Manager of Legal Operations

Position SummaryHoward Law is a creditor-side foreclosure, litigation, and closings firm representing mortgage servicers and institutional lenders in Florida and Georgia. The Manager of Legal Operations fills a leadership and management gap between the Managing Attorney and the paralegal and attorney teams. The role owns training, onboarding, daily workload oversight, KPI and step-performance reporting, timeline management, client scorecard oversight, client system oversight, and support on compliance, client audits, and client alerts. This position reports directly to the Managing Attorney, provides daily reporting to the Managing Attorney, and serves as an added layer of oversight of the team.Training and OnboardingTrain all new hires on firm systems, workflows, and client requirements, including each client platform.Build and maintain a structured onboarding program with defined milestones so new staff become productive faster.Deliver ongoing training for existing staff, including refresher training when performance data or audit findings show a gap.Maintain written training materials and desk procedures, and keep them current with firm policy and client requirements.Workload and Performance OversightReview paralegal workloads daily and rebalance files when a team member is over capacity or behind.Track step performance and KPIs by team member, practice stage, and client, and identify missed or late steps before they become client issues.Prepare workload and staffing analyses to support decisions on new hires and on separating staff who are not meeting productivity standards.Assist the Managing Attorney in reviewing attorney productivity, including hearing coverage, review turnaround, and file movement.Timelines and Process ImprovementMonitor file timelines from referral through sale and post-sale, measured against client and investor timeline requirements.Identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies in firm workflows and recommend and implement fixes.Track holds, delays, and aging files, and escalate files at risk of timeline violations.Client ScorecardsOversee the firm's performance on client scorecards and identify the metrics driving any decline in the firm's ranking or score.Maintain a historical record of the firm's scorecards for each client so trends can be tracked over time and compared across clients.Prepare corrective action plans for scorecard deficiencies and report progress to the Managing Attorney.Review scorecard results with the team and incorporate them into training and performance expectations.Client Systems OversightOversee the firm's use of client systems, including LPS, Dara, NoteFlow, and Jonah Direct.Ensure timely and accurate step updates, document uploads, issue and hold responses, and invoicing in each system.Monitor system queues and exceptions daily and confirm that system data matches the firm's case management system.Compliance, Client Audits, and Client AlertsAssist with firm compliance with client requirements, servicing guidelines, and firm policies and procedures.Prepare for and support client audits, including gathering documentation, coordinating responses, and tracking corrective action through completion.Receive, log, and disseminate client alerts and guideline changes to the affected team members promptly.Train the team on client alerts and confirm that new requirements are implemented in workflows and templates.ReportingProvide a daily report to the Managing Attorney covering workload, KPI and step performance, scorecard status, timeline exceptions, client system issues, and staffing concerns.Prepare periodic summary reports on team performance, client scorecard trends, audit results, training completed, and process improvements.Escalate urgent issues to the Managing Attorney the same day they are identified.QualificationsAt least five years of experience in a high-volume default servicing or creditor-side foreclosure law firm, with at least two years in a supervisory or management role.Working knowledge of the Florida judicial foreclosure process; Georgia non-judicial foreclosure experience preferred.Hands-on experience with servicer platforms such as LPS, Dara, NoteFlow, or Jonah Direct, and with a legal case management system.Familiarity with client audits, servicer and investor guidelines, and client alert processes.Strong reporting skills, including advanced Excel and the ability to build KPI and workload reports.Demonstrated ability to train staff, hold people accountable, and communicate clearly with attorneys and clients.Paralegal certification, law firm management experience, or a law degree is a plus.