KNOW, the Magazine for Paralegals Summer 2014 | Page 5

KNOW Trends
Changing Paralegal Manager Roles
Climbing the ladder of success can be difficult for a paralegal, as there are few places within a law firm for
one to go. That is until you look at the job of a paralegal manager. I recently came across the 2014 ALM/IPMA
Annual Compensation Survey for Paralegals and Managers and nearly fell out of my chair! According to the
survey, law firm paralegal managers are paid an average of almost $80 an hour as well as about $18,000 a
year in bonuses. What? How does a paralegal make a six figure salary?
The role of paralegal manager within a law firm has traditionally been given to high performing paralegals
that have shown the ability to manage both projects and people, says Gary Melhuish, Manager of Litigation
Support Services at Ballard Spahr LLP. Some paralegal managers continue to work as a paralegal, called a
“working manager”, while others shift to a completely supervisory role which does not include conventional
paralegal tasks. As a result, many of these new positions do not create any billable time for law firms. This
is because busy paralegal managers have a difficult time remaining in the client workflow, says Melhuish.
Although paralegal mangers may not bill clients for their time, their salaries are one of the highest in the
paralegal field.
Transitioning from a paralegal to a paralegal manager can be difficult, as it is really a career change from
paralegal to manager. The duties of a paralegal manager are quite different from those of a paralegal. Common tasks for paralegal managers include:
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Recruiting and hiring;

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Workflow coordination;

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Training and professional development;

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Performance and review; and

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General administration.

According to Melhuish, the new norm in paralegal manger duties is to be involved in technology decisions as they relate to specialized use by legal teams. “Any potential technology software that could be used
by legal teams must become part of the manager’s knowledge-base. ,” says Melhuish. “Not that they need to
operate the software but they need to understand the functions and applicability of the software. Developing this knowledge puts the traditional manager in the position to acquire more responsibility. For example,
understanding new docketing software can lead to being put in charge of the docket personnel or the
evaluation and implementation of the new document review system might lead to the supervision of the
litigation support staff.”
Not only do paralegal mangers need to be able to use all of the latest technology but they should possess
strong orga