Client Administration and Compliance Manager

Akin • New York, NY

2d • $175,000 - $220,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP is a leading international law firm with more than 900 lawyers in offices throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. We are currently seeking a Client Administration and Compliance Manager in the Finance department, reporting ot the Director of Revenue - U.S. The role will reside in the New York office with hybrid work capabilities and will be responsible for managing the activities of the Client Administration staff on a daily basis. T he Client Administration and Compliance Manager is expected to demonstrate initiative, set priorities for the department, ensure timely and accurate completion of assignments, and oversee Ebilling, rates, and client administration tasks by those in the department with firm and office policies and procedures. The Client Administration and Compliance Manager is expected to maintain expertise in the tasks or services provided by the department and to work on, as well as delegate, tasks assigned to the team. Further, the Client Administration and Compliance Manager is expected to serve as a positive role model and mentor, and perform, all responsibilities with a commitment to providing superior service to the firm’s clients, attorneys, advisors and staff, efficient and effective departmental operations, and an atmosphere of teamwork and continuous improvement.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree required, in accounting, finance or related field preferred
• 5+ years law firm compliance, rate implementation, and electronic billing experience required
• Prior supervisory experience required
• Experience with computerized accounting systems, CMS/Aderant a plus
• Experience with various E-billing systems
• Advanced knowledge of Excel
• Thorough knowledge of MS Office applications including Word and Outlook
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, including the ability to communicate potentially detailed and complex information to others
• Aptitude and willingness to work with complex procedures
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail
• Ability to read, comprehend and follow instructions
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and adjust to changing priorities in a professional manner
• Ability to work independently and with a team
• Willingness and ability to assume new tasks and responsibilities
• Basic knowledge of human resources policies, practices and legal requirements
• Strong leadership skills and willingness to function as a role model within the office
• Excellent judgment and common sense
• Strong service orientation, and an ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with users, peers, office and firm management, and outside business partners
• Ability to work well under pressure, facilitate solutions, and meet deadlines and milestones for projects assigned
• Ability to work extended hours as necessary to fulfill time sensitive responsibilities
• Commitment to professional growth and development

Responsibilities

• Client Administration: Supervise the Aderant maintenance process for new matter set-up of bill groups, multi-payor set-up, task codes and various firm and client coding. General maintenance including matter reopening, closing, client name changes and requests for billing/responsible attorney changes predominately through Intapp Maintenance Notifications. Assists in the development of policy, manuals and documentation related to opening new matters and streamlining data from Intapp to Aderant. The person responds to a variety of questions from clients, legal and administration staff. Oversee review of outside counsel guidelines, and engagement letters from clients to ensure discounts in accounting database are consistent with our understanding with client. Ensure proper approvals of discounts are obtained.
• Rate Implementation and Maintenance: Oversee the implementation and ongoing maintenance of non-standard hourly rates/fee arrangements in Aderant to ensure proper, correct client/matter rate set-up through SOAR2. Implement and manage rates including annual increases and determine best practices for rates set up. Maintain and manage override rates, rate changes, fulfill rate information requests, research billing and rate issues. Revalue WIP during off-cycle rate changes, manage and maintain premium and advanced discount set-up in Aderant, implement, track and report on alternative fee arrangements in the accounting system. Document and track firm wide client discounts and ensure proper approvals are obtained. Document and communicate new discount arrangements. Ascertain best practice for discount set up and implement same in accounting database primarily through SOAR2. Work closely with the Client Value team to proactively manage rate arrangements as agreements expire, allowing partner the opportunity to leverage recent case successes. Assist with the review and implementation of rates within existing or new software/technology platforms and dashboards at the firm, as needed. Collaborate and work with Billing and Client Value and other infrastructure teams in the performance of special projects as assigned. Supervise daily work of the Rates team and provide guidance on prioritizing, problem solving, and completing tasks as assigned.
• Ebilling: Oversee the management of the electronic billing process from set-up to transmission including assistance in troubleshooting rejections and appeals. Review outside counsel guidelines (OCG ), received from Terms reporting and establish need for client matter setup to use tasks/activities, cost constraints set-up, mapping parent relationships and the use of approved timekeepers. Determine which rules to turn on in Onyx to flag time entry warnings in iTimekeep. Process electronic billing vendor invoices to ensure proper billing and thresholds have been met. Add timekeepers to vendor site, set-up fixed fees in BillBlast and Aderant Open and manage BillBlast support cases, create LEDES and XML files as needed and test as necessary. Maintain knowledge of trends, developments and new technologies impacting all functions of the compliance group. Participate in departmental projects and initiatives designed to streamline workflow and/or resolve issues. Set priorities, coordinate and participate in the daily workflow for the department, ensuring quality of work and timely completion of assignments during regular business hours and on an overtime/weekend staffing basis. This includes responsibility for all aspects of daily Ebilling, rates and client administration tasks. Coordinate and work as a team with other departments to provide necessary services to lawyers and clients. Evaluate assigned staff and participate in their annual performance reviews. Develop long-term plans and goals for the department in cooperation with Management. Participate in available professional development activities; monitor publications and other sources of information for trends affecting the department's performance. Periodic travel to other offices may be needed, especially if direct reports reside in other offices. Other related responsibilities as assigned.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level