The Ferraro Law Firm, P.A. is seeking an experienced and highly operational Settlements Manager to lead and optimize our Settlements Department. This position is responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the settlements team, establishing clear performance expectations, monitoring productivity and financial results, and ensuring cases move efficiently through the settlement process.
The ideal candidate is a hands-on, metrics-driven manager who understands that successful department leadership requires both strong people management and consistent operational oversight. This individual will be expected to identify bottlenecks, hold team members accountable, improve workflows, and use performance data to maximize settlement results.
Key Responsibilities
Team Leadership & Performance Management
- Lead, manage, and develop the Settlements Department and its team members.
- Establish clear individual and department-level productivity expectations.
- Conduct regular one-on-one meetings, performance reviews, and coaching sessions.
- Hold team members accountable for productivity, responsiveness, accuracy, and timely completion of assigned work.
- Identify underperformance quickly and develop specific corrective action and improvement plans.
- Delegate workloads strategically based on case volume, complexity, priorities, and employee capacity.
- Foster a results-oriented culture centered on accountability, urgency, teamwork, and continuous improvement.
Metrics & Operational Performance
- Develop, monitor, and regularly review KPIs and performance metrics for each member of the settlements team.
- Maintain dashboards and reporting that provide management with visibility into departmental performance.
- Analyze settlement production, case inventory, aging, cycle times, pending tasks, disbursements, and other relevant operational metrics.
- Establish measurable weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual department goals.
- Track actual results against established targets and implement corrective measures when performance falls behind expectations.
- Identify trends, bottlenecks, and operational deficiencies that may negatively impact settlement production or client service.
- Provide leadership with clear explanations of performance variances and actionable plans for improvement.
- Continuously evaluate staffing levels, workloads, processes, and technology to maximize department productivity.
Settlement Operations
- Oversee the settlement process from resolution through final disbursement and file completion.
- Ensure settlement documents, releases, lien resolution, reductions, client communications, and disbursements are handled accurately and efficiently.
- Monitor aging cases and proactively address matters that are stalled or delayed.
- Coordinate with attorneys, accounting, medical records, lien resolution, and other departments to resolve issues affecting settlement completion.
- Develop and maintain standardized workflows, procedures, checklists, and quality-control measures.
- Ensure appropriate documentation and accurate information are maintained within the firm's case management system.
- Identify opportunities to automate or streamline repetitive administrative processes.
- Maintain compliance with firm policies and applicable legal and ethical requirements.
Performance Expectations
Success in this role will be measured by the manager's ability to produce measurable improvements in department performance, including:
- Achievement of established monthly settlement and departmental production goals.
- Increased productivity and accountability across the settlements team.
- Reduction in settlement processing and disbursement turnaround times.
- Reduction in aging or stagnant settlement inventory.
- Accurate and timely completion of settlement-related tasks.
- Effective management of individual employee KPIs.
- Consistent identification and resolution of operational bottlenecks.
- Reliable reporting and forecasting of department performance.
- Development of employees through coaching, accountability, and clearly defined performance expectations.
The Settlements Manager is expected to know where the department stands against its goals at all times and to proactively address performance gaps before they impact monthly results.
Qualifications
- Prior management or supervisory experience in a personal injury law firm, preferably within settlements, pre-litigation, case management, or a related department. Preferred
- Strong understanding of the personal injury settlement and disbursement process.
- Demonstrated experience managing employees and holding teams accountable to measurable performance standards.
- Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret productivity reports and operational data.
- Experience developing or managing KPIs, dashboards, production goals, and performance reporting.
- Excellent organizational and problem-solving abilities.
- Ability to manage a high-volume workload and competing priorities.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Excel and case management systems; experience with Salesforce/Litify is a plus.
- Ability to identify operational inefficiencies and implement practical solutions.
Ideal Candidate
We are looking for a manager who does more than supervise a department. The successful candidate will own the department's results.
This person should be comfortable reviewing numbers, challenging inefficient processes, coaching employees, addressing underperformance, and making operational changes when necessary. The ideal candidate understands how to balance client service, case progression, employee development, and financial performance in a fast-paced plaintiff-side personal injury practice.
The Ferraro Law Firm, P.A. is an Equal Opportunity Employer.