Mike Lewis
San Francisco,USA
Summary
Operations professional with experience leading a large group, building a new law office from the ground up and implementing new processes and procedures. Strong focus on team building, team collaboration, strategic planning, and achieving measurable results. Adept at adapting to changing needs and leading cross-functional teams. Skilled in project management, process improvement, and resource allocation. Dependable and results-driven, known for enhancing operational performance.
Overview
22
22
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Operations Manager, Northern California
O’Hagan Meyer LLP
06.2023 - Current
- Oversee operations and manage staff in the Firm’s San Francisco, Sacramento, and Fresno offices
- Build new San Francisco office of a national law firm from the ground up from 14 attorneys/3 staff to currently 45 attorneys/20 staff
- Assist with drafting and instituting policies and procedures of a brand new law office
- Draft EAP/IPP/WVPP for the San Francisco office
- Attend to facilities management issues/Act as liaison with building management
- Act as Docking Manager for the San Francisco office
- Responsible for day to day operations of three offices
- Advise IT on creating and instituting a set of Firm macros
- Supervise non-attorney staff in the San Francisco, Sacramento and Fresno offices, including progressive disciplinary measures up to termination
- Conducted regular performance reviews, identifying areas for improvement and developing action plans to address them.
- Process and approve timesheets of non-exempt staff in ADP
- Process and approve PTO requests in ADP
- Mediate disputes between personnel
- Workplace investigations involving staff
- Act as liaison between attorneys and their assistants and paralegals
- Design onboarding program for new San Francisco office employees
- Advise headquarters and other California office managers re: training and onboarding
- Set up new employees with offices or cubicles and computer workstations
- Order and monitor supplies for the office
- Reserve offices for visiting attorneys
- Plan office events per instructions from the corporate office
- Involved in all aspects of staff recruiting of Paralegals, Legal Assistants, Docket Clerks, Records Clerks, Summer Associates and Office Services Clerks
- Developed and maintained relationships with external vendors and suppliers.
Legal Secretary/Office Coordinator (Manager)
Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP
02.2023 - 05.2023
- Responsible day to day operations of the office
- Facilities Management/Act as liaison with building management
- Order supplies for the office per corporate instructions
- Manage office refreshments per corporate instructions
- Reserve offices for visiting attorneys
- Plan office events per instructions from the corporate office
- Coordinate with the receptionist
- Legal Secretary duties include:
- Administrative: expense reports, arrange travel, run conflicts checks, engagement letters, and other miscellaneous tasks
- Corporate: print documents, put together closing books, redline documents
- Litigation: draft pleadings, search for documents in PACER
Legal Secretarial Coordinator (Supervisor)
Lewis Brisbois LLP
07.2019 - 02.2023
- Responsible for the workflow of 40+ legal secretaries
- Assist with monitoring of attorney/secretary ratios
- Assign overflow work and back-up assignments
- Assign secretary floaters
- Assist OA with permanent attorney/secretary assignments
- Mediate disputes between secretaries
- Act as liaison between attorneys and their assigned secretaries
- Contribute to annual reviews of secretaries
- Counsel secretaries on a regular basis regarding their performance
- Review resumes of and interview secretarial candidates and case assistant candidates
- Onboard new secretaries
- Train secretaries both on an individual and group basis re: various legal topics
- Participate in disciplinary measures up to termination
- Act as backup secretary on days that are short-staffed and during last minute, late afternoon & evening filings
- Legal Secretarial Coordinator duties include:
Litigation/Transactional Secretary
Sheppard Mullin LLP
09.2014 - 06.2019
- Interim Attorney Recruiting Administrator (1/19 to 4/19)
- Various Attorney Recruiting Projects (1/19 to 6/19)
- Coordinator, Presenter and Trainer for the Monthly Secretarial Training at the San Francisco office (2017-2019)
- Assisted a Member of the Firm’s Partner Compensation Committee (2014 to 2018)
- Administrator of the Firm’s luxury suite at AT&T Park
- Assistant to Senior Partner and heavy rainmaker
- Management Trainee/Mentored in law office management by Office Administrator
- Lead Secretary and Office Manager trainee
Litigation Secretary
Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP
10.2012 - 08.2014
- Assisted the Deputy Managing Partner of the San Francisco Office
- Format and perform heavy edits to pleadings and letters; run TOCs & TOAs; prepare and file complaints, answers, motions and other documents in state and federal courts and with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) using ECF, and various attorney services; perform docket clerk duties by calculating and calendaring due dates using the Firm’s docketing software; check tentative rulings; communicate with local courts; legal research; bates number documents; light paralegal work
- Monthly billing, expense reports, review daily incoming mail
Trademark Prosecution/Litigation Secretary
Hanson Bridgett LLP
03.2010 - 09.2012
- Assisted the IP Department Head
- IP Litigation: Assisted with filing of opposition & cancellation related pleadings before the Trademark Trial & Appeal Board; e-filed with various federal courts; assist with drafting and serving of discovery documents related to opposition and/or cancellation proceedings; filed complaints and answers in state and federal courts related to intellectual property.
