Managing Partners, Practice Directors/Administrators, Lawyers, Client Growth, Finance, IT and other key allied professionals
 
Key duties include but are not limited to:
Essential duties
•Utilize proven project management techniques to support the efficient management of the firms largest and high profile clients and matters through all stages including scoping, framing, budgeting, planning, managing, monitoring, and evaluation
•Provide on-demand support on matters that may need specific, limited, assistance during a particular phase in their lifecycle
•Become an embedded and trusted member of the legal team, understanding their needs and pain points and focusing on a solution oriented approach
•Work with the Matter Planning Pricing managers to budget matters and develop AFAs by reviewing historical data and other key data points on clients/matters the LPM is responsible for
•Participate in pitches and client meetings to demonstrate the firm’s approach to matter management, efficiency, pricing, and innovation
•Work with practice leadership and human resources on issues of resource allocation and development
•Work closely with the Matter Planning team on developing and deploying firmwide training on Legal Project Management
•Support training and implementation of technology related to project management
•Liaise with client’s internal legal operations teams
•Willingness to challenge “the way things have always been done” and support related change management initiatives

Experience and skills required:
•Proven ability to work creatively and analytically in a problem-solving environment
•Assist with identifying opportunities for process improvement initiatives and knowledge management projects and, where appropriate, help develop and evangelize best practices
•Understanding of financial terms and metrics and ability to analyze metrics to adjust needed levers to improve client and matter performance
•Work closely with other administrative departments at the firm including billing, practice support, IT, finance, professional development and marketing
•Confidence communicating with all levels of the legal team and client; including delivering difficult messages and challenging current assumptions
•Ability to deliver creative answers with pragmatic solutions
•Demonstrated interest and passion in ways to make legal practice more efficient and innovative
•Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with strong awareness of what type of communication is appropriate for what audience
•Comfortable operating in both structured and unstructured environments
•Understand and articulate the business case behind decisions in matter management
•Ability to encourage and build positive relationships and communicate (both verbal and written) effectively with all co-workers and outside vendors
•Strong organizational skills
•Effectively manage and communicate confidential issues

Education/Experience
• 5 or more years within law or consulting
• Experience working in a legal services environment strongly preferred; ability to translate project management methodology to a legal setting required
• Experience in training, influencing, and change management a plus
• MBA, JD, or CFA Charter preferred
 
Additional abilities required:
Working Conditions:
•General office environment, ability to travel to client sites, ability to work and communicate with a range of firms stakeholders
•Frequent computer use at workstation or office, up to and over eight hours at a time
•Frequently work at fast pace, multitasked, with unscheduled interruptions
•Responsibilities occasionally may require an adjusted work schedule, overtime, and evening/weekend hours in order to meet deadlines
•Office contact position requiring appropriate business attire
•Mobility within the office including movement from floor to floor
•Access information using a computer or mobile device
•Carrying a mobile device and accepting calls from colleagues during non-work hours
•This job operates in an office setting and is largely sedentary, requiring the routine use of a computer and other standard office equipment.  The ability to open file cabinets, lift files, bend and stand on a stool may also be required

Note: Nothing in this job description restricts the firm’s right to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this position at any time. Information provided represents the usual method of accomplishing the duties in this job.  Reasonable accommodations will be considered in appropriate circumstances.

ABOUT THE FIRM

K&L Gates is a fully integrated global law firm with approximately 2,000 lawyers across five continents. We have experienced dramatic growth in the past decade and now rank among the largest U.S. based law firms in the world.  We take pride in constantly striving for innovation, imagination and an entrepreneurial spirit. We come up with big ideas and then roll up our sleeves to get the job done, guiding our clients through their most complex issues in a variety of industry sectors and across multiple regions of the world.

The industry recognition the firm has garnered in the past five years emanates from the foundation of a global community aligned on behalf of our clients. The people at K&L Gates are committed to working together to create a legacy for each other, the firm, our clients, and the communities in which we serve. We thrive in an inclusive and socially conscious environment that embraces diversity and takes a holistic approach to the career evolution of all our professionals.

For more information or to view other job opportunities, please click here to go back to our careers page.

Notice: We participate in E-Verify in certain Firm locations for purposes of verifying employment eligibility.

BENEFITS

We offer a dynamic work environment and excellent benefits.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

The Firm is an equal opportunity employer. It is the policy of the Firm that employment decisions shall be based on merit, qualifications and competence. Employment practices shall not be influenced or affected by virtue of a person’s race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, disability, military status or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. This policy governs all aspects of employment including, without limitation, recruiting, hiring, compensation, benefits, promotion, assignment and dismissal. In addition, it is the Firm’s policy to provide an environment that is free of unlawful harassment of any kind including, without limitation, that which is sexual, racial, age-related, disability-related or ethnic background-related.