Legal Budget Analyst | Philadelphia or Dallas

Blank Rome Government Relations - Philadelphia, PA

Full-time - Mid Level

Hybrid - Philadelphia, PA

501-1,000 employees

About the position

The Legal Budget Analyst will play a crucial role in supporting the Innovation and Value Department at Blank Rome, an Am Law 100 firm. This position involves creating, tracking, and reporting on alternative fee arrangements and matter budgets. The Legal Budget Analyst will work closely with the pricing team, client relationship attorneys, and other legal professionals to ensure that budgets align with the firm's expectations. If any arrangements exceed the agreed-upon scope, the analyst will provide recommendations for adjustments. This role also includes collaborating with attorneys and clients to provide status updates and conducting ad hoc analyses as needed. In addition to budget management, the Legal Budget Analyst will support the firm's matter management tools and work alongside Legal Project Managers to develop best practices in project management. The position requires a hybrid working arrangement, with candidates expected to be onsite three days a week at one of the firm's offices located in Philadelphia, PA; Dallas, TX; or New York, NY. The analyst will report directly to the Senior Value Manager, ensuring that all financial and project-related activities are effectively managed and communicated. The essential functions of this role include drafting and submitting budget proposals, tracking actual project costs against budgets, and proactively flagging any budget variances to the lead lawyer. The analyst will also be responsible for preparing and managing financial and client status reports, automating legal project management workflows, and assisting in the development of best practices and tools across the firm's client portfolio. Building strong relationships with clients and fostering a collaborative approach across departments will be key to the success of this position.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with the value team and attorneys to draft and submit budget proposals; track actual project costs against budget and proactively flag budget variances to the lead lawyer.
• Collaborate with attorneys to track legal budgets including tracking actions, timelines, deliverables, assumptions, and escalating activities when there are changes in scope or status.
• Provide options for resolution and course correction on matters that begin to diverge from initial expectations.
• Work with attorneys and clients to define requirements and develop custom budget reporting.
• Prepare and manage financial and client status reports, as required.
• Collaborate to automate the firm's legal project management workflow and task/phase code groupings, including the creation of dashboards to create and update matter budgets, view matter status reports, and search historical data for future matter planning.
• Assist in the development and proliferation of best practices, tools, budget templates, and reference materials across the firm's client portfolio.
• Support effective communication strategies on projects/matters that foster a collaborative approach between project workstreams including between our lawyers and our clients.
• Support post-project review and post-mortem assessments and recommend process improvements as appropriate.
• Build relationships and foster a collaborative approach when working with clients and across all departments.
• Perform other responsibilities as assigned.
• Work additional hours as needed to fulfill job requirements.

Requirements

• 2+ years of experience in positions requiring strong project and budget management skills.
• Law firm or professional service organization experience is required.
• Client facing experience is a plus.
• Bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, management, or other related business function.
• Strong technical skills, including advanced Excel skills (including use of vertical and horizontal lookups, macros, pivot tables and modeling) and a high level of proficiency in Word and PowerPoint required.
• Ability to work with mathematical concepts such as probability and statistical inference.
• Experience in using data visualization tools (e.g., Tableau or Power BI) is strongly desired.
• Proficient with pivot tables and data cubes, and an understanding of relational databases.
• Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists.
• Strong communication skills (verbal and written) with the ability to develop positive working relationships (in-person and virtually).
• Meticulous attention to detail and accuracy is extremely critical.
• Excellent interpersonal skills with a customer service focus.
• Ability to protect and maintain confidential and sensitive information.
• Ability to manage multiple tasks with effective organizational skills.
• Demonstrated energetic and enthusiastic team player.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience in using data visualization tools (e.g., Tableau or Power BI) is strongly desired.
• Client facing experience is a plus.