Exploring Lucrative Legal Operations Jobs

In the world of legal expertise, becoming a lawyer isn’t the only option for working with and within a law firm. Utilizing the same skill set as a lawyer and working within the business world, with proficiency in legal and financial terminology to help maximize resources and risk management, a career in legal operations could be for you. The field of legal operations is in demand, with one report from the Association of Corporate Counsel finding that 60% of legal departments have at least one legal operations professional on their team.  The Master of Business, Law, and Technology at The Colleges of Law focuses on the business and technology aspects of the legal field.

What Is Legal Operations?

Otherwise known as legal ops, legal operations is a set of activities and professionals who aim to apply best business practices to legal services. These operations entail using strategic planning, financial management, project management, and proficiency in technology. This is especially beneficial to in-house legal departments, who utilize legal operations to help naturally bring operations and legal terminology together by following the foundations of legal operations: 

• Strategic Planning 
• Financial Planning 
• Reporting and Analytics 
• Vendor Management 
• Technology Enablement and Adoption 

Using these foundations, the goals of a legal operations team are to define, launch, and drive initiatives that give insight into outside legal spending, vendor performance, and other metrics taken from analytics-gathering tools such as e-billing. 

Legal Operations Career Options

Providing tools for legal operations and key insights can sometimes require a whole team, or sometimes a single individual is enough. From entry-level to senior management, legal operations jobs are available for those passionate about the intersection of law, business, and technology. 

Director of Legal Operations

At the highest level of a legal operations team, the director works closely with and reports to the General Counsel. Their role may include strategies that focus on operational and legal department efficiency, overseeing performance goals, and ensuring internal processes are streamlined for team effectiveness. As a leader of legal operations, they might be considered essential, as in 2018, a Chief Legal Officer survey found that 73% of organizations who added a legal operations professional said it was the “biggest factor in optimizing the efficiency of their legal departments.” 

Legal Project Manager

Beneath the director are the legal project managers, who prioritize the day-to-day work and delegate tasks that reflect the strategies created by senior management. A legal project manager will also assist legal professionals, ensuring they implement LPM principles to help allocate resources and track potential risks. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, a Project Management Specialist makes an average of $98,580 annually.

Legal Operations Solutions Architect

Commonly found to work at law firms, a legal operations solutions architect will usually have various tools at their disposal, from technologies to custom development, to help develop new solutions. Their roles generally involve working above the legal project manager, guiding them on implementing these strategies, sometimes having tech demonstrations, and conducting training courses for their team. The core difference between a legal operations solutions architect and the director of legal operations is that the architect’s role is more hands-on, focusing on testing and assisting with operations when needed.  

Legal HR Specialist

Reporting to the Senior Legal Counsel, ​​a legal HR specialist combines legal and business expertise in human resources. They ensure that all efforts benefit the employees and serve the organization’s goals. Legal HR jobs may include training for onboarding employees, providing compensation and benefits applied across the agency, and more. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, a Human Resources Specialist makes an average of $67,650 annually*.

How to Start a Rewarding Career in Legal Operations

Do you want to work in a profession that forms at the intersection of law, business, and technology? It starts with a strong academic foundation built upon practical skills to help you stand out during the job search process. At The Colleges of Law, academics blend the theoretical and the practical, resulting in students who graduate with a Master of Business, Law, and Technology and have the potential to enter the professional workforce in leadership roles, equipped with a dynamic understanding of the law and its relationship to the world. Are you interested in learning more? Contact us today.