Director of Legal Engagement

About the role

The Director of Legal Engagement & Optimization will be a senior member of the Talent team, responsible for partnering with Business Group Leaders, Business Unit Leaders, and Attorney Leadership to drive strategic attorney staffing, workload optimization, development alignment, and talent sustainability across the Firm’s legal practices.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement the Firm’s attorney staffing and resource optimization strategy, aligning matter demand, pipeline projections, attorney skill sets, seniority mix, and development needs with client service requirements across practices and offices.
• Establish and maintain staffing policies, workflows, and governance structures to support consistent, transparent, and equitable attorney work allocation.
• Analyze matter pipelines, demand forecasts, and utilization trends to identify staffing risks, hiring needs, leverage opportunities, and structural constraints.
• Collaborate with Business Group Leaders, Business Unit Leaders, and designated staffing attorneys to oversee attorney work assignment processes and proactively manage capacity, utilization, and workload balance.
• Track and interpret key attorney staffing and utilization metrics, translating insights into actionable recommendations that support productivity while balancing attorney development, engagement, and well-being.
• Support the attorney performance review cycle by helping ensure reviews are timely, calibrated, and grounded in workload and matter experience data.
• Collaborate with Practice Leaders to identify high-performing attorneys as well as attorneys facing specific challenges, facilitating targeted coaching, mentoring, or development interventions.
• Implement review feedback and development plans, working with Talent Team members to align attorneys' matter exposure with growth and advancement goals.
• Partner with Strategic Growth, Legal Training, Practice Management and other business professionals to shape and support the successful onboarding, integration, and engagement strategies for all non-partner attorneys and paralegals.
• Lead initiatives to enhance engagement, retention, and career satisfaction across attorney populations.
• Serve as Business Professional representative on Associate Leadership Committee.
• Manage and administer policies related to non-partner attorneys, including in-office attendance, hours, and bar admission policies.
• Provide hands-on support for attorney transitions, including internal moves, practice transfers, leaves, visas, secondments and separations, and coordinate outplacement or transition support when applicable.
• Ensure streamlined coordination and clear communication of firmwide policies, procedures, and available resources.

Qualifications

• JD required; additional graduate degree (e.g., MBA) a plus.
• 12+ years of experience in a law firm or client-centered professional services environment, with demonstrated responsibility for attorney staffing, practice management, or resource optimization.
• Deep understanding of law firm economics, including utilization, leverage, realization, and the attorney life cycle.
• Strong analytical capability, with experience leveraging financial, utilization, and workforce data to inform strategy and decision-making.
• Proven ability to build credibility with attorneys and partners, and to influence across seniority levels, including equity stakeholders.
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to synthesize complex information and drive alignment.
• Highly collaborative, proactive, and comfortable operating in a matrixed, multi-office environment.
• Executive presence, judgment, and discretion in handling confidential and sensitive matters.
• Advanced proficiency in Excel, PowerPoint, and Word; experience with staffing or practice management systems preferred.
• Ability to travel as needed.

Pay

The base annual pay range for this role is between $200,000-$260,000. The base pay to be offered will vary and depend on skills and qualifications, experience and location.

Benefits

• A full range of medical, financial and/or other benefits dependent on the position will also be offered.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP is an equal opportunity employer, dedicated to a policy of non-discrimination in employment on any basis including race, color, physical or mental disability, religion, creed, national origin, citizenship status, ancestry, sex or gender (including gender identity, gender expression, status as a transgender or transsexual individual, pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), age (over 40), genetic information, past, current, or prospective service in the uniformed services, sexual orientation, political activity or affiliation, genetic or and any other protected classes or characteristic protected under applicable federal, state, or local law. Consistent with the American Disabilities Act, applicants may request accommodations needed to participate in the application process. This employer will provide the Social Security Administration (SSA) and, if necessary, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), with information from each new employee’s Form I-9 to confirm work authorization.