Director, Legal Support
Director, Legal Support
Torys is a highly respected international business law firm with offices in Toronto, New York, Calgary, Montréal and Halifax. We work together to offer seamless cross-border services to our clients all over the world.
As a Torys employee, you will enjoy both an exciting, fast-paced work environment and a supportive, collegial and team-based culture. Our positions are best suited to individuals who take pride and ownership in their work and demonstrate exceptional client service in everything they do. At Torys, we take pride in our ability to attract and retain individuals who excel in their respective fields. We do this by providing stimulating work and learning and development opportunities, as well as a competitive compensation and benefits package.
Position Overview
The Director, Legal Support is responsible for the strategy, service standards and effective delivery of legal support services provided to all legal professionals across all offices.
Key Accountabilities
Strategy and Service Standards
- Continuously assess and evolve the legal support model to meet the changing needs of the legal professionals and the firm overall. Work closely with the legal professionals to understand their support requirements and incorporate these requirements into the service level standards for legal support.
- Deliver legal support through a combination of people, process, and technology to maximize productivity and deliver the most cost-effective legal support services.
- Work closely with management from other offices to align service standards and support the delivery of legal support services in those offices.
- Work collaboratively with other business services departments such as finance and risk management in the efficient delivery of legal and business support services to the lawyers.
- Identify opportunities to streamline/automate processes and remove obstacles that impact productivity.
- Maintain awareness of changes in the legal industry and job-related technology to ensure we are keeping pace with industry-specific trends.
Attraction, Retention & Development
- Ensure the firm has the skilled talent needed to deliver exceptional legal support services to the lawyers.
- Oversee the recruitment of all legal support positions.
- Work with Human Resources and Legal Support Team Leads/Managers across offices to assess fit and suitability and make all final hiring decisions.
- Work closely with Human Resources, Learning & Development, and Legal Support Team Leads/Managers to successfully onboard and integrate new hires into the firm.
- Work with the Legal Support Team Leads/Managers to assess the skills and capabilities of the legal support team on an ongoing basis to determine any training and development needs.
- Partner with the Learning & Development team to create development plans including internal and external training as appropriate.
- Identify the career aspirations for all assistants and opportunities to utilize strengths to promote engagement and career development opportunities.
- Assess current and forecast future talent needs, identify talent gaps, and develop succession plans.
Performance Management
- Oversee the performance review process for legal support across all offices.
- Provide guidance to Legal Support Team Leads/Managers in the collection of performance feedback from principals and the delivery of performance review messages for the legal support team.
- Work closely with Human Resources and Legal Support Team Leads/Managers to create action plans to address any performance concerns, as required.
Work Allocation, Budgeting & Reporting
- Work closely with Legal Support Team Leads/Managers to assess and manage workload, work distribution, and ratios within their teams; provide guidance and support to address any issues and/or inefficiencies, adjusting the service model as necessary.
- Develop the annual legal support expense budget across all offices and manage expenses within the approved budget limits.
- Provide monthly reporting and analysis of key performance metrics such as overtime, utilization and share ratios. Make recommendations for change where needed.
Team Engagement
- Build strong working relationships with legal professionals, the legal support team, and other stakeholders throughout the firm.
- Motivate legal support team to do their best work. Work collaboratively to address obstacles impacting peak performance, and brainstorm to find opportunities to improve the support provided to the principals.
- Work closely with Human Resources to address any employee relations issues. Deal with interpersonal issues sensitively through open communication and shared problem-solving.
- Provide direction, coaching, and development support to Legal Support Team Leads/Managers to ensure they are engaged, capable, and meeting the expected service standards.
Other
- Participate in projects and initiatives as required.
Attributes & Experience
- Post-secondary degree in Business or Human Resources Management from a recognized post-secondary institution.
- 10+ years’ previous experience in a management role, preferably within a law firm or professional services firm.
- Proficient in MS Office product suite.
- Experience coordinating national teams, overseeing projects, and coaching people is preferred.
- Strong interpersonal skills, with a proven ability to establish and build trust-based working relationships.
- Ability to establish, lead, and be a role model for healthy team dynamics such as supportive collaboration, inclusive communication, joint problem-solving, and conflict resolution.
- Track record of challenging the status quo to make things better, improving ways of working, and delivering service in a more efficient and effective way.
- Excellent communication skills (written and oral); ability to interact effectively with individuals at all levels within the organization with tact and diplomacy.
- Sound judgment including the ability to deal with confidential information with utmost discretion.
- Exceptional client service skills with a proven track record of going ‘above and beyond’ to service clients.
- Strong project, organization and time management skills and ability to manage a variety of concurrent projects.
HOW TO APPLY:
Please address your resume and cover letter, stating your salary expectations to Firm Admin Recruiting (firmadminrecruiting@torys.com).
We thank all applicants for their interest in Torys LLP; however only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.
At Torys we are committed to diversity in the recruitment, retention and advancement of our people. We believe that diversity of backgrounds, experiences and perspectives enhances the quality of our work and enriches our lives. We are committed to fostering an inclusive and accessible work environment. Accommodations are available for applicants with disabilities. If you require accommodation at any time during the recruitment process, please contact Jenny Tavares, Director, Human Resources.
No agencies or recruiters please.