Fractional Chief Operating Officer - Personal Injury Firm (COO)

Culture On Camera

3h•Hybrid

About The Position

The Fractional Chief Operating Officer (COO) will lead a six-month operational improvement initiative designed to bring greater consistency, accountability, and structure to the firm's daily operations. Working directly with firm ownership, legal leadership, and HR/Talent Management, the Fractional COO will evaluate how work moves through the firm, identify opportunities to improve efficiency, document standardized workflows, and establish clear expectations for team and leadership performance. This is a hands-on, project-based role focused on building practical, sustainable operational systems that support the firm's attorneys, case managers, paralegals, and administrative teams. The ultimate goal is to build an operation that runs consistently, holds people accountable, and doesn't depend on firm ownership to manage every detail.

Requirements

Direct, hands-on experience implementing operational improvements within personal injury law firms is mandatory.
Previous experience serving in a COO, Director of Operations, Legal Operations Director, Practice Administrator, or comparable operational leadership capacity within one or more personal injury law firms.
Demonstrated experience personally identifying, developing, documenting, and implementing legal workflows and standard operating procedures (SOPs) within a personal injury practice. Experience must extend beyond assessments and recommendations to actual implementation.
Strong working knowledge of intake, case opening, investigation, treatment coordination, medical records collection, demand preparation, negotiation, litigation, settlement, disbursement, and case closure.
Prior experience developing, restructuring, or improving pod-based legal teams, including defining responsibilities, establishing handoffs, balancing caseloads, and creating accountability across attorneys, case managers, paralegals, and support personnel.
Demonstrated experience establishing and implementing measurable operational KPIs, performance scorecards, case progression metrics, and accountability systems specifically within personal injury firms.
Proven ability to coach attorneys, legal managers, and pod leaders on operational expectations, process adherence, team accountability, and consistent management practices.
Experience evaluating caseload distribution, staffing ratios, individual productivity, and organizational capacity within personal injury practices, including collaboration with HR or firm leadership on performance management.
Hands-on experience with personal injury case management platforms such as SmartAdvocate, Filevine, Litify, or comparable systems, including workflow configuration, reporting, and operational optimization.
Ability to provide specific examples of completed operational improvement projects within personal injury law firms, including the challenges addressed, processes implemented, and measurable improvements achieved.
Experience independently leading operational initiatives from discovery through implementation, leadership adoption, and transition to internal ownership.
Ability to commit to a structured, approximately six-month client engagement.
Strong written process documentation and leadership communication skills.
Comfortable working directly with firm owners, managing attorneys, and legal support teams.
Ability to simplify complex operations without introducing unnecessary administrative burdens.
Willingness to provide examples of prior work, redacted deliverables, or professional references demonstrating relevant personal injury operations experience.

Nice To Haves

Experience in general business operations, corporate COO roles, or legal practices outside of personal injury will not independently satisfy these requirements.

Responsibilities

Identify, develop, standardize, and document the firm's legal and operational workflows, with particular attention to the personal injury case lifecycle.
Evaluate existing workflows from client intake through case resolution and file closure.
Meet with attorneys, paralegals, case managers, and support staff to understand how work is currently completed.
Identify inconsistent processes, unnecessary administrative work, communication gaps, and operational bottlenecks.
Develop clear, practical standard operating procedures (SOPs) for each major stage of the case lifecycle.
Establish ownership, handoffs, escalation procedures, and expectations for recurring tasks.
Create standardized checklists, templates, and workflows that can be easily accessed and followed by the team.
Identify opportunities to improve case management software usage, automation, and reporting.
Develop a consistent operational framework for the firm's legal pods to improve visibility, workload management, and individual and team accountability.
Evaluate the existing pod structure, responsibilities, reporting relationships, and distribution of work.
Define responsibilities and expectations for each position within a pod.
Establish practical key performance indicators (KPIs) that reflect case progress, quality, responsiveness, and operational efficiency.
Develop pod-level scorecards and reporting tools that allow leadership to monitor performance.
Establish recurring pod meetings, case reviews, and accountability check-ins.
Create clear escalation paths for delayed cases, missed deadlines, and workflow breakdowns.
Identify workload imbalances and opportunities to improve case assignments and capacity.
Partner directly with the firm's leadership team to strengthen management practices, improve adherence to established procedures, and create consistent accountability throughout the organization.
Coach attorneys and firm leadership on implementing and reinforcing operational procedures.
Establish leadership expectations for monitoring workflow adherence, addressing performance concerns, and following through on commitments.
Facilitate regular operational leadership meetings to review performance, identify obstacles, and determine corrective action.
Help leaders recognize and address recurring breakdowns in communication, delegation, and follow-through.
Develop simple management tools that support productive one-on-ones, team meetings, and performance conversations.
Reinforce consistent decision-making, communication, and accountability practices across the firm.
Work collaboratively with HR/Talent Management to ensure the firm's operational structure, performance expectations, and staffing decisions are aligned.
Partner with HR to clarify job responsibilities, reporting relationships, and performance expectations.
Translate operational KPIs into meaningful inputs for employee performance evaluations.
Support the development of consistent performance management and accountability practices.
Evaluate pod staffing, workload distribution, and operational capacity.
Identify skill gaps, training needs, and opportunities for role development.
Provide operational recommendations related to hiring priorities, staffing adjustments, and organizational structure.
Support leaders in addressing performance concerns tied to process adherence, productivity, and role expectations.