Legal Support Manager (Secretarial Manager)

Eversheds Sutherland•Washington, DC

12d•Onsite

About The Position

The Legal Support Manager leads and develops the firm’s legal practice and administrative support team to ensure attorneys and practice groups receive consistent, high-quality support. This is a working managerial role responsible for staffing, workflow, training, and performance management for legal practice assistants, executive assistants, and the Resource Center. The manager partners with Human Resources and firm administration to align legal support services with operational and client-service standards and needs. The role oversees support coverage and workload distribution, provides hands-on assistance to attorneys as needed, manages the LPA mentoring program, and maintains administrative procedures and quality standards. It serves as the primary escalation point for staffing conflicts, performance concerns, and workflow issues, escalating to a Director or Senior Manager when appropriate. The manager also oversees team attendance and timekeeping, partners with HR on compensation and workforce matters, manages legal support-related budget items, and supports firm and office initiatives. This is an onsite position. The salary range is $115,000–$140,000, depending on geographic location and factors such as experience, internal equity, market data, and job-related considerations. The firm’s compensation strategy includes base salary and benefits such as healthcare, paid time off, discretionary merit bonuses, life and disability insurance, retirement plans, and tailored learning opportunities. Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP states its commitment to diversity and inclusion and equal employment opportunity, and provides reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.

Requirements

Seven to ten years of legal secretarial or administrative support experience.
At least two years in a supervisory or team-lead capacity, ideally within a law firm or professional services environment.
Demonstrated experience managing a team of 10 or more across multiple practice areas and locations.
Strong knowledge of legal document formatting, filing procedures, and litigation and transactional law firm workflows, with the ability to provide hands-on support as needed.
Excellent interpersonal, coaching, and conflict-resolution skills.
Strong organizational skills and ability to manage competing priorities across multiple attorneys, practice groups, and jurisdictions.
Bachelor’s degree or equivalent supervisory or management experience in lieu of a degree.

Nice To Haves

Proficiency with Microsoft Office and document management systems such as iManage or NetDocuments.
Familiarity with Aderant, ChromeRiver, and InTapp.
Bachelor’s degree preferred.

Responsibilities

Supervise, schedule, and evaluate the performance of legal practice assistants and Resource Center (Opensity) support across assigned practice groups or offices.
Recruit, onboard, and train new legal support hires in coordination with Human Resources.
Design and maintain workload-distribution and legal-support coverage models, and manage overflow support during peak periods.
Provide support to attorneys as needed.
Lead and manage the LPA mentoring program, including matching mentors and mentees, setting goals, coordinating development opportunities, monitoring engagement, and evaluating outcomes.
Conduct monthly meetings with the legal support team.
Develop and enforce administrative procedures, style guides, and quality standards for correspondence, filings, client meetings, and document production.
Serve as the primary escalation point for attorney–legal practice assistant staffing conflicts, performance concerns, and workflow issues; escalate to a Director or Senior Manager when appropriate.
Manage the LPA-to-attorney ratio and maintain current documentation of firmwide pairings.
Conduct one-on-ones, performance reviews, and coaching sessions; manage progressive discipline in partnership with HR.
Identify training needs and recommend internal or external training on firm systems and emerging technologies.
Monitor attendance, timekeeping, PTO requests, and overtime for the legal support team to ensure compliance with firm policy.
Partner with HR on compensation reviews, job description updates, promotions, and workforce planning.
Manage legal support-related budget items, including overtime, temporary staffing, and equipment or software needs.
Support special projects such as office moves, practice group reorganizations, and firm-wide administrative initiatives.
Maintain up-to-date knowledge of firm and HR policies as they apply to non-exempt business professionals.