Senior Staff Attorney

Fred Loya Insurance Agency; Fresno (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Fred Loya Insurance Agency seeks a Senior Attorney to lead the Fresno office, supervising attorneys, paralegals, and staff while managing a litigation caseload and delivering timely, ethical legal work for clients and insureds.

The role includes developing case strategy, supervising discovery and trial prep, and mentoring junior attorneys to align litigation practices with company policies and regulatory requirements.

Qualifications

• Advanced civil litigation knowledge and insurance-defense exposure preferred.
• Proven ability to manage litigation independently and give practical advice.
• Strong leadership, coaching, delegation, and performance-management skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, negotiation, advocacy, and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to prioritize deadlines, manage multiple matters, and adapt to changing litigation needs.

Responsibilities

• Manage a civil litigation caseload and supervise staff.
• Develop case strategy; conduct research; prepare pleadings and motions.
• Represent clients at hearings, depositions, mediations, arbitrations, and trials.
• Ensure timely completion of discovery, reporting, and trial preparation.
• Participate in recruitment, onboarding, and professional development of attorneys and staff.

Skills

Civil litigation

Leadership

Communication

Time management

Case management tools

Education

Juris Doctor (J.D.)

Active State Bar license

Job description

The Senior Attorney provides legal and operational leadership for an assigned legal office or team. This position supervises attorneys, paralegals, legal secretaries, and other legal support staff; manages a litigation caseload; and is accountable for the timely, ethical, and high-quality legal work performed on behalf of the Company's clients and insureds.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Reviews new assignments and allocates matters to attorneys based on case complexity, venue, experience, workload, and pending case counts.
• Directs the day-to-day activities of the assigned legal office in accordance with Company and Legal Department objectives, policies, procedures, and litigation guidelines.
• Maintains an active caseload of approximately 10-15 litigation files while monitoring the caseloads of assigned associate attorneys, who generally handle approximately 50-60 files each. Caseloads may be adjusted based on case complexity, staffing, experience, and business needs.
• Develops case strategy; conducts legal research; prepares pleadings, motions, discovery, and other legal documents; and represents clients and insureds at hearings, depositions, mediations, arbitrations, and trials.
• Ensures attorneys timely complete discovery, reporting, depositions, mediations, trial preparation, and other case-management requirements.
• Reviews significant case developments, evaluates exposure, and provides timely legal advice and recommendations to attorneys, claims professionals, and leadership.
• Conducts regular case roundtables, file reviews, and one-on-one meetings to assess strategy, identify barriers, and promote consistent handling practices.
• Monitors productivity, quality, workload, deadlines, and other established performance measures through regular review of reports and case-management information.
• Mentors and trains attorneys on litigation strategy and trial preparation, including pretrial filings, voir dire, opening statements, witness examinations, evidentiary issues, and closing arguments.
• Serves as first or second chair at trial when appropriate and provides hands-on support in complex, high-exposure, or otherwise significant matters.
• Reviews work product for legal accuracy, sound judgment, professionalism, timeliness, and compliance with applicable rules and guidelines.
• Provides clear, timely direction to legal staff and promotes collaboration, accountability, respectful communication, and effective client service.
• Participates in recruiting, interviewing, selection, onboarding, training, performance management, and development of attorneys and legal support staff.
• Reviews and approves time records, expense reports, leave requests, travel requests, and other administrative matters; coordinates staffing to maintain appropriate office coverage.
• Safeguards confidential, privileged, proprietary, and personally identifiable information and follows all records-management, legal-hold, and information-security requirements.
• Complies with all applicable laws, court rules, professional-responsibility requirements, Company policies, and continuing legal education obligations.
• Performs other duties and handles additional matters as assigned based on business and client needs.

Supervisory Responsibilities

Directly or indirectly supervises assigned attorneys, paralegals, legal secretaries, and other legal support staff. Responsibilities include work assignment, coaching, training, performance feedback, attendance and staffing oversight, policy enforcement, and recommendations concerning hiring, promotion, discipline, and other employment actions in coordination with management and Human Resources.

Qualifications and Competencies

• Advanced knowledge of civil litigation practice, procedure, evidence, and applicable substantive law; insurance-defense experience is preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to manage litigation independently and provide practical, well-reasoned legal advice.
• Strong leadership, coaching, delegation, decision-making, and performance-management skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, negotiation, advocacy, presentation, and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to prioritize competing deadlines, manage multiple matters, and adapt to changing business or litigation needs.
• Sound judgment, professionalism, discretion, and the ability to manage confidential and privileged information.
• Ability to remain effective in adversarial, high-pressure, or confrontational situations.
• Proficiency with legal research, case-management, document-management, and standard office technology.

Education, Licensure, and Experience

• Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from an accredited law school.
• Active license and membership in good standing with the State Bar in the jurisdiction where the position is located, with no restrictions that would prevent the performance of assigned duties.
• Minimum of seven years of relevant civil litigation experience; insurance-defense litigation experience is preferred.
• Substantial deposition, mediation, motion-practice, and trial-preparation experience required; first-chair trial experience is preferred.
• Prior leadership, supervisory, or attorney-mentoring experience is preferred.
• Must satisfy all applicable continuing legal education and professional licensing requirements.