Manager of Conflicts, Client Intake & Engagement Compliance

O'Hagan Meyer•Chicago, IL

7d•$105,000 - $125,000•Hybrid

About The Position

O’Hagan Meyer is a national law firm focused on insurance defense and complex litigation, with approximately 440 attorneys, 700 employees, and 26 offices nationwide. The Manager oversees the firm’s conflicts-of-interest function, new-client and new-matter intake process, and compliance with engagement letter policies. This role establishes consistent firmwide procedures, monitors compliance, enforces standards, and ensures clients and matters are properly reviewed, approved, and established. The position is hybrid. The successful candidate must work 100% in the office during the first 90 days. After that, the role requires at least three days per week in the office, with remaining workdays eligible for remote work in accordance with firm policy. Success is measured by consistent policy application, timely and accurate intake, effective conflicts management, improved engagement letter compliance, fewer outstanding items, and reliable reporting and accountability across all offices.

Requirements

At least 5 years of law firm experience.
Substantial experience in conflicts management, client intake, engagement letter administration, or related law firm operations.
Demonstrated ability to implement and enforce policies, monitor compliance, and address recurring deficiencies.
Strong leadership, analytical, organizational, and communication skills, with the ability to work effectively with attorneys at all levels.
Familiarity with law firm conflicts databases, practice management systems, and client intake processes.
Sound judgment, discretion, integrity, and commitment to confidentiality.

Nice To Haves

Experience in an insurance defense or litigation-focused law firm.
Experience managing personnel, workflows, and firmwide processes in a multi-office environment.

Responsibilities

Oversee conflicts searches, analysis, documentation, and resolution for prospective clients, new matters, insurers, insureds, adverse parties, and related entities.
Ensure conflicts are reviewed and cleared before representation begins.
Escalate complex legal and ethical issues, proposed waivers, and other substantive determinations to designated firm counsel.
Maintain accurate conflicts records and establish consistent review and escalation procedures.
Own the end-to-end client and matter intake process, from initial submission through conflicts clearance, required approvals, and matter setup.
Establish and enforce standardized procedures, documentation requirements, approval workflows, and turnaround expectations across all offices.
Ensure intake information is complete and accurate, including client, matter, party, insurer, billing, and responsible-attorney information.
Coordinate with attorneys, billing, finance, and administrative departments to resolve deficiencies and ensure accurate client and matter setup.
Establish controls to prevent duplicate records, incomplete data, and unauthorized or premature matter openings.
Administer, monitor, and enforce engagement letter policies and procedures.
Ensure engagement letters are prepared, issued, tracked, and executed in accordance with firm requirements.
Track outstanding and overdue engagement letters centrally and follow up with responsible attorneys and staff.
Report compliance deficiencies, aging items, recurring issues, and policy exceptions to firm leadership.
Establish escalation procedures for overdue engagement letters and repeated noncompliance.
Coordinate approval and documentation of exceptions with designated firm leadership and counsel.
Develop and maintain firmwide policies, procedures, internal controls, and quality standards.
Lead and supervise conflicts and intake personnel, establishing performance expectations and accountability.
Develop metrics and regular reporting for intake turnaround times, conflicts reviews, engagement letter compliance, and outstanding exceptions.
Identify opportunities to improve workflows, automate processes, strengthen controls, and ensure consistent practices across offices.
Provide training and guidance to attorneys and staff while maintaining appropriate confidentiality and data integrity.