Litigation Legal Support Manager (hybrid)

Merchant & Gould; Alexandria (VA); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Life insurance

AD&D insurance

Short-term disability

Long-term disability

401(k) match

10 firm holidays

Job summary

Merchant & Gould, a premier intellectual property law firm in the United States, seeks a Litigation Legal Support Manager in a hybrid role. The position guides legal assistants, paralegals, and attorneys, coordinating daily workflows and training initiatives within the Litigation Practice Group.

The role emphasizes staffing planning, quality standards, and collaboration with HR, with a focus on process improvements, client service, and effective use of firm resources.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of litigation support experience in a law firm or comparable legal environment.
• 5+ years of experience supporting intellectual property litigation.
• Progressive experience in legal support roles with leadership capability.
• Proven ability to lead teams, manage complex workflows, and drive operational excellence.
• Advanced knowledge of litigation procedures, discovery rules, trial preparation, and court filing systems.

Responsibilities

• Supervises legal assistants and paralegals to promote high performance and professional growth.
• Oversees staffing, workflows, and workload distribution for efficient client service.
• Forecasts staffing needs and develops staffing solutions for matters.
• Sets quality and client service standards and acts as escalation point for issues.
• Ensures compliance with litigation procedures and court deadlines; coordinates with attorneys.
• Leads onboarding, training, and cross-training for staff; identifies skill gaps and resources.
• Manages performance, conducts evaluations, and coordinates with HR on development plans.
• Partners with HR on recruitment, onboarding, retention, and succession planning.
• Monitors capacity, utilization, and billable hours; implements process improvements.
• Promotes use of technology and explores automation to improve processes.
• Manages relationships with outside vendors and contractors; oversees service quality.
• Handles administrative duties such as timecards, time off, and invoices.

Skills

Litigation support leadership

Project management

Communication

Staff coaching and development

Workflow optimization

Client service excellence

Team collaboration

Tools

MS Office

Case management systems

Document management systems

Job description

About the job

Merchant & Gould, one of the nation's premier intellectual property law firms, is seeking a Litigation Legal Support Manager. The salary range for this position is $90,000 - 110,000.

Summary of Position (hybrid):
To provide daily workflow coordination to legal assistants, paralegals and attorneys, as well as guide the firm's training program for litigation support staff.

Responsibilities:

• Supervises legal assistants and paralegals supporting the Litigation Practice Group, providing day-to-day leadership, direction, coaching, and support to promote high performance, accountability, engagement, and professional growth.
• Oversees litigation support operations and coordinates staffing, attorney assignments, workflows, and workload distribution to ensure appropriate coverage, efficient use of resources, and consistent delivery of high-quality client service.
• Partners with the Practice Group Leader and Human Resources to assess and forecast staffing needs for new and active matters, address capacity concerns, and develop appropriate staffing and support solutions.
• Establishes and monitors standards for quality, accuracy, timeliness, responsiveness, and client service, and serves as an escalation point for complex workflow, staffing, and litigation support issues.
• Oversees support-team compliance with litigation procedures, court rules, filing requirements, docketing processes, and case deadlines, coordinating with attorneys and other firm resources as appropriate.
• Collaborates with Training and Technology Adoption Manager and leads onboarding, training, professional development, and cross-training initiatives for legal assistants and paralegals; identifies skill gaps and develops programs and resources to strengthen team capabilities and ensure consistency in practices and procedures.
• Manages employee performance and development, including setting expectations and goals, providing ongoing feedback and coaching, completing performance evaluations, developing improvement and development plans, and addressing performance concerns in partnership with Human Resources.
• Partners with Human Resources on recruitment, selection, onboarding, retention, career development, succession planning, employee relations, and other people-management matters affecting legal assistants and paralegals.
• Monitors team capacity, productivity, utilization, and billable and non-billable hours; analyzes trends and implements workflow, staffing, technology, and process improvements to enhance efficiency, service delivery, and operational effectiveness.
• Promotes effective use of firm-approved technology, systems, and resources and identifies opportunities to improve litigation support processes through technology, automation, standardization, and other operational improvements.
• Manages relationships with outside vendors and service providers, including court reporters, trial consultants, and contractors, and oversees the quality and delivery of contracted services.
• Performs administrative management responsibilities, including reviewing and approving timecards, time off requests, vendor invoices, and related items in accordance with firm policies and procedures.
• Maintains a strong understanding of the firm's litigation practice, business and strategic objectives, client service expectations, and operational priorities and aligns legal assistant and paralegal support accordingly.
• Demonstrates sound judgment, discretion, professionalism, collaboration, and respect in interactions with attorneys, staff, clients, vendors, and other stakeholders, and maintains confidentiality of sensitive personnel and client information.
• Performs other duties and projects as assigned.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Required:

• 10+ years of litigation support experience in a law firm or comparable legal environment, with substantial experience supporting attorneys through all phases of litigation.
• 5+ years of experience supporting intellectual property litigation, with familiarity with the practices, procedures, and demands unique to IP matters.
• Progressive experience in legal support roles, with a strong understanding of both legal assistant and paralegal functions.
• Proven ability to lead teams, manage complex workflows, and drive operational excellence.
• Advanced knowledge of litigation procedures, discovery rules, trial preparation, and court filing systems.
• Advanced experience with Microsoft Office, case management, and document management systems.
• Experience managing trial logistics.
• Experience in leading large-scale legal projects and teams from conception to completion, including defining scope, setting timelines, and managing budgets.
• Ability to align paralegal and legal assistant functions with the firm's business objectives, using a strong understanding of profitability and client relations.
• Excellent communication, oral, written, and interpersonal skills; ability to influence persuasively and effectively with a collaborative orientation.
• Strong organization and project management skills, demonstrating a process improvement focus.

Working Conditions:
Normal office environment with little exposure to excessive noise, dust, temperature extremes, and similar conditions. This position operates in a hybrid work environment, with both in-office and remote work based on the Firm’s hybrid work expectations. The role requires the ability to remain in a stationary position for the majority of the workday and routinely use a computer and other standard office equipment. Occasional travel is required, approximately 10% of the time.

We are equally committed to providing competitive, affordable health and wellness benefits to help take care of yourself and your family, including: a competitive salary, a comprehensive benefits package that includes employee medical, dental, vision, life, AD&D insurance, short- and long-term disability, 401(k) match, and ten firm holidays.

Merchant & Gould provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training. We welcome candidates with disabilities. If you need any accommodation during the application or the recruiting process, please contact our Human Resources Department at 1-612-332-5300.