- Trademark Prosecution: Responsible for the trademark prosecution process beginning with the initial trademark search, application, registration, and declaration of use and renewals; assist with electronic filing of trademark applications with the USPTO; experience with TDR, TARR & TESS; monitor pending trademark applications for potential opposition before the TTAB; review CPI docket reports and monitor upcoming TM prosecution and TTAB deadlines; draft and send reporting letters to clients related to trademark registration and renewal certificates; knowledge and use of intellectual property software such as CPI Trademark; create new trademark files; experience with downloading of patents and patent file histories through Reedfax & Delphion; created binders with indices for patent file histories.
- Administrative: Monthly billing, expense reports, review daily incoming mail.
Trademark Prosecution/Labor Litigation Secretary
Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP
02.2006 - 03.2010
- Trademark/Trade Secrets/Labor Litigation: Filed opposition & cancellation related pleadings before the Trademark Trial & Appeal Board; e-filed with various federal courts; assist with drafting and serving of discovery documents related to opposition and/or cancellation proceedings; filed complaints and answers in state and federal courts related to trademark, trade secrets, copyright, patent, and labor matters; scheduled depositions; prepared briefs for filing, subpoenas, requests for production of documents, requests for interrogatories and served discovery documents to opposing counsel; performed heavy edits to letters and pleadings in Word & WordPerfect; created table of contents & table of authorities with MacPac & Full Authority; assist w/trial preparation in trade secrets case, including traveling with trial team to site of trial.
- Administrative: Expense reports, time entry, review daily incoming mail.
Environmental Litigation Secretary
Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger LLP
04.2003 - 02.2006
- Litigation: Filed complaints and petitions for writ of mandamus in state courts; prepared briefs for filing, prepared excerpts of records and lodged with courts; prepared subpoenas, requests for production of documents, requests for interrogatories and the served discovery documents to opposing counsel; e-filed documents with federal courts; performed heavy edits to letters and pleadings in Word and WordPerfect; created table of contents and table of authorities with Full Authority; prepared and filed appeals court briefs; assist with the preparation of environmental impact reports.
- Administrative: Expense reports, time entry, review daily incoming mail.
Education
Masters - Human Resource Management
Colorado State University-Global Campus
Bachelor of Arts - Liberal Arts
Evergreen State College
Olympia, WAParalegal coursework -
City College of San Francisco
San Francisco, CACalifornia litigation certificate coursework and webinars -
Legal Professionals, Inc.
Skills
- Problem-solving
- Team leadership
- Operations management
- Customer service
- Employee relations and conflict resolution
- Planning and implementation
- Staff training
- Operations monitoring
Certification
- Notary Public
State of California, Current License 2002-2026
- Certified Professional (SHRM-CP)
Society for Human Resource Management, 2020-2026
- Professional in Human Resources (PHR)
Human Resources Certification Institute, 2020-2026
- Adult First Aid/CPR/AED
American Red Cross - Issued Oct 2023 - Expires Oct 2025
Accomplishments
- Office Management/Office Operations/Leadership/Facilities Management/Supervision/Recruiting/Training
- Operations Manager, Northern California (regional office management experience (O’Hagan Meyer)
- Act as SF Docketing Manager (O’Hagan Meyer)
- Built brand new San Francisco office of national law firm from the ground up (O’Hagan Meyer)
- Drafted EAP, IPP and WVPP for the new San Francisco office (O’Hagan Meyer)
- Developed Onboarding/Training program for new employees (O’Hagan Meyer)
- Developed Subject Matter Training program for all California Staff (O'Hagan Meyer)
- Secretarial Coordinator (Supervisor) at Lewis Brisbois LLP; responsible for the supervision and workflow of 40+ legal secretaries in the Firm’s San Francisco office
- Interim Attorney Recruiter at Sheppard Mullin LLP (1/19 to 4/19)
- 26 years as a legal secretary (IP litigation and prosecution, labor litigation, environmental, insurance defense litigation, business litigation, real estate, and transactional)
- Developed a monthly secretarial training program at Sheppard Mullin’s San Francisco office, training on numerous legal secretarial topics ranging from: filing under seal, removals to federal court, docketing, e-filings in federal & state court, trademarks, bankruptcy, notary public, apostilles and legalizations, legal citations, depositions
Affiliations
- National Notary Association, 2002 – present
- San Francisco Legal Professionals Association, 2007-present
- Legal Professionals, Inc., 2007-present
- Association of Legal Administrators-Golden Gate Chapter, 2019-present
- National Docketing Association – 2017 - present
Timeline
Operations Manager, Northern California
O’Hagan Meyer LLP
06.2023 - Current
Legal Secretary/Office Coordinator (Manager)
Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP
02.2023 - 05.2023
Legal Secretarial Coordinator (Supervisor)
Lewis Brisbois LLP
07.2019 - 02.2023
Litigation/Transactional Secretary
Sheppard Mullin LLP
09.2014 - 06.2019
Litigation Secretary
Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP
10.2012 - 08.2014
Trademark Prosecution/Litigation Secretary
Hanson Bridgett LLP
03.2010 - 09.2012
Trademark Prosecution/Labor Litigation Secretary
Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP
02.2006 - 03.2010
Environmental Litigation Secretary
Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger LLP
04.2003 - 02.2006
Bachelor of Arts - Liberal Arts
Evergreen State College
Masters - Human Resource Management
Colorado State University-Global Campus
Paralegal coursework -
City College of San Francisco
California litigation certificate coursework and webinars -
Legal Professionals, Inc.