Practice Assistant Senior Team Lead

Firm Summary

White & Case is an elite global law firm serving leading companies, financial institutions and governments worldwide. Our long history as an international firm means we are perfectly placed to help our clients resolve their most complex legal challenges wherever they may be.

With lawyers and staff operating from more than 40 locations, working in virtually every country of the world, we have invested heavily in building a high-quality full-service practice competing at the top of the market. We are distinguished by our on-the-ground presence in the world’s key financial markets and our strengths in handling complex cross-border work.

It is not just about our global network of offices and shared services centres; it is the global interconnectedness of the Firm that our people, and our clients, value most. We work well together across geographic and practice boundaries. It is one of the reasons we attract and retain cross-border work.

Our lawyers are globally minded, enterprising, collaborative, and committed to excellence. Our people represent 90 nationalities and speak 80 languages.

Position Summary

The Senior Team Leader takes direction from and reports to the Manager, Practice Assistant Services.  The Senior Team Leader will facilitate the distribution of overflow work on the floors. The Senior Team Leader performs a wide range of secretarial, administrative tasks and legal office procedures. The Senior Team Leader position requires the ability to perform duties of a responsible and confidential nature with the ability to multi-task for several people. A professional and courteous demeanor is expected and must be maintained at all times, in all situations. The Senior Team Leader will be part of, and work as a team member on the practice floor. As a team member, the Senior Team Leader will work together with teammates to provide excellent quality service to all internal and external clients including his/her assigned group of attorneys, and all attorneys on the practice floor. The Senior Team Leader position requires the ability to organize and expedite workflow of lawyer/legal staff members. The Senior Team Leader will perform any other duties as required by the Firm.

Supervisory Responsibilities

• Conduct daily conversations (both in person and through the group chat created for each practice group) with team members to determine coverage needs, including lunch coverage, for the practice section. Make decisions based on these conversations to move PAs to assist at other desks within the practice section, as necessary.
• Monitor staff punctuality, demeanor and professionalism and keep Manager informed of any concerns; participate with Manager in conducting coaching and counseling sessions, as necessary.
• Participate in yearly performance review of team members, providing Manager with feedback and ratings.
• Conduct mid-week review of shared calendars of the practice section to begin planning coverage for planned absences in the coming week(s).
• Prepare and distribute email to attorneys and PAs in the event of a PA’s unscheduled absence.
• Prepare and distribute the morning report.
• Review and approve leave requests from PAs. Capture requests in Kronos.
• Meet regularly with Manager to discuss progress, concerns and ideas relating to the Practice Support Team program.
• Review, approve and submit PA Overtime.
• Collaborate with PA Manager with attorney assignments.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Duties and Accountabilities1

Communication Skills

• Provide excellent internal and external customer service to attorneys, clients and visitors. 
• Serve as a liaison between administrative departments and lawyer/legal staff in the Firm. 
• Assist, train, and mentor new Practice Assistants. 
• Answer, screen, and place calls in a professional manner. 
• Take accurate messages and promptly inform attorneys of the messages taken. 
• Communicate clearly and accurately any issues with workload to the assigned attorneys on a timely basis. 
• Interpret instructions to produce quality documents and keep legal staff apprised of the status of their work and any problems encountered with systems or programs. 
• Prioritize, manage multiple assignments and communicate the status of assignments in