Barnes & Thornburg LLP is seeking a Managing Clerk to join its Managing Clerk’s Office. We are seeking candidates with minimum ten years of experience as a managing attorney, managing clerk, and/or assistant managing clerk at a national/AmLaw 100 law firm as well as a J.D. from an ABA-accredited law school. Current admission in good standing to a state (or the DC) Bar. Hybrid work schedule with some travel and flexibility to work onsite or remotely, on weekends and after hours is required. Participation in the Managing Attorneys’ & Clerk’s Association and the National Docketing Association, or regional equivalents, preferred. Previous supervisory experience strongly preferred. Working knowledge of attorney admissions procedures required; working knowledge of CLE requirements and procedures preferred.
The Managing Clerk will set the strategic course of the to-be-created Managing Clerk’s Office, developing best practices and procedures to minimize filing- and docketing-related risks. The Managing Clerk’s Office’s will play a critical role in risk management at the Firm.
The newly created Managing Clerk position presents a unique opportunity for a self-starting and collegial individual to lead and structure the Firm’s to-be-created Managing Clerk’s Office and shape its future by bringing to bear critical experience alongside a risk-management/client-service orientation.
This is a hybrid (part-onsite, part-remote) position that can be based in any Firm Offices located within the Eastern or Central time zone (moderate preference for candidates based in Chicago, Indianapolis, northern New Jersey, New York City, Philadelphia, or Wilmington, Delaware).
The ideal candidate will: • Provide advice, expertise, and best practices to attorneys and other Firm employees with respect to (i) court rules, practices, and procedures and (ii) docketing-related calendaring/deadline calculations • Build, shape, and lead the (to-be-created) Managing Clerk’s Office, creating a best-in-class centralized Department that will combine and oversee the Firm’s docketing and filing functions • Hire, supervise, train, and manage members of the (to-be-created) Managing Clerk’s Office, as well as, where appropriate, paralegals and legal administrative assistants tasked with preparing specific filings for judicial/quasi-judicial proceedings • Professionalize, supervise, and manage the Firm’s existing Docketing Team, providing skills-based, management-level training to the Litigation Docket Manager and empowering the Litigation Docket Manager to hire and onboard additional members of the Docketing Team, within budgetary limits and consistent with other strategic considerations • Review (directly or by delegating to members of the Managing Clerk’s Office/appropriately trained Firm staff) court papers prior to filing to ensure compliance with court/local rules, procedures, and practices • Keep abreast of, and update attorneys and other Firm employees about, revisions and updates to court rules, practices, and procedures; communicate such changes and updates in a variety of effective media, including via Firm-wide trainings and periodic reports • Prepare, adopt, socialize, and enforce Managing Clerk’s Office policies, practices, protocols, and procedures for compliance with industry and other standards, especially as pertains to filing- and docketing-related risk management • Periodically review Managing Clerk’s Office policies, practices, protocols, and procedures for compliance with industry and other standards, especially as pertains to filing- and docketing-related risk management; prepare, adopt, socialize, and enforce improvements thereto, as needed • Periodically assess new, innovative practices and technologies for key Managing Clerk’s Office functions, including filing and docketing • Assist attorneys with admissions, including pro hac vice applications • Perform or supervise the Managing Clerk’s Office general administrative tasks (including, but not limited to, creating, managing, and maintaining a budget for the Managing Clerk’s Office; reviewing and handling reimbursements for Managing Clerk’s Office expenses; and tracking Firm attorneys’ compliance with any applicable continuing legal education requirements) • Build out a knowledge-management function within the Managing Clerk’s Office so as to create and provide precedents for various litigation/quasi-litigation documents
The ideal candidate will have: • Excellent knowledge of the federal and state court systems; in-depth knowledge of the California, Chicago (Cook County), Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and/or PA federal and state court systems preferred • Strong familiarity with California, Chicago (Cook County), Delaware, northern New Jersey, New York City, or Philadelphia court personnel, rules, procedures, and practices preferred • High level of proficiency with automated docket management and related platforms, especially CompuLaw and ECFX • Proficiency with Westlaw, Lexis, Bloomberg, and other legal-research platforms • Proficiency with court-related databases (e.g., Courtlink, PACER, eLaw, CourtAlert, etc.) and other online sources of case-related information • Strong understanding of judicial/quasi-judicial proceedings and strategic knowledge of procedural and substantive mechanisms towards achieving client goals and objectives • Strong people- and project-management skills • Excellent and effective interpersonal and communication skills, with an ability to communicate well at all levels/across Firm departments and to inspire confidence • Strong sense of ownership, responsibility, and accountability; desire to build and manage a team and take charge of projects, proactively identifying issues and suggesting appropriate solutions • Ability to identify, design, and implement innovative and risk-management-related practices and solutions that will shape and bolster the Managing Clerk’s Office
Barnes & Thornburg LLP is an AmLaw 100 national, full-service law firm with 22 offices, representing clients ranging from Fortune 500 corporations to entrepreneurial growth companies. The firm has an exceptional reputation for having an inclusive, collegial and supportive atmosphere, where members of the firm can thrive, learn, and advance in their career.
We will not consider resumes submitted by external agencies or recruiters for this position. No third party may become entitled to compensation for assisting Barnes & Thornburg LLP in recruiting for this position unless, prior to the posting of this position, such party has entered into a recruiting agreement with Barnes & Thornburg LLP applicable to this position expressly providing for such a fee.
Equal Employment Opportunity and Diversity Statement Barnes & Thornburg is committed to equal employment opportunity in both principle and as a matter of policy. We will recruit, hire, train, promote, compensate and provide benefits to all applicants and employees without regard to ancestry, sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, gender, age, religion, religious creed, mental and/or physical disability, medical condition, military and/or veteran’s status, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, or any other basis protected by applicable federal, state and local laws. This policy applies to all recruiting, hiring, promotions, upgrades, layoffs, compensation, benefits, terminations and all other privileges, terms and conditions of employment. The firm complies fully with all federal, state and local equal employment opportunity laws.
