Practice Manager & Senior Legal Assistant
Salary: $65,000–$80,000, plus benefits and performance bonus opportunity
Hanson Legal Counsel (“HLC”) is seeking an experienced Practice Manager & Senior Legal Assistant to become a central part of the Firm's day-to-day operations and provide high-level administrative and legal support to its Founder & Principal Counsel. This role will be central to HLC’s operations and will operate as an extension of the Founder and Principal Counsel role and authority in managing the Firm.
HLC is a boutique business law firm serving businesses, business owners, and individuals in consequential legal matters. Our practice emphasizes practical judgment, sophisticated legal work, direct client relationships, responsiveness, and efficient problem solving.
This is not a traditional administrative-assistant position. We are looking for someone who will take primary ownership of the Firm's day-to-day practice administration and legal support functions, become deeply familiar with our clients and matters, and help keep the practice organized and moving forward.
The successful candidate will play an important role in building the operational infrastructure of a growing law firm.
The Role
The Practice Manager & Senior Legal Assistant will work closely with the Firm's Founder & Principal Counsel and will have substantial responsibility for managing the administrative operation of the practice.
The successful candidate for this role will be a highly organized, confident, self-directed leader who takes initiative, exercises sound judgment, solves problems resourcefully, and has the confidence and moxie to take ownership of the Firm’s day-to-day operations.
Responsibilities will include:
- Managing and maintaining all active client matters and electronic files
- Ensuring that client matters are complete, current, organized, and accurately maintained in Smokeball
- Managing the attorney's calendar, meetings, deadlines, reminders, and follow-ups
- Monitoring active matters and helping ensure that each has a clear next step
- Keeping the attorney organized and proactively identifying matters requiring attention
- Coordinating scheduling and administrative communications with clients, opposing counsel, courts, professionals, and other parties
- Managing client intake, conflict-check procedures, engagement documentation, document collection, and matter-opening processes
- Assisting with matter closing and file-retention procedures
- Preparing, formatting, proofreading, revising, and finalizing correspondence and legal documents
- Maintaining document organization, version control, and executed agreements
- Assisting with document comparisons, chronologies, transaction materials, settlement materials, and other legal-support projects
- Coordinating electronic signatures and maintaining complete executed document files
- Assisting with attorney timekeeping, billing administration, invoice preparation, and routine accounts-receivable follow-up
- Maintaining and improving Firm templates, checklists, workflows, and administrative procedures
- Assisting with vendors, supplies, mail, records, and other general office administration
- Identifying opportunities to improve the Firm's systems, technology, organization, and efficiency
Depending upon the successful candidate's experience, the position may also include additional substantive paralegal responsibilities performed under attorney supervision.
Smokeball
HLC uses Smokeball Legal Practice Management as the central operating platform for the Firm.
Significant experience with Smokeball is strongly preferred. An experienced Smokeball user who understands how to use the platform to manage matters, documents, workflows, tasks, calendaring, contacts, and billing would be particularly attractive for this position.
The successful candidate will be expected to become an expert user of Smokeball and take substantial ownership of ensuring that the Firm's information within the platform is complete, accurate, and current.
Required Qualifications
Candidates should have:
- Meaningful prior experience working in a law firm or sophisticated legal environment
- Experience as a legal secretary, senior legal assistant, paralegal, practice manager, law-firm administrator, or in a comparable position
- Excellent organizational and matter-management skills
- Exceptional attention to detail and accuracy
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- Strong proficiency with Microsoft Office and comfort learning and using legal technology
- The ability to manage numerous matters, deadlines, and priorities simultaneously
- The judgment to distinguish between matters that can be handled independently and matters requiring attorney attention
- The ability to communicate professionally with clients, attorneys, courts, professionals, vendors, and others
- The discretion necessary to work with confidential and sensitive client and Firm information
- The ability to work independently, anticipate needs, and take ownership of responsibilities
Exceptional attention to detail and pride in work product are strict requirements for every role at HLC.
Experience with Smokeball Legal Practice Management is strongly preferred.
Experience supporting attorneys handling business transactions, contracts, commercial leasing, dispute resolution, litigation, or other sophisticated business matters is a plus.
The Ideal Candidate
The strongest candidate will be someone who enjoys creating order, solving problems, and making an organization work better.
We are looking for someone who does not simply wait for assignments. The successful candidate will be expected to recognize what needs to be done, take responsibility for getting it done, and proactively bring matters requiring attorney attention forward at the appropriate time.
The right person will be comfortable becoming deeply familiar with the Firm's clients, matters, workflows, and operations and will take pride in being someone the attorney and clients can rely upon.
Because HLC is a growing boutique firm, this position offers an opportunity to have meaningful responsibility and influence over how the practice operates and develops.
Compensation & Expectations
The position may be structured as either full-time or part-time, depending upon the experience and availability of the successful candidate.
For a full-time position, HLC anticipates a starting salary in the range of $65,000–$75,000, depending upon experience, qualifications, and the responsibilities ultimately assigned to the position.
Compensation for a part-time arrangement will be determined based upon the agreed schedule, experience, and responsibilities.
This is an in-person position in La Grange, Illinois. It is not a remote position.
Benefits & Paid Time Off
HLC is committed to building a workplace where talented professionals are well compensated, supported, trusted, and proud of where they work.
For eligible full-time employees, HLC's benefits package includes:
- Employer-sponsored health insurance
- Participation in the Firm's 401(k) plan
- 15 days of paid time off
- A paid day off for your birthday, in addition to regular PTO
- Two paid “Life Happens” days each year, in addition to regular PTO, intended for the unexpected things that occasionally require immediate attention without the need for advance planning
- Paid Firm holidays
- Paid volunteer opportunities
- Professional-development support and, after one year of employment, an additional professional-development benefit for approved seminars, courses, training, and similar opportunities
HLC believes excellent work and a full life outside the office are compatible, and we are intentionally building our policies and culture around that principle.
Why HLC
Hanson Legal Counsel is building a different kind of law firm: sophisticated in the quality of its work, practical in its approach, entrepreneurial in its mindset, and intentional about its culture.
Employees at HLC should have meaningful responsibility, understand why their work matters, and feel trusted to do their jobs well.
Because we are a growing boutique firm, this role provides the opportunity to become an important part of the Firm at an early stage and to help shape its systems, operations, client experience, and culture as it grows.
We place a premium on excellent judgment, responsiveness, attention to detail, professionalism, and pride in work product. In return, HLC seeks to provide competitive compensation, meaningful benefits, flexibility where appropriate, professional growth, and a workplace employees are consistently excited to be a part of and proud to work for.
To Apply
Interested candidates should submit a résumé and brief statement of interest to [email protected]. Please include in your statement:
- Your relevant law-firm experience.
- Candidates with Smokeball experience should specifically describe their experience with the platform, including the ways they have used it to manage matters, documents, workflows, calendaring, billing, or other law-firm operations.
Justin W Hanson LLC, an Illinois limited liability company dba Hanson Legal Counsel is an equal opportunity employer.
Pay: $65,000.00 - $80,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k) matching
- Health insurance
- Opportunities for advancement
- Paid time off
- Professional development assistance
Work Location: In person
