Manager of Attorney Engagement

With eleven offices across the United States, 450+ professionals and 350+ staff professionals, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips (www.manatt.com) is a multidisciplinary, integrated national professional services firm known for quality and an extraordinary commitment to clients. The firm’s groundbreaking approach—bringing together legal services, advocacy and business strategy—differentiates Manatt from its competitors and positions the firm to provide a unique and compelling value proposition.

The Manager of Attorney Engagement will be part of the Practice Management team, reporting to the Senior Director of Communications and Attorney Engagement, and will be responsible for collaborating with Business Unit Leaders and Associates on meeting client billing expectations with also ensuring there is equitable access to professional development opportunities.  

Key Responsibilities

• Monitor associate productivity and capacity across all Business Units to ensure effective utilization of resources, including ensuring that all associates are meeting or exceeding client billable hours expectations.
• Implement and maintain an associate work assignment process to ensure associates are able to meet or exceed client billable hours expectations, with the goal of providing equitable access to professional development opportunities.  
• Implement the process for understanding associate workload projections and pipeline to support effective work assignment process.
• Partner with Senior Director of Communications and Attorney Engagement to identify associate professional development and training needs impacting associate utilization and staffing. Communicate to Chief Talent Officer who will Partner with Business Unit Leaders to develop and deliver appropriate training programs and opportunities.
• Partner with Practice Managers to develop business justifications for lateral associate hiring. 
• Liaise and partner with Business Professionals to develop and support associate engagement programs and initiatives. 

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Organizational Development, or related field required. JD degree preferred.
• A minimum of five years' experience in a client-centered professional services environment, preferably a law firm.
• Ideal candidate will have strong business acumen, analytical skills, professional development experience, and the ability to develop and implement operational processes and plans.
• Requires understanding of the levers critical to the successful operation of a client-centered professional services environment, preferably a law firm.
• Must have fluency with Excel, MS Word and PowerPoint.
• Superior communication and interpersonal skills, including the ability to gather information from a broad range of sources and to influence others to make changes.
• Strongly collaborative and a proactive communicator across functions and levels.
• Executive presence and polish, with the ability to build effective relationships with attorneys and influence people at all levels, including equity partners.
• Self-motivated with proven ability to anticipate problems and move things forward with limited direction.
• Ability to handle sensitive and confidential matters with discretion.
• Understand client service within a professional services organization, and is driven to exceed expectations.
• Ability to respond to multiple priorities and meet varying deadlines.

The base annual pay range for this role is between $150,000-$170,000. The base pay to be offered will vary and depend on skills and qualifications, experience, location and will also take into account internal equity. A full range of medical, financial and/or other benefits dependent on the position will also be offered.

EEO/AA EMPLOYER/Veterans/Disabled

Manatt is an equal opportunity employer, dedicated to a policy of non-discrimination in employment on any basis including race, color, physical or mental disability, religion, creed, national origin, citizenship status, ancestry, sex or gender (including gender identity, gender expression, status as a transgender or transsexual individual, pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), age (over 40), genetic information, past, current, or prospective service in the uniformed services, sexual orientation, political activity or affiliation, genetic or and any other protected classes or characteristic protected under applicable federal, state, or local law. Consistent with the American Disabilities Act, applicants may request accommodations needed to participate in the application process.

This employer will provide the Social Security Administration  (SSA) and, if necessary, the Department of Homeland Security  (DHS), with information from each new employee’s Form I-9 to confirm work authorization.

IMPORTANT: If the Government cannot confirm that you are authorized to work, this employer is required to provide you written instructions and an opportunity to contact SSA and/or DHS before taking  adverse action against you, including terminating your employment. 

Employers may not use E-Verify to pre-screen job applicants or  to re-verify current employees and may not limit or influence the  choice of documents presented for use on the Form I-9. In order to determine whether Form I-9 documentation is valid,  this employer uses E-Verify’s photo screening tool to match the photograph appearing on some permanent resident and employment authorization cards with the official U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) photograph. If you believe that your employer has violated its responsibilities under this program or has discriminated against you during the verification process based upon your national origin or citizenship status, please call the Office of Special Counsel at 1-800-255-7688 (TDD: 1-800-237-2515).