Legal Applications Engineer - ALG Solutions

As a Legal Applications Engineer you will be part of a dynamic and innovative team that delivers cutting-edge solutions using the latest technology tools and platforms. A proportion of your time will be spent between providing support, maintenance, and improvement on the current solutions and applications, as well as exploring and assessing new technologies and trends in the legal sector. The rest of your time will be dedicated to various projects and initiatives that use technology to create new processes, automate tasks, extract insights, and create value for the firm and our clients. You will work closely with various stakeholders across the firm, including lawyers, business services teams, IT, and external suppliers, to understand their needs, provide consultancy and training, and ensure the smooth delivery and adoption of the solutions. This role is an exciting opportunity to develop your skills and knowledge in legal innovation and technology, and to contribute to the firm's strategy and growth in this area. This role reports to the Applications Development Manager. 

Role and responsibilities

• Support and coordinate projects including the planning, development, delivery and support of legal technology solutions in partnership with legal experts and business services teams.
• Manage and actively oversee the day-to-day administration, maintenance, and enhancement of the legal technology applications, such as HighQ, Kira, DocuSign, etc., according to business needs and policies.
• Provide first-level technical support and be the main liaison with each product supplier, ensuring compliance with SLAs and resolving any issues. Coordinate system upgrades, patching or maintenance windows.
• Design, build, and maintain internal software solutions using various technologies, such as PowerApps, PowerBI, and SharePoint, to create applications that automate workflows, improve productivity, and enhance user experience.
• Communicate clearly and regularly with all project stakeholders, keeping them informed and aligned on the project status, risks, and issues. Clearly articulate the benefits of technology and to adapt your approach based on your audience i.e. technical, non-technical audiences.
• Produce and monitor reports for each application, and address or escalate any performance or quality issues.
• Work with third party suppliers, IT Operations, IT Security, and Risk to ensure that any current or new products are compatible with the firm's business and technical strategies and meet the required standards and regulations.
• Understand project requirements and advise project teams and stakeholders on the best way of implementing changes to the legal technology applications.
• Work with the internal ALG stakeholders to ensure project deliverables are created and updated according to the firm's project management lifecycle.
• During the project go-live phase, work with project stakeholders, suppliers, business services, and IT teams to ensure a smooth transition to the new solution and support the creation of cut-over plans.
• Deliver presentations, demonstrations, and training on existing products and market intelligence on technology tools to our lawyers and clients and promote a culture of innovation and continuous improvement across the firm.
• Draft and design user guides, administration and training documents for each solution/application.
• Stay updated with emerging technologies/industry trends in the legal technology space and evaluate if they can be used for the firm's operations and activities.

Skills, experience and characteristics required

• Knowledge and awareness of the current technology landscapes in professional services firms, and of best practices and developments in AI-enabled and automated legal technologies, and the ability to apply this.
• Working knowledge and proven hands-on experience of technologies such as collaboration platforms, document automation, machine learning/AI, no-code platforms, and ideally experience of using legal tech solutions.
• Technical skills to evaluate technology products and vendors accurately and efficiently, and to determine well they will fit with the firm's broader technology platforms and information security requirements.
• Advanced Excel, PowerApps development, PowerAutomate, Power BI / Tableau skills.
• (Preferred) Understanding and experience of a coding language (e.g. C#, JavaScript / Java) along with database design and SQL experience.
• Excellent personal organisational and time management skills and the ability to juggle multiple demands and prioritise workloads.
• Self-motivated, initiative-taking, and client-focused. Tenacious, driven individual who can be flexible as the needs of the role and/or audience change and is skilled at working collaboratively and with a keen attention to detail.
• Comfortable working in a dynamic environment.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills with a professional approach, and the ability to collaborate effectively, build relationships, and work with various stakeholders across the business.

Qualifications 

• Educated to degree level in Computer Science / Engineering or a related field.
• 3-5 years of experience in Applications Solutions design and support with a significant client (internal and external) facing element. 

The Firm

 A&L Goodbody (ALG) is a leading Irish law firm with six international offices in Dublin, Belfast, London, New York, San Francisco, and Palo Alto. There are currently 116 partners and over 900 employees. The strong international and domestic business community in Ireland forms a valuable part of the ALG client base.

ALG is incredibly proud to be recognised as the leading Irish law firm in the Chambers and Partners Europe 2024 Guide with the highest number of Band 1 practice area rankings. ALG is also ranked as a 'top tier' law firm in The Legal 500 EMEA Guide 2024 and the IFLR1000 Guide 2023. The firm is consistently ranked number one in the Irish market and on a European level.

A sample of other recent notable awards include:

• Law firm of the year – Republic of Ireland 2023 at The Lawyer European Awards
• Irish Law Firm of the Year 2023 at the Chambers Europe Awards
• One of the top 50 most innovative law firms in Europe 2023 by the Financial Times
• Future of Legal Services Innovation Award winners 2024 • Best client support 2023 by the Managing Partners Forum
• Business Working Responsibly Mark 2023
• Ireland's top 25 best places to work by LinkedIn's Top Companies list for 2022
• Most Popular Graduate Recruiter in Law 2024 by GradIreland (for 13 consecutive years)

ALG has a reputation for leading the way in continuously developing its service to clients and internally to its business. This is delivered through the use of new processes, ways of working, innovative use of technology and marketing- leading business service teams.