Conflicts and Intake Specialist

About Ropes & Gray

Ropes & Gray is a preeminent global law firm. The firm has been ranked in the top three on The American Lawyer's prestigious A-List for eight consecutive years and #1 on Law.com's UK A-List twice in the past three years—rankings that honor the "best of the best" law firms.

The firm has approximately 2,500 lawyers and professionals serving clients in major centers of business, finance, technology, and government in Boston, Chicago, Dublin, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Milan, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Seoul, Shanghai, Silicon Valley, Singapore, Tokyo and Washington, D.C.

The firm has consistently been recognized for its leading practices in many areas, including asset management, private equity, M&A, finance, real estate, tax, antitrust, life sciences, health care, intellectual property, litigation & enforcement, privacy & cybersecurity, and business restructuring.

Ropes & Gray is an equal opportunity employer.

Overview

The Conflicts and Intake Specialist plays a key role in the firm's risk management function by upholding the highest standards of data integrity in the firm's client, matter, conflicts, and ethical wall records. Accuracy, completeness, and consistency are at the heart of this role. It is well suited to a detail-oriented professional with law firm experience in conflicts, new business intake, records, or legal operations who understands that every entry matters.

The position reports to the Conflicts Systems and Data Supervisor. It works closely with other members of Client Intake and Conflict Control (CICC), Partners, Associates, and administrative departments across the firm. The Specialist keeps client, matter, conflicts, and ethical wall records accurate, complete, and current, and ensures full compliance with firm and departmental policies and procedures.

Responsibilities

Data Integrity and Quality Control

• Stewardship of Firm Records: Serve as a steward of the integrity of the firm's client, matter, and attorney records. Accurate records are essential to reliable conflicts searches, sound intake decisions, and the firm's compliance with its professional responsibility obligations.
• Record Maintenance: Make precise, timely updates, corrections, and changes to client, matter, and attorney records. This includes updating records for departed attorneys, closing clients and matters, processing name and address changes, handling outside position requests, and revising the New Business Report. Confirm that each change is reflected correctly in every affected system.
• Quality Control and Audits: Conduct ongoing quality control reviews and periodic audits to confirm records are consistent, complete, and accurate. Promptly identify, document, and resolve discrepancies, duplicates, and gaps before they can affect conflicts results or reporting.
• Consistency Across Systems: Confirm that client, matter, and ethical wall information is aligned across the firm's intake, conflicts, records, and financial systems, and escalate inconsistencies to the appropriate team members.
• Documentation Standards: Follow established data standards, naming conventions, and procedures, and recommend improvements that strengthen the reliability of firm records.
• Perform other administrative duties and special projects as assigned.

New Business Intake

• Support the firm's new business intake process by carefully reviewing new client and matter requests for compliance with firm and departmental policies.
• Confirm that all information submitted through the intake system is complete, accurate, and consistent with existing firm records before processing. Respond to inquiries from attorneys and staff, and provide timely updates on the status of requests.
• Apply rigorous quality control to the intake, opening, and maintenance of client and matter records, recognizing that errors at intake can carry through to conflicts searches and other downstream processes.
• Request, obtain, and accurately record all required documentation, including executed conflict waivers and engagement letters, along with key substantive provisions of those terms. Make sure the recorded information matches the source documents exactly.
• Follow up regularly on outstanding engagement terms, and confirm that any exceptions receive proper approval and are documented.
• Build a working knowledge of client-specific requirements and special circumstances, including outside counsel guidelines, and keep related records accurate and current.
• Track and report on intake items such as declined matters, clients without full advance waivers, and outstanding engagement terms. Make sure every report is accurate, complete, and reconciled with firm records.
• Participate, as appropriate and in coordination with the firm's Conflicts Product Manager and the Senior Manager of the Conflicts Department, in firm initiatives. This includes testing and adopting new tools and processes and sharing practical, user-focused feedback.

Ethical Wall Administration

• Set up, maintain, and monitor ethical walls using the firm's security tools, in accordance with client requirements, firm policies, and applicable rules of professional conduct.
• Make sure ethical wall records accurately reflect the restricted matters, clients, and personnel, and confirm that wall memberships are updated promptly as staffing changes.
• Partner with attorneys, practice groups, and administrative departments to make sure ethical wall requirements are implemented accurately and enforced consistently.
• Uphold the firm's standards for accuracy, integrity, and stewardship in every aspect of ethical wall setup and record review.
• Act as a resource to attorneys and staff, giving clear guidance on confidentiality protocols and ethical wall procedures.
• Keep thorough, well-organized documentation that supports audit readiness and compliance transparency.

Qualifications

ESSENTIAL CAPABILITIES:

• Must demonstrate the ability to maintain strict confidentiality regarding the firm’s internal and personnel affairs.
• Must willingly accept and proactively perform delegated assignments in a cooperative manner, subject to manager supervision.
• Able to interact effectively with colleagues at the firm, including attorneys and support staff.
• Able to be a proactive self-starter who understands the details within a much larger context.
• Must be flexible in order to respond quickly and positively to shifting demands and opportunities; able to work under tight deadlines and handle multiple, detailed tasks.
• Must have strong data management skills.
• Must be team-oriented and able to share information, goals, opportunities, successes, and failures with the appropriate parties.
• Must pay attention to detail and have the ability to follow up and follow through.
• Engage and collaborate with team members through the presentation of ideas and recommendations regarding best practices, continuous improvement, departmental processes, policies, and procedures.
• Provide support and assistance on important team projects and initiatives, when required.

EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS REQUIRED:

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• Experience in conflicts of interest, new business intake, or related risk management processes in a law firm environment preferred.
• Experience with the following software programs preferred: Intapp Intake and Compliance, iManage Security Policy Manager, Elite 3E, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft Word.
• Must possess strong PC and data entry skills, analytical and problem-solving skills, verbal and written communication skills, and a service orientation.

Compensation and Total Rewards Package

Ropes & Gray is proud to offer a comprehensive Total Rewards package to our business support team members. The firm also offers comprehensive health and well-being benefits, personal and professional development, career growth opportunities and a collegial and supportive culture. The anticipated pay range for this role is listed below and represents our good faith and reasonable estimate of the starting salary range at the time of posting. In addition, this role is eligible for a discretionary bonus based on performance. The actual offered rate for this position will be determined based on job-related, non-discriminatory factors, including qualifications and experience, geographic location, education, external market data and consideration of internal equity.

Boston: $69,500 - $100,800

Working Conditions

This position requires hybrid on-site presence as an essential function of the role. Consistent and predictable on-site presence is required for ongoing business continuity, professional development and effective collaboration with colleagues and management.

Conflicts analyst; paralegal; compliance; billing; engagement letter