Please enjoy this blog post co-authored by Kristin Rhodes, Director of Practice Management, Paul Hastings LLP and Mike Ertel, Practice Innovation and Knowledge Attorney, Paul Hastings LLP.
Have you started your career in legal (attorney, paralegal, etc.) and don’t want to be a timekeeper forever? Keep reading to learn about the world of opportunities in Legal Operations.
According to CLOC, Legal Operations (or legal ops) “describes a set of business processes, activities, and the professionals who enable legal departments to serve their clients more effectively by applying business and technical practices to the delivery of legal services. Legal ops provide the strategic planning, financial management, project management, and technology expertise that enables legal professionals to focus on providing legal advice.”
Many firms have legal ops teams to take the burden off their timekeepers so they may focus on servicing clients. This blog looks at the various types of roles that may be a fit for people who already started their career as a timekeeper and are looking for a role where they can apply their skills, knowledge, and empathy gained from those positions. We recognize that some of these roles could be filled by someone who was never a timekeeper, but this blog is directed to those currently in legal looking for a career change.
Larger firms have more need (as well as more capacity) for legal operations and administration by people without billable commitments who are not working on client matters. Such roles may include:
Some of these roles are relative newcomers to the law firm ecosystem and can be hard to pin down because they take on a different flavor depending on the firm, practice area, leadership priorities, client needs, personalities, etc. Accordingly, they may be less well-understood by those looking to make a career change, which is a shame because timekeeper experience is often strongly preferred or required.
Where can you look to get started? How should you market yourself? Lucky for you, we spoke with Amanda Brandenburg with OpusLex Partners, a recruiter who has placed people in legal operations roles, and she gave us some great advice to pass on.
Where can you look for these jobs?
• Start on LinkedIn
o Follow leaders/people in the space, including those operations professionals in larger firms who hire for these roles
o Set up alerts for jobs/titles
• Reach out to leaders in the space. Ask them about their field and how they got there.
How to break in?
• Start with the practice area where you have experience.
• Draw on other experience (for example, BD: English degree, presentation skills)
• Certifications help if you don’t have any experience yet because they demonstrate interest (PMP, ALPM certification)
• Think about what you want your day-to-day to look like. Talk with a recruiter about what roles might fit those tasks.
Overall, be creative in your search and when marketing yourself. These roles can draw from skills learned in other professions. Don’t be discouraged in the interview process. Just because you aren’t a match for one role at one firm doesn’t mean you won’t be a match for another (while true for any profession, can be especially relevant for these roles). For example, some hiring managers may emphasize the importance of prior practice within particular area of law, while others may emphasize soft skills or require a background in finance or project management.
This is a fun time to be in the legal ecosystem. Happy hunting!
#PracticeManagementandPracticeSupport
#ProfessionalDevelopment
#LegalProjectManagement
#KnowledgeManagement
#Innovation
#LegalServiceInnovation
#100Level