Legal Operations Specialist

Job description

We are looking for a highly organized, analytical, and service-oriented Legal Operations Specialist to support the efficient operation of our Legal Department. Reporting to the Legal Operations Manager, this role is responsible for core legal operations activities involving legal vendor onboarding, e-billing, accruals, matter management, payment processing, and operational reporting. The Legal Operations Specialist will work directly with outside counsel, legal vendors, the SAP Finance team, and internal stakeholders to resolve billing and payment issues, maintain accurate legal operations data, and help improve department processes.

The position also provides limited administrative support to the Chief Legal Officer, including calendar, meeting, and travel coordination. The successful candidate will independently manage routine operational procedures, exercise sound judgment, and escalate exceptions appropriately.

Key Responsibilities

Manage the end-to-end onboarding of outside counsel and other legal vendors, coordinating with the SAP Finance team to complete required setup, documentation, and payment processes. Serve as a primary operational contact for outside counsel, legal vendors, and internal stakeholders regarding invoicing, accruals, billing procedures, vendor payments, and related requirements; act as a liaison between the Legal Department, Finance, and other corporate functions.

Review legal invoices for compliance with established billing guidelines; reject, return, or escalate discrepancies and work with outside counsel and vendors to resolve issues. Review, maintain, and facilitate outside counsel timekeeper rates and related billing information; help maintain and update legal billing guidelines and train outside counsel and vendors on applicable billing procedures and systems. Coordinate and administer the monthly legal accruals process, including managing submissions, validating information, following up on outstanding items, and preparing the monthly accrual report.

Administer legal matters in SimpleLegal, Unity ELM, CounselLink, or similar systems, including opening, updating, coding, maintaining, and closing matters and ensuring data accuracy. Receive service of process documents and coordinate matter assignments to in-house and outside counsel. Process approved legal invoices and restitution payments through SAP and Trimble (eBuilder), helping ensure accurate and timely payment.

Prepare recurring Excel-based legal spend and accrual reports, respond to ad hoc reporting requests, and support the Legal Operations Manager in tracking legal spend against budgets. Identify billing trends, recurring discrepancies, and process issues; recommend practical improvements and support implementation of approved changes. Provide first-level troubleshooting for e-billing and matter-management systems, resolving routine issues and escalating technical or policy exceptions when appropriate.

Support the Legal Operations Manager with legal-system implementations and migrations, including testing, data validation, documentation, end-user support, and internal training on e-billing and matter-management procedures. Prepare, edit, proofread, and format legal documents, correspondence, reports, and presentations, and maintain organized legal documents and digital files with appropriate confidentiality. Provide secondary calendar, meeting, and travel coordination support to the Chief Legal Officer.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education and relevant professional experience. At least three years of experience in legal operations, legal e-billing, matter management, legal finance, or a related corporate legal support function. Prior experience working in a corporate legal department or law firm. Hands-on experience with legal e-billing, including invoice review and billing-guideline compliance. Working knowledge of legal invoicing, accruals, matter administration, vendor onboarding, and payment processes.

Proficiency with Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to identify recurring issues and recommend process improvements. Excellent written and verbal communication skills and the ability to work effectively with outside counsel, vendors, attorneys, Finance, and other internal stakeholders. High attention to detail, sound judgment, and the ability to manage multiple priorities and independently carry out routine procedures in a fast-paced environment.

Demonstrated discretion in handling confidential and sensitive legal and financial information.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience with one or more of the following systems: SimpleLegal, Unity ELM, CounselLink, SAP, or Trimble (eBuilder). Advanced Excel skills, including the ability to organize, validate, analyze, and present legal spend and accrual data. Experience providing first-level support for legal e-billing or matter-management platforms.