New Business Intake Specialist

About Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP

For over a century, Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP (Davis Graham) has ranked among the region's most prominent law firms, consistently offering quality legal services to emerging and established businesses of the Rocky Mountain West. While the firm's Denver location and intermediate size allow a close personal relationship with local and regional clients, our technology and broad experience allow us to partner effectively with businesses and their investors throughout the world. Davis Graham serves clients nationally and internationally, with a strong focus on corporate finance and governance, mergers and acquisitions, natural resources, environmental law, real estate, intellectual property, and complex litigation. Our lawyers have experience working with companies in the energy, mining, technology, hospitality, private equity, manufacturing, asset management, and aviation industries.

Summary

The New Business Intake Specialist is responsible for reviewing new client and matter documentation submitted through the firm’s business intake system and ensuring compliance with the firm’s policies and procedures regarding conflicts clearance and new business acceptance when attorneys seek to open, close, or modify clients and matters. The person in this role is responsible for assembling all of the information necessary for the firm’s Business Acceptance Partners to decide whether or not to approve the proposed new business or changes to existing matters. The New Business Intake Specialist is also responsible for overseeing the accurate and timely opening, tracking, and maintenance of all client matters and maintaining the integrity of the firm’s conflicts and client matter database and the firm’s administrative document library. The New Business Intake Specialist provides training on the conflicts and new business intake function to firm personnel and acts as a back-up to the Conflicts Analyst when necessary.

Essential Functions

• Timely review the firm's new business intake forms and related documents, including conflict reports, engagement agreements, and other relevant documentation for accuracy, completeness, and compliance with the firm’s guidelines and policies prior to approval by a Business Acceptance Partner;
• Communicate with the lawyers and staff involved in a new business request on any changes or additional information that may be necessary before the firm can accept the new business, conferring with the firm’s Conflicts Counsel and Conflicts Analyst where appropriate;
• Coordinate with library personnel to facilitate an investigation of prospective clients using established online databases with a view towards identifying high-risk and/or negative findings, circulating any findings to the firm’s Conflicts Counsel for further instructions;
• Escalate issues concerning exceptions to the firm’s new matter intake policies, including deviations from the firm’s standard terms of engagement, to the firm’s Conflicts Counsel and/or General Counsel prior to approval by a Business Acceptance Partner;
• Submit complete new business packages to the appropriate Business Acceptance Partners for required approvals;
• Once new business has been approved, follow established procedures and guidelines to open files accurately and efficiently;
• Confirm that all ethical walls have been properly established in Aderant, Records, and the firm’s document management system;
• Ensure that copies of fully-executed engagement agreements and waiver correspondence, outside counsel guidelines, ethical wall memoranda, and other engagement documentation have been stored in the firm’s administrative documents site;
• Contribute to an index of material provisions in each client outside counsel and/or billing guideline, circulating relevant documents and/or provisions to appropriate administrative staff;
• Perform regular audits of parties in the conflicts database to ensure accuracy, completeness, and adherence to established procedures, identifying and resolving any discrepancies or issues with others;
• Act as a back-up to the Conflicts Analyst when absences or workload issues arise;
• Provide ongoing guidance and training to attorneys and staff members on proper matter opening and management procedures and forms, including how to read conflict reports;
• Assist with the development, documentation, and implementation of new conflicts and business intake policies and technologies;
• Serve as a liaison between the conflicts and new business team and other administrative departments to efficiently and accurately exchange information utilized by and maintained in IntApp, Aderant, records, and other firm systems;
• Adhere to legal and ethical standards, including confidentiality requirements, when handling client information;
• Stay up to date with changes in regulations and ensure file management practices align with industry best practices; and
• Other projects and duties, as assigned.

Required Skills/Abilities

• Superior focus, attention to detail, and skill in interpreting and analyzing information;
• Sound judgment in identifying potential ethical and other risk management issues in the new business intake process;
• Excellent written and oral communication skills necessary to deliver complex answers to or ask thoughtful questions of attorneys, management, and staff;
• Strong interpersonal skills necessary to interact effectively with firm personnel at all levels;
• Ability to work independently and manage multiple priorities while dependably producing accurate work product within deadlines;
• Ability to engage and work collaboratively with other team members to meet the strategic objectives of the conflicts and new business team;
• Possess a high level of ethical and professional responsibility and superior judgment in handling confidential information;
• Strong ability to learn new technologies, processes, and workflows as necessary; and
• Willingness to keep updated on trends and developments in the industry and to continue to develop skills, knowledge, and ability to improve processes and procedures.

Supervisory Role
None

Work Environment

This job operates in a remote environment. Because this position will be handling client information, employees must work from a home office and not a public location. The employee will routinely use standard office equipment.  

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer.

Position Type and Expected Hours of Work

This is a full-time, benefit-eligible position. Typical days and hours of work are Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 5 PM. This position occasionally requires extended hours and weekend work. Some flexibility in hours is allowed. 

This position will need to be available during the core business hours of M-F 8-5 MST via email, Teams, and phone, with some flexibility in hours due to location or at manager’s discretion. The employee may be required to be at the office at the discretion of the manager.

Required Education and Experience

1. Bachelor’s degree with major coursework in a related field, or a combination of education and relevant experience as a conflicts analyst, paralegal, or legal assistant in a law firm.
2. Minimum of three years of experience working in a law firm performing file opening or intake functions.
3. Strong knowledge of ethical, legal, and risk management concepts and rules relating to conflicts of interest and new business intake.
4. Experience with the use of Conflicts and New Business Intake software (Intapp Open or equivalent). Resourceful internet research skills utilizing various online sources and business databases such as Dun & Bradstreet, Hoovers, Securities & Exchange Commission, Lexis/Nexis, Capital IQ, etc.
5. Strong proficiency in a Microsoft Windows based environment.

Preferred Education and Experience

1. Significant new business intake, conflicts analysis, or paralegal experience in a law firm.
2. Experience working with Intapp Conflicts, Open, and/or Walls modules.
3. Experience as a content manager and/or administrator of relational databases.
4. Basic understanding of law firm billing and fee arrangements.
5. Experience with the use of law firm financial management systems (e.g. Elite Enterprise 3E, Aderant)
6. Experience with use of third-party risk mitigation software (e.g. Dun & Bradstreet, Factvia).

Other Duties

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Application Deadline

This position is expected to stay open until January 31, 2025. Please submit your application as soon as possible and no later than January 31, 2025, at midnight to ensure consideration.

Salary range is based on or commensurate with experience.

Davis Graham offers competitive benefits. For a full list of benefits provided, please select this link: Benefits.

Davis Graham provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, transgender status, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, marital status, genetic information, military status or any other status protected by applicable federal, state or local laws.