Legal Operations Lead

Legal Operations Lead
Disputes
London
Salary: Competitive
Full time, permanent

About the Role

An excellent opportunity has arisen for a Legal Operations Lead to join the Legal Support Services function of a prestigious international law firm, taking responsibility for a busy Disputes division. This is a leadership role combining senior PA support to Partners with the day-to-day management and development of a Legal Operations administrative team, ensuring fee earners and clients receive a consistently high standard of service.

The successful Legal Operations Lead will act as a central point of contact for office management across the division, an ambassador for the department, and an approachable, inspiring leader for the team.

Key Responsibilities

PA Support
– Acting as primary point of contact for the Partners you support, managing calls, emails, meeting requests and correspondence
– Full proactive and advanced diary management across busy, frequently changing schedules
– Ensuring Partners are fully prepared for meetings, including collating information, preparing notes, attending meetings, taking minutes and following up on action points
– Supporting fee earners through the client/matter lifecycle in line with the firm’s compliance policies and guidelines

Office and Division Management
– Maintaining key department and division documents and data
– Supporting department and division meetings as required
– Planning and overseeing logistics for new starters, leavers and returners, working alongside Tech, Facilities and other Business Operations functions
– Building strong relationships across departments and business services, acting as a connector between fee earners, the Legal Operations team and wider functions
– Driving a strong compliance mindset within the department, overseeing the compliance checklist and supporting fee earning staff to remain compliant
– Attending quarterly Risk and Compliance meetings and implementing agreed actions
– Working with Compliance and Academy teams to identify and deliver relevant training

Team Leadership and Development
– Day-to-day leadership and development of the Legal Operations team supporting the department’s fee earners
– Responsibility for recruitment, induction and support of team members, including setting objectives, regular one-to-ones and twice-yearly reviews
– Overseeing work allocation and delegation, applying the firm’s frameworks for formal support where needed, in collaboration with the People team
– Monitoring attendance, performance and wellbeing across the team
– Promoting a collaborative, high-performing team environment
– Ensuring access to learning and professional development opportunities
– Organising cover for holiday, sickness and workload peaks
– Identifying cross-departmental resourcing needs, liaising with the Legal Operations Manager and other assistants

Strategy
– Working with the Legal Operations Manager to deliver and support the wider Legal Operations strategy
– Supporting and leading the team’s engagement with departmental objectives and the Global Capability Centre
– Feeding into firmwide improvement projects and process enhancement initiatives
– Building strong relationships across Legal Support Services and the Global Capability Centre

What We’re Looking For

– Previous experience in an administrative/management support role, ideally within a legal environment
– Previous experience managing a team, with direct line management or delegated supervisory responsibility
– Strong organisational and time management skills
– A highly collegiate approach, equally effective as a team leader and team player
– Strong influencing skills and the ability to build networks and relationships to get things done
– Excellent IT proficiency and adaptability to internal systems

This is a fantastic opportunity for an experienced legal administrative professional to step into a Legal Operations Lead role at a prestigious international law firm, combining people leadership with high-level Partner support in a fast-paced Disputes environment.

To apply for this Legal Operations Lead role, please submit your CV today.