Settlement Accountant

The Settlement Accountant is responsible for managing the financial aspects of legal settlements across the Firm’s multi-jurisdictional practice, ensuring accurate trust accounting, timely disbursement of settlement funds, and compliance with Firm policies, state bar rules, and internal controls. This role works closely with legal teams, the settlement department, the Director of Legal Funding, and the Financial Operations Manager to process deposits, generate invoices, prepare distribution packages, and facilitate the end-to-end settlement disbursement cycle.

The Settlement Accountant does not reconcile trust bank accounts; that function is performed by the Financial Reporting & Analytics Manager as a required segregation of duties control.

• Receive settlement checks forwarded by general office personnel on the same business day of receipt. General office personnel log all incoming checks; the Settlement Accountant is responsible for all subsequent processing.
• Scan the check and all accompanying documentation; forward the scanned package to the responsible attorney for deposit approval before processing.
• Upon receipt of attorney deposit approval, deposit checks in the appropriate IOLTA trust account via remote capture device. The Firm maintains eight trust accounts:
  Florida (two accounts), New Jersey, California, New York, Massachusetts, and a combined Maryland/Pennsylvania IOLTA account. The appropriate account is determined by the jurisdiction of the matter.
• Post all deposits in the Quick Books Trust database on the date of deposit. Maintain detailed digital and physical records of all settlement deposits including matter number, payor, amount, account, and date.

• Prepare detailed client cost listings and cost statements as requested by legal teams.
• Create fee invoices based on settlement data received from the Settlements Department. Each fee invoice must be cross‑referenced to (i) the executed settlement agreement confirming the total settlement amount, and (ii) the client’s Contingent Fee Retainer Agreement confirming the applicable fee percentage. Fee invoices are submitted to the CFO for review and approval before delivery.
• Ensure all invoices are accurate, complete, and issued in a timely manner.

• Prepare Distribution Statements in coordination with the Settlements Department and legal team. Distribution Statements must include the client’s and attorney’s signatures before any disbursement may be processed.
• No check may be pulled, printed, signed, or released until a fully executed Distribution Statement is in the possession of the Accounting Department. The disbursement date must not precede the date of the fully executed Distribution Statement.
• The total settlement amount must be expressly stated in the executed release agreement; amounts referenced only in email or informal correspondence are not accepted as sufficient documentation.
• Upon receipt of CFO financial authorization and the fully executed Distribution Statement, provide the client trust ledger to the Director of Legal Funding to initiate the check pull and logging process.
• Coordinate delivery of Distribution Statements to clients and all required parties via Docu Sign.
• Ensure adherence to all legal and Firm policies throughout the disbursement process.

• Upon completion of the full disbursement cycle, scan the entire physical package — including the Settlement Preparation Worksheet, Distribution Statement, fee invoice, all supporting documentation, and check copies — and save the complete digital package to the matter record in Neos.
• Maintain accurate and complete records of all settlement activity in accordance with Firm policy and applicable state bar rules. Trust account records are retained for a minimum of seven years or per applicable bar rules, whichever is longer.
• Track and monitor the status of all ongoing legal settlements across all active jurisdictions.
• Act as the Accounting Department liaison with legal teams and the…