Mass Torts Settlement Operations Manager

Barnes & Thornburg LLP•Dallas, TX

12d

About The Position

Barnes & Thornburg is seeking a Settlement Operations Manager to join its product liability and mass torts resolution practice. The role is responsible for the systems, protocols, data integrity, and reporting standards used across the practice’s resolution programs. Under the direction of the attorneys managing the matters, the manager oversees how settlement work is executed day to day by designing and standardizing intake, tracking, quality assurance, and reporting procedures; serving as the subject matter expert on the team’s case management platform; and translating practice needs into requirements for firm technology personnel and outside platform vendors. This position is intended for someone with experience as a mass torts or settlement paralegal who has moved beyond individual case and docket support into coordinating systems, developing procedures, and standardizing practices across teams. The manager maintains working knowledge of where information is located on each matter and how tort-specific structures and system configurations differ. The position reports to the partners and attorneys overseeing the firm’s mass tort settlement matters and coordinates with lead paralegals on each settlement team. It is an attorney support role; decisions, oversight, and ownership of settlements remain with the attorneys managing the matters. The manager provides technical and administrative settlement support; administers intake, data, reporting, quality assurance, and system synchronization workflows; coordinates with settlement administrators, lien resolution vendors, clients, and plaintiff’s counsel under attorney supervision; and trains team members on protocols and system use. The role requires the ability to perform essential duties with minimal supervision, with or without reasonable accommodation. The work takes place in a normal law office environment with minimal exposure to excessive noise, dust, extreme temperatures, or other adverse environmental conditions. The position requires managing multiple concurrent workstreams under pressure and regular interaction with attorneys, legal staff, firm technology personnel, and outside parties. Periodic travel to firm offices may be required to work directly with settlement teams. Duties may change based on firm needs.

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, rather than supporting only 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 reports.
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 satisfactorily with minimal supervision, 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 case management and settlement tracking systems, documenting how each tort is configured, where configurations differ, and system capabilities and limitations for each workstream.
Design, document, and maintain intake, data entry, tracking, and reporting protocols under the direction of attorneys; coordinate with lead paralegals to standardize practices where appropriate and document justified 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 with plaintiff’s firms on claimant data submissions, formats, and completeness, 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, perform acceptance testing, and confirm delivered functionality is usable in practice.
Maintain alignment of claim and settlement data across firm systems and third-party administrator portals; conduct 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, ensuring 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 under attorney supervision 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.
Train lead paralegals, settlement team members, and new staff on protocols and system use; maintain reference documentation and job aids.
Perform other duties related to settlement operations as assigned.