Impress employers and recruiters.
Choose from hundreds of resume examples.

Target Resume Now

Tailor your resume to this Director of Paralegal Services role.

Rezi rewrites your resume against Goodwin's job description. Free.

Resume score gauge reading 58 out of 100

Don't guess if your resume is good enough.

See how it scores against the Director of Paralegal Services posting at Goodwin — free, in seconds.

About the Role

Lead the continued evolution of paralegal services, designing, delivering, and managing them across Goodwin. This role challenges conventional approaches and develops service models based on the needs of attorneys, practices, and clients, with end-to-end responsibility for the paralegal function including strategy, operating model, talent, technology, performance, and execution.

Responsibilities

Design and evolve differentiated service delivery models for paralegal services.
Develop approaches that reflect differences in legal work, attorney expectations, demand patterns, expertise, and client needs.
Determine where firmwide consistency and standardization create value and where practice-specific approaches better serve attorneys and clients.
Partner with practice leaders, partners, associates, and GO Team leaders to translate needs into practical, scalable service delivery models.
Establish clear roles, handoffs, service expectations, quality standards, and accountability across delivery models.
Challenge legacy processes and organizational assumptions to identify better ways to organize, manage, and deliver work.
Use performance data, attorney feedback, and evolving practice needs to measure effectiveness and refine service delivery.
Own the talent development strategy for the paralegal function, ensuring attraction, development, and retention of talent.
Drive the talent development roadmap in collaboration with Human Resources through clear career paths, advancement opportunities, and skill development programs.
Define the capabilities, skills, and expertise required to support different practices and service delivery models.
Develop managers who actively coach, provide feedback, and manage performance effectively.
Foster a culture of continuous learning, engagement, inclusion, and professional growth.
Ensure team members understand expectations and receive consistent feedback, coaching, and support.
Define and execute the strategic roadmap for the paralegal function, balancing operational excellence, process improvement, and innovation.
Prioritize and lead initiatives that improve service delivery, efficiency, quality, and scalability.
Leverage data, metrics, and stakeholder feedback to identify opportunities for improvement and inform decision-making.
Shape priorities based on firm strategy, business objectives, attorney feedback, and emerging trends in legal services.
Lead the adoption of enabling technologies, including generative AI and workflow automation.
Provide executive oversight of the day-to-day operation of the paralegal function.
Establish and monitor key metrics for demand, capacity, utilization, quality, responsiveness, and attorney satisfaction.
Use data to guide decisions on staffing, specialization, workflow, technology, and talent.
Deploy resources effectively while accounting for practice and geographic needs.
Set clear expectations for managers and hold the leadership team accountable for service and performance.
Serve as the senior escalation point for significant staffing, performance, and service issues.
Establish and maintain appropriate quality standards and service expectations.
Oversee the case assistant team and evolve its services based on attorney and practice needs.
Develop tools and guidance that help attorneys use paralegal resources effectively.
Lead a high-performing team responsible for executing strategic and operational priorities.
Build trusted relationships with partners, practice leaders, associates, paralegals, and GO Team leaders.
Engage attorneys in designing and improving services to reflect how practices work.
Communicate changes, expectations, and their impact clearly.
Anticipate and address barriers to adoption.
Equip managers to reinforce new expectations and ways of working.
Drive progress while recognizing the realities of a partnership environment.
Create feedback channels to identify issues and improve services.

Requirements

Significant progressive leadership experience in a large law firm setting, with preference for AmLaw 100 experience.
Experience transforming a legal function, including designing and implementing new operating models.
Manage the full talent lifecycle.
Strong familiarity with legal industry trends, legal technology, and the evolving role of non-attorney timekeepers.
Build relationships and navigate complex stakeholder dynamics in a professional services environment.

Skills

Service mindset that starts with the needs of attorneys, practices, and clients.
Ability to design different approaches to staffing, specialization, workflow, technology, and talent based on practice needs.
Track record of challenging established ways of working and turning new ideas into practical solutions.
Strong knowledge of legal workflows and sound judgment about when work should be standardized, specialized, centralized, automated, or delivered differently.
Curiosity about how technology, including AI and automation, can reshape legal work and service delivery.
Strong analytical skills and the ability to use data and feedback to improve performance.
Credibility with partners and practice leaders, including the ability to understand their needs, challenge assumptions, and build support for change.
Strong people leadership skills, including developing managers, managing performance, and creating opportunities for paralegals to grow.
Ability to move between strategy and execution and lead change through sustained adoption.
Clear communication, sound judgment, and a willingness to test new approaches and learn from results.

Location

Global

Work Type

Full-time

Experience Level

Director
Senior

Education Level

Bachelor's degree

Salary/Compensations

$250,000.00 - $300,000.00

Benefits

Health, dental, and vision insurance
Life and disability insurance
Retirement & Savings Plan
Emergency back-up child and adult care
Paid vacation, sick time off, and holidays
Professional development and career advancement opportunities
Employee recognition and reward programs
Employee wellness and assistance programs
Employee discounts and perks

About the Company

Goodwin works with some of the world’s most successful and innovative investors, entrepreneurs and disruptors in the life sciences, private equity, real estate, technology and financial industries, and where they converge.
The Global Operations Team consists of business professionals who collaborate with colleagues from varied backgrounds and experiences, fostering an environment where cross-functional learning, networking, and collaboration are at the core.
The firm partners with attorneys and clients to deliver cutting-edge solutions in high-stakes litigation and dispute resolution, world-class regulatory compliance and advisory services, and complex transactions.
The company's commitment to integrity, ingenuity, agility, and ambition drives them.
Goodwin has been recognized as the “Best Business Team” by The American Lawyer.