Chief Legal Officer

Careers with our clients through Forvis Mazars US | Executive Search

ideally a licensed attorney with revenue-generating practice experience

Our client, a multistate plaintiff law firm, seeks to add an experienced and highly adept Chief Legal Officer to join the executive leadership team of the firm, headquartered in South Florida. The CLO should be, or have been, a licensed attorney and must have prior experience in a revenue generating role.

The CLO will operate at the highest levels, managing attorney and legal operations throughout the firm and acting as a trusted advisor to the partnership group. He or she will provide leadership for multiple office locations, oversee case management operations and develop performance metrics and operational standards which can be efficiently and seamlessly implemented and replicated.

The CLO will report to the CEO and he or she will oversee all legal firm operations, providing oversight for attorney managers, ensuring they have the data and resources required to effectively lead their offices, manage their staff and delegate work to meet high performance targets and robust revenue goals in each office.

Responsibilities

• Provide firmwide operational leadership with a focus on the areas of attorney performance and case load management for 300+ staff in multiple office locations across various states
• Review organizational structure, future growth plans and immediate needs to develop and implement appropriate processes and procedures and present accurate and on-time case management and per location information that is actionable for executive decision making
• Develop, implement and maintain an optimized and streamlined legal operations strategy that utilizes internal and outsourced resources to efficiently and effectively manage legal operations, including attorney and case load management, metrics and performance drivers, revenue recognition and profitability; this strategy must be efficiently scaled to support this multistate firm as it continues to expand
• Develop, implement and manage aggressive performance KPIs and metrics-driven goals, ensuring effective case management and driving operational efficiencies to reach office, attorney and staff revenue goals
• Create and present monthly reports around attorney, case and office location performance, including data around case load, hours, staff and time to close, realization, revenue generated and profitability, per location and per attorney
• Evaluate solutions and implement strategies to improve attorney and client experience through new technology, optimization of processes or implementation of new products / services to improve legal operational efficiency
• Develop budgeting and goals that help the organization meet growth goals. Help manage operation cost and expenses
• Review current operational processes, procedures and systems and work to develop, implement and maintain better optimized case management and streamlined attorney assignment processes which utilize resources effectively and can be efficiently scaled to support ongoing rapid growth
• Provide leadership, planning and management of operational security processes, procedures and systems, including business continuity, disaster recovery and all incident response planning
• Develop key strategies for growth and client service.

Requirements

• JD is required
• 15+ years of PI law firm experience with a career background as an attorney or firm executive, ideally in a revenue generating leadership role
• Excellent leadership capabilities, strong financial acumen and solid communication skills are required
• Must be able to lead leaders and garner their respect while motivating firmwide high performance teams and incentivizing drivers to deliver results
• Exposure to various ownership structures, including partnerships, Boards and investment firms
• 50% travel is expected