Job Description
*Job Overview*
Crain & Wooley is a growing, entrepreneurial estate planning law firm seeking an experienced Managing Attorney to lead and oversee our expanding legal department.
This is a unique opportunity for an attorney who has reached the point in their career where they want to move beyond simply managing their own caseload and become a true legal department leader.
The Managing Attorney will assume responsibility for the day-to-day leadership, quality, training, development, and performance of the legal department, allowing the firm’s Founding Partner to step away from daily legal-department management and focus his attention on firm-wide growth, expansion, strategic partnerships, and the future of the organization.
This position is not intended to be a traditional senior associate role. We are looking for someone who can become the go-to legal leader for the firm; someone attorneys and legal staff turn to for guidance, someone who can identify and solve complex planning issues, and someone who can build a legal team capable of delivering consistently excellent work at scale.
The ideal candidate is an experienced estate planning attorney who is both a technically strong lawyer and a natural teacher, coach, and leader.
*Key Responsibilities*
* *Legal Department Leadership:* Lead the day-to-day management, performance, and strategic direction of the legal department, ensuring operational efficiency and alignment with firm-wide objectives.
* *Advanced Estate Planning Leadership:* Serve as a technical leader in estate planning by providing mentorship, education, and practical guidance to attorneys and legal staff on sophisticated planning strategies, complex trust structures, and evolving legal issues.
* *Legal Quality & Risk Management:* Establish, maintain, and continuously enhance legal quality standards, ensuring consistency, accuracy, risk mitigation, and adherence to ethical and professional obligations.
* *Attorney Performance & Accountability:* Set clear performance expectations, establish measurable goals, provide constructive feedback, and hold attorneys accountable for professional development, productivity, and results.
* *Client Experience & Service Excellence:* Champion the continuous improvement of the client experience, ensuring the firm's service extends beyond technically sound legal documents to include proactive communication, personalized guidance, responsive support, and a seamless client journey.
* *Strategic Growth & Leadership Development:* Partner with firm leadership to drive sustainable growth through attorney recruitment, practice area expansion, service-line development, pricing and profitability, capacity planning, and process improvement. Build the people, systems, and infrastructure necessary to strengthen the legal department and support the firm's long-term strategic vision.
*Who We Are Looking For*
We are looking for an attorney who has depth and the desire to mentor staff members.
Required Qualifications
· J.D. from an accredited law school
· Active license to practice law in Texas (or can acquire ASAP)
· Significant experience practicing estate planning and related areas
· Demonstrated experience with sophisticated trust planning
· Strong understanding of taxable and non-taxable estate planning
· Strong understanding of asset protection strategies
· Meaningful Medicaid planning experience
· Experience with business entities and business planning
· Excellent legal research, writing, and analytical skills
· Strong client communication skills
· Demonstrated ability to supervise or mentor attorneys and legal staff
· Ability to teach complex legal concepts clearly
· Strong organizational and project-management skills
· High level of professional judgment and integrity
*Particularly Strong Candidates Will Have*
· 8+ years of estate planning experience
· Experience leading an estate planning department or law firm
· Experience supervising attorneys
· Experience developing attorney training programs
· Experience managing legal production or revenue goals
*Why Join Crain & Wooley?*
Crain & Wooley is an established, successful law firm with a decade of growth behind us and an exciting period of expansion ahead. This is an opportunity to join a firm at a pivotal stage in its evolution, where your leadership, vision, and expertise will directly shape the future of our legal department and the firm as a whole. We are looking for more than someone to fill a position. We are seeking a legal leader who wants to build, innovate, develop people, and play a meaningful role in our next chapter of growth.
*HOW TO APPLY*
Candidates should submit:
1. Resume
2. Cover letter explaining why this leadership opportunity is the right next step in your career
3. Brief description of your experience with sophisticated estate planning, asset protection, and Medicaid planning
4. Description of your experience managing, mentoring, or developing other attorneys
*We are particularly interested in learning how you have made the attorneys around you better lawyers.*
Crain & Wooley is an equal opportunity employer committed to building a high-performing, collaborative, and client-centered legal team.
Pay: $200,000.00 - $250,000.00 per year
Benefits:
* 401(k)
* Dental insurance
* Health insurance
* Paid time off
* Relocation assistance
* Retirement plan
* Vision insurance
Work Location: In person
Crain & Wooley is a growing, entrepreneurial estate planning law firm seeking an experienced Managing Attorney to lead and oversee our expanding legal department.
