Law Firm Administrator

Law Office of Rhett Burney, PC • Simpsonville, SC

10h • Onsite

About The Position

The Law Office of Rhett D. Burney, P.C. is seeking a senior professional to manage the business operations of the firm. This is a newly created role reporting directly to the owner, focused on building and implementing systems, procedures, and reporting structures. The ideal candidate will be an 'implementer' who can design, install, and ensure the long-term adherence to new operational frameworks. This role requires a blend of backbone and warmth, with the ability to set and enforce standards while maintaining positive relationships. The firm is a five-attorney, twenty-person practice specializing in family law, plaintiff-side personal injury, and estate planning and probate, aiming to become a boutique practice.

Requirements

• Five or more years of progressive operations or administration leadership.
• At least three years of experience in a law firm or comparable professional-services environment of ten to fifty people.
• Demonstrated experience building policies, procedures, and reporting from a blank page.
• Experience overhauling policies that exist on paper but are not followed.
• Evidence that a built system outlasted your attention.
• Capacity to operate without direction, setting and justifying own priorities.
• Hands-on law firm financial operations experience, including billing cycles, realization, collections, and retainer and trust workflows.
• Sufficient trust accounting knowledge to independently review a three-way reconciliation.
• HR generalist capability: handbooks, onboarding, performance management, workplace investigations, and a working grasp of South Carolina and federal employment-law fundamentals.
• Practice-management software proficiency (MyCase preferred).
• Strong Excel skills.
• Comfort with data and ability to build a dashboard.
• Practical fluency with modern AI tools beyond casual chatbot use, and ability to teach others.
• Track record of enforcing new standards consistently and without drama.
• Judgment and spine to tell the owner of the firm when he is wrong, privately and constructively.
• Backbone and warmth in the same person.

Nice To Haves

• South Carolina IOLTA and Rule 417 familiarity.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
• Family law or litigation background.

Responsibilities

• Operations and governance: validating and extending the existing org chart, building written procedures, owning the approval matrix, and running a weekly leadership dashboard and monthly operating review.
• Financial operations: ensuring timekeeping compliance, managing the monthly billing cycle, supporting accounts receivable and retainer replenishment, enforcing fee schedules, and reporting on realization and practice-area profitability.
• Trust account controls: serving as the independent monthly reviewer of trust reconciliations, maintaining the sign-off trail and compliance calendar for Rule 1.15 of the South Carolina Rules of Professional Conduct and Rule 417, SCACR.
• Human resources: auditing, updating, and re-issuing the employee handbook; creating written job descriptions; developing a 30/60/90 onboarding program; administering benefits and leave; and establishing a documented performance-management and complaint-intake framework.
• Systems and technology: making MyCase the firm’s system of record, owning calendar governance and matter-aging review, and leading the adoption and staff training for AI tools.
• Continuity: ensuring the firm runs smoothly during the owner's absences, including extended periods.
• Supervising reception, front office, and administrative support staff.
• Holding all timekeepers accountable to the firm’s administrative standards.
• Working through supervising attorneys on performance matters for paralegals.
• Exploring group health, dental, and vision insurance options for the future.

Benefits

• 401(k) with employer profit sharing.
• Paid time off and paid holidays.
• A monthly health stipend, paid as additional compensation.
• Direct access to and backing from ownership, with real delegated authority.
• A seat at the leadership table of a profitable firm at a genuine inflection point.
• Support for continuing education and certification.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Associate degree