Building the systems behind 100+ concurrent licensing projects

Project delivery

I started by running every process myself: reviewing each new client's goals, leading kickoff calls, and checking the work at every stage before it went to the agency or the attorneys. Once I knew each process inside and out, I turned it into SOPs and, with operations, built the workflows in our project management system. With those systems in place, I trained the team and handed off the day-to-day work. My role grew into managing every workflow across our practice areas, quality-checking each stage, and keeping every project on track.

Team leadership

I led a six-person legal support team with three direct reports. I designed the training and balanced workloads. I was responsible for hiring for the legal support team: identifying staffing needs, making the case for each new role to leadership, and conducting first-round interviews.

Practice development

I developed new service offerings, defining the steps, what was in and out of scope, and the price, with final sign-off from the lead attorney. I also assessed how each practice area was performing and made the case to retire those that no longer served the firm or its clients.

Document the busiest work first

I created SOPs for every licensing practice area the firm offered, starting where the pressure was highest. Adult Rehabilitative Mental Health Services (ARMHS) licensing had strong client demand and was the hardest area to train people on. Finding time to write it on top of a heavy workload was a challenge. Once it was complete, the knowledge no longer depended on one person. New team members could learn the work directly from the SOP.

One workflow, visible to everyone

Together with the operations team, we designed the full client workflow, from what clients see during onboarding to each handoff on our side, with automations at every stage. Every project lived in ClickUp, showing its stage, the task owner, the timeline, and every client conversation. Nothing depended on memory, and work didn't fall through the cracks.

Measures the team could see

With no KPIs in place, I partnered with leadership to define them for each practice area and each team member, including application return rates and time spent in each project stage. Reviewing them together gave people clear data on their own progress.

A repeatable way to launch new practice areas

When intake saw demand for a new type of license, I researched the requirements, outlined the full offering from onboarding to approval, wrote the SOP, and set up the workflow with operations. I piloted each new offering with the first client myself, refined it based on what I learned, and trained the team to deliver it. Each launch ended with a lessons-learned review that shaped the next one.

The clearest example was Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention (EIDBI) licensing, a new state requirement for providers of autism spectrum disorder treatment and services. As one of very few law firms offering this service, we opened a niche that was high volume and high value for the firm, and especially valuable to the providers we served.

Training toward ownership

For their first three months, I worked closely with each new hire and reviewed their work in detail. After that, the goal was independence. I stepped back so they could own their projects, even when that meant learning from a returned application. Daily check-ins, weekly one-on-ones, and weekly L10 team meetings helped us catch problems early.

I also monitored team capacity closely. When people were stretched too thin, I brought it to leadership's attention and advocated for the team. I built the kind of trust where they felt comfortable bringing me their questions and concerns.