Manager: Human Resources; Lawyers

Mayer Brown is an international law firm positioned to represent the world’s major corporations, funds, and financial institutions in their most important and complex transactions and disputes. We are recognized by our clients as strategic partners with deep commercial instincts and a commitment to creatively anticipating their needs and delivering excellence in everything we do.

We are a collegial, collaborative firm where highly motivated individuals with an unwavering commitment to excellence receive the opportunity, support, and development they need to grow, thrive, and realize their greatest potential all while supporting the Firm’s client service principles of excellence, strategic partnership, commercial instinct, integrated strengths, innovation, and collaboration across our international firm.

If you enjoy working with team members whose defining characteristics are exceptional client service, initiative, professionalism, responsiveness, and adaptability, you may be the person we are seeking to join our Human Resources department in our New York office, as a Manager:
Human Resources.

The Manager:
Human Resources serves as the expert in the attorney HR generalist function for the New York office, serving as a strategic partner to the practice leadership. Provides direction and oversight for attorney HR processes. Consults with a variety of stakeholders to translate the Firm’s business objectives into actionable, integrated solutions. This role will use data and a collaborative approach to seek out opportunities and make proactive solutions to help advance our business goals.

This role partners with national team members to manage attorney HR policies, procedures and transactions across the employee lifecycle and works as part of a global HR team who are striving to deliver a high quality experience for lawyers and business services staff.

• Proactively works with practice leaders to align HR programs and initiatives in support of business plans and objectives
• Establishes the approach for all HR activity in the New York office for lawyers, through coordination with centralized and shared HR services teams
  • Monitors state labor and employment legislation, develops solutions / procedures and ensures compliance with all federal and state laws
  • Maintains knowledge of legal industry trends among peer firms and initiates updates to policies and programs
  • Proactively identifies process improvements and enhancements
  • Participates in the development and support of the performance management process.
  • Provides guidance to partners in the techniques for writing and presenting meaningful feedback
  • Manages development of templates to support array of attorney HR transactions
  • Maintains Attorney Administrative Manual policies and procedures
• Serves as expert working closely with labor and employment counsel and HR teams to review and troubleshoot non-standard attorney HR matters relating to:
  • Leaves of absence for medical, parental, maternity, bereavement, compassionate care, personal, military, etc.
  • Payroll issues and compensation policy questions
  • Secondments to offices outside the US or clients
  • Partner transitions and retirements
  • Annual review and extensions of senior counsel and independent contractors
  • Remote work arrangements in the US and outside the US
  • Provide guidance with performance management / improvement plans
  • Manage immigration issues for attorneys who are visa holders, working with Global Mobility lawyers
  • Ensure onboarding process and messaging is up to date and covers key programs and policies
  • Respond to inquiries regarding general policies, procedures and firm programs
• Partner with Legal Risk Management lawyer to ensure the bar license status complies with firm and state requirements.
• Manages sensitive attorney Employee Relations and other complex situations that have been escalated, coordinating with Employment Counsel as appropriate
• Utilizes data to support leaders in making people-related decisions
  • Uses Peoplesoft to look up and report on attorney data, including headcount, attrition, new hires, diversity demographics, etc.
  • Works with Employment Counsel on any necessary legal review exercises
• Creates…