Director of Legal Operations

Vaco; New York (NY); On-site; USD 145,000 - 175,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Health insurance

401(k)

Unlimited PTO

Discretionary year-end bonus

Job summary

Vaco by Highspring seeks a Director of Legal Operations in Glendale, CA to lead a legal support organization of ~20 staff across offices. You will partner with the COO to strengthen processes, establish KPIs, and drive technology adoption including Litify or similar platforms.

The role is primarily onsite, with a strong emphasis on scalable workflows, performance management, and alignment with attorneys on active matters.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of professional experience.
• 5+ years of management experience.
• Experience managing a sizable legal support team, ideally 10+ direct reports.
• Must have experience overseeing paralegals, legal assistants, and/or law clerks.
• Strong understanding of paralegal and legal support workflows.
• Prior law firm experience required; litigation experience strongly preferred.
• Strong leadership, communication, and relationship-building skills.
• Experience developing processes, KPIs, and scalable operational procedures.
• Experience with legal case management technology such as Litify or similar platforms.
• Bachelor's degree and prior paralegal experience are a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor, and manage a team of approximately 20 legal assistants and paralegals.
• Oversee workload allocation, performance management, training, and professional development.
• Develop and monitor team KPIs tied to performance reviews and bonus metrics.
• Partner closely with attorneys to ensure appropriate staffing and support across active matters.
• Standardize workflows, policies, and best practices across the legal support organization.
• Lead process improvement and operational efficiency initiatives.
• Support special projects, including centralization and workflow audits.
• Help implement and optimize legal technology and AI tools.
• Ensure case management processes, filings, discovery, and deadlines are handled accurately and efficiently.

Skills

Leadership

Management

KPIs

Communication

Process improvement

Team building

Relationship building

Litigation experience

Paralegal workflows

Legal ops knowledge

Education

Bachelor's degree

Paralegal experience a plus

Tools

Litify

Job description

Director of Legal Operations

Glendale, CA

$145K-$175K + Bonus

A growing and highly successful plaintiffs-side law firm is seeking a Director of Legal Operations to lead its legal support organization and help continue scaling the firm's operations.

This is a high-impact leadership role overseeing a team of approximately 20 legal assistants and paralegals supporting attorneys across multiple offices. The Director will partner closely with the COO and firm leadership to strengthen processes, improve team performance, establish KPIs, optimize workflows, and implement new technology across the legal support function.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor, and manage a team of approximately 20 legal assistants and paralegals
• Oversee workload allocation, performance management, training, and professional development
• Develop and monitor team KPIs tied to performance reviews and bonus metrics
• Partner closely with attorneys to ensure appropriate staffing and support across active matters
• Standardize workflows, policies, and best practices across the legal support organization
• Lead process improvement and operational efficiency initiatives
• Support special projects, including centralization and workflow audits
• Help implement and optimize legal technology and AI tools
• Ensure case management processes, filings, discovery, and deadlines are handled accurately and efficiently

Qualifications

• 10+ years of professional experience
• 5+ years of management experience
• Experience managing a sizable legal support team, ideally 10+ direct reports
• Must have experience overseeing paralegals, legal assistants, and/or law clerks
• Strong understanding of paralegal and legal support workflows
• Prior law firm experience required; litigation experience strongly preferred
• Strong leadership, communication, and relationship-building skills
• Experience developing processes, KPIs, and scalable operational procedures
• Experience with legal case management technology such as Litify or similar platforms
• Bachelor's degree and prior paralegal experience are a plus

Details

• Compensation: $145K-$175K
• Discretionary year-end bonus based on individual and firm performance
• Glendale, CA
• Primarily onsite, 5 days per week with occasional flexibility
• Typical hours: 9:00 AM-5:30 PM
• Unlimited PTO
• Dental and vision insurance fully covered
• Health insurance contribution
• 401(k)
• Professional, close-knit environment with strong work/life balance

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced legal operations leader who enjoys building high-performing teams, improving processes, and creating scalable infrastructure within a growing law firm.

EEO Notice

Vaco by Highspring is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race (including but not limited to traits historically associated with race such as hair texture and hair style), color, sex (includes pregnancy or related conditions), religion or creed, national origin, citizenship, age, disability, status as a veteran, union membership, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, political affiliation, or any other protected characteristics as required by federal, state or local law.

Vaco by Highspring and its parents, affiliates, and subsidiaries are committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, Vaco by Highspring and its parents, affiliates, and subsidiaries will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact [e-mail].

Vaco by Highspring also wants all applicants to know their rights that workplace discrimination is illegal.

Representation Notice

For residents of Ontario, Canada: Based on Highspring's discussions with its Client, Highspring's understanding is that this position for employment is a current vacancy (either through Highspring as a contractor or with the client directly).

Privacy Notice

Vaco by Highspring and its parents, affiliates, and subsidiaries ("we," "our," or "Vaco by Highspring") respects your privacy and are committed to providing transparent notice of our policies.

• California residents may access Vaco by Highspring HR Notice at Collection for California Applicants and Employees here.
• Virginia residents may access our state specific policies here.
• Residents of all other states may access our policies here.
• Canadian residents may access our policies in English here and in French here.
• Residents of countries governed by GDPR may access our policies here.

Additionally, submissions to this position are subject to the use of AI to perform preliminary candidate screenings, focused on ensuring minimum job requirements noted in the position are satisfied. More details about Vaco by Highspring's use of AI can be found here (https://www.highspring.com/ai-use-notices/). Further assessment of candidates beyond this initial phase will be conducted by recruiters and hiring managers. Vaco by Highspring does not know and cannot opine on if its client's use of AI products in hiring.

Pay Transparency Notice

Determining compensation for this role (and others) at Vaco by Highspring depends upon a wide array of factors including but not limited to:

• the individual's skill sets, experience and training;
• licensure and certification requirements;
• office location and other geographic considerations;
• other business and organizational needs.

With that said, as required by local law, Vaco by Highspring believes that the following salary range referenced above reasonably estimates the base compensation for an individual hired into this position in geographies that require salary range disclosure. The individual may also be eligible for discretionary bonuses.