Mass Torts Settlement Operations Manager

Barnes & Thornburg LLP•San Diego, CA

4d•$90,000 - $125,000•Onsite

About The Position

Barnes & Thornburg is seeking a Settlement Operations Manager to join its product liability and mass torts resolution practice. The Manager works across the practice’s resolution programs and is responsible for settlement operations systems, protocols, data integrity, and reporting standards. Under the direction of the attorneys managing the matters, the role designs and standardizes intake, tracking, quality assurance, and reporting procedures; serves as a subject matter expert on the team’s case management platform; and translates practice needs into requirements for firm technology personnel and outside platform vendors. The position is intended for someone with mass torts or settlement paralegal experience who has moved beyond individual case and docket support into coordinating systems, building procedures, and standardizing practices across teams. The Manager maintains working knowledge of where matter information is stored and how each tort’s structure and system configuration differ. The role reports to the partners and attorneys overseeing the firm's mass tort settlement matters and coordinates with lead paralegals on each settlement team. This is an attorney support role; decisions, oversight, and ownership of the settlements remain with the attorneys managing the matters. The Manager provides settlement support throughout the settlement lifecycle; maintains and documents system configurations; designs and maintains protocols; administers quality assurance and exception reporting; leads intake and reconciliation of claims information; manages data import, export, batch update, and reporting workflows; develops requirements and participates in technology testing; synchronizes data across firm systems and third-party administrator portals; tracks settlement payments and related records; coordinates lien resolution and QSF data; supports external coordination under attorney supervision; and trains staff and maintains reference materials. The position is performed in a normal law office environment. It requires the ability to work under pressure and manage multiple concurrent workstreams, regular interaction with attorneys, legal staff, firm technology personnel, and outside parties, and may require periodic travel to firm offices to work directly with settlement teams. The Manager must perform essential duties with minimal supervision, with or without reasonable accommodation.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree and at least 5 years of relevant experience in mass torts, complex litigation, settlement administration, insurance claims, or a comparable high-volume claims environment.
Demonstrated experience building, documenting, or standardizing processes across multiple teams or matters, beyond supporting a single case or matter.
Significant experience with legal case management, claims, or CRM systems, such as Case Manager Pro, Litify, or Filevine, or other SQL- or database-backed claims and litigation platforms; working understanding of relational case and claim data structures.
Working knowledge of settlement administration mechanics, including claimant inventories, releases, lien resolution, QSF administration, and payment tracking.
Advanced Excel skills, including pivot tables, lookups, and data validation, and ability to build, interpret, and maintain recurring reporting.
Proven track record managing high-volume data and identifying inconsistencies across large medical and claims datasets and legal documentation.
Proficiency in, or strong aptitude for, emerging legal AI tools for document review, data extraction, and reporting.
Excellent organization, attention to detail, problem-solving, and time management skills, with ability to work independently and as part of a fast-paced, high-performing team.
Ability to handle confidential and sensitive information with discretion and professionalism.
Ability to work under pressure and manage multiple concurrent workstreams.
Ability to perform essential duties and responsibilities with minimal supervision, satisfactorily, with or without reasonable accommodation.

Nice To Haves

Paralegal certification.
Experience at a settlement administrator, lien resolution provider, qualified settlement fund administrator, or third-party claims administrator.
Experience designing quality assurance or audit procedures for claims or case data.
Experience training or coordinating staff across multiple teams without direct reporting authority.

Responsibilities

Provide high-level technical and administrative support to attorneys managing mass tort settlements, including claim and case data management, tracking, reporting, and quality control across the settlement lifecycle.
Serve as the practice’s primary subject matter expert on its case management and settlement tracking systems, documenting how each tort is configured and the capabilities and limitations of systems for each workstream.
Design, document, and maintain intake, data entry, tracking, and reporting protocols under attorney direction; coordinate with lead paralegals to standardize practices where possible and document necessary variations.
Administer settlement data quality assurance, including defining tests, building and running recurring QA and exception reports, issuing findings, and tracking remediation through closure.
Lead intake of case and claim information, coordinate claimant data submissions with plaintiff firms, and reconcile submitted inventories against firm records.
Administer data import, export, batch update, and reporting workflows; identify needed capabilities and define requirements.
Translate practice needs into business requirements for firm technology personnel and outside platform vendors; participate in design discussions and acceptance testing and confirm that delivered functionality works for teams in practice.
Maintain alignment of claim and settlement data across firm systems and third-party administrator portals; perform recurring cross-platform validation and resolve discrepancies in claimant status, documentation, and payment milestones.
Maintain settlement payment tracking as a system of record, including payment status and history, tax documentation, and administrative expenses, and ensure records are complete and audit ready.
Coordinate and report healthcare, lien resolution, and QSF data with settlement administrators, lien resolution vendors, and clients; track conditions precedent to distribution of settlement funds.
Serve as an administrative and data point of contact for settlement administrators, lien resolution vendors, and plaintiff’s counsel regarding claim status, data submissions, and discrepancies, under attorney supervision.
Train lead paralegals, settlement team members, and new staff on protocols and system use; build and maintain reference documentation and job aids.
Perform other duties related to settlement operations as assigned.