This is a unique opportunity for an attorney who has reached the point in their career where they want to move beyond simply managing their own caseload and become a true legal department leader.
The Managing Attorney will assume responsibility for the day-to-day leadership, quality, training, development, and performance of the legal department, allowing the firm’s Founding Partner to step away from daily legal-department management and focus his attention on firm-wide growth, expansion, strategic partnerships, and the future of the organization.
This position is not intended to be a traditional senior associate role. We are looking for someone who can become the go-to legal leader for the firm; someone attorneys and legal staff turn to for guidance, someone who can identify and solve complex planning issues, and someone who can build a legal team capable of delivering consistently excellent work at scale.
The ideal candidate is an experienced estate planning attorney who is both a technically strong lawyer and a natural teacher, coach, and leader.
*Key Responsibilities*
* *Legal Department Leadership:* Lead the day-to-day management, performance, and strategic direction of the legal department, ensuring operational efficiency and alignment with firm-wide objectives.
* *Advanced Estate Planning Leadership:* Serve as a technical leader in estate planning by providing mentorship, education, and practical guidance to attorneys and legal staff on sophisticated planning strategies, complex trust structures, and evolving legal issues.
* *Legal Quality & Risk Management:* Establish, maintain, and continuously enhance legal quality standards, ensuring consistency, accuracy, risk mitigation, and adherence to ethical and professional obligations.
* *Attorney Performance & Accountability:* Set clear performance expectations, establish measurable goals, provide constructive feedback, and hold attorneys accountable for professional development, productivity, and results.
* *Client Experience & Service Excellence:* Champion the continuous improvement of the client experience, ensuring the firm's service extends beyond technically sound legal documents to include proactive communication, personalized guidance, responsive support, and a seamless client journey.
* *Strategic Growth & Leadership Development:* Partner with firm leadership to drive sustainable growth through attorney recruitment, practice area expansion, service-line development, pricing and profitability, capacity planning, and process improvement. Build the people, systems, and infrastructure necessary to strengthen the legal department and support the firm's long-term strategic vision.
*Who We Are Looking For*
We are looking for an attorney who has depth and the desire to mentor staff members.
Required Qualifications
· J.D. from an accredited law school
· Active license to practice law in Texas (or can acquire ASAP)
· Significant experience practicing estate planning and related areas
· Demonstrated experience with sophisticated trust planning
· Strong understanding of taxable and non-taxable estate planning
· Strong understanding of asset protection strategies
· Meaningful Medicaid planning experience
· Experience with business entities and business planning
· Excellent legal research, writing, and analytical skills
· Strong client communication skills
· Demonstrated ability to supervise or mentor attorneys and legal staff
· Ability to teach complex legal concepts clearly
· Strong organizational and project-management skills
· High level of professional judgment and integrity
*Particularly Strong Candidates Will Have*
· 8+ years of estate planning experience
· Experience leading an estate planning department or law firm
· Experience supervising attorneys
· Experience developing attorney training programs
· Experience managing legal production or revenue goals
*Why Join Crain & Wooley?*
Crain & Wooley is an established, successful law firm with a decade of growth behind us and an exciting period of expansion ahead. This is an opportunity to join a firm at a pivotal stage in its evolution, where your leadership, vision, and expertise will directly shape the future of our legal department and the firm as a whole. We are looking for more than someone to fill a position. We are seeking a legal leader who wants to build, innovate, develop people, and play a meaningful role in our next chapter of growth.
*HOW TO APPLY*
Candidates should submit:
1. Resume
2. Cover letter explaining why this leadership opportunity is the right next step in your career
3. Brief description of your experience with sophisticated estate planning, asset protection, and Medicaid planning
4. Description of your experience managing, mentoring, or developing other attorneys
*We are particularly interested in learning how you have made the attorneys around you better lawyers.*
Crain & Wooley is an equal opportunity employer committed to building a high-performing, collaborative, and client-centered legal team.
Pay: $200,000.00 - $250,000.00 per year
Benefits:
* 401(k)
* Dental insurance
* Health insurance
* Paid time off
* Relocation assistance
* Retirement plan
* Vision insurance
Work Location: In person