About the job:
A national plaintiff personal injury law firm is seeking an Estate Attorney to join its collaborative team! This role will oversee estate-related legal and administrative matters related to the firm’s personal injury, wrongful death, asbestos, and settlement cases, while also overseeing the operations of the Estates Department and supervising a team of paralegals.
Office located in Midtown Manhattan
Compensation: $150-165k base salary DOE + bonus & competitive benefits
Responsibilities:
Estate Assessment & Case Management
- Manage estate-related matters following the death of clients, claimants, beneficiaries, or distributees to assess impact on pending cases.
- Analyze estate requirements affecting litigation, settlements, substitutions, releases, wrongful death claims, and distributions.
- Coordinate with families, fiduciaries, and interested parties to support estate administration and case progression.
- Resolve estate-related legal, procedural, and administrative issues to advance litigation and settlement matters.
- Maintain accurate estate documentation, action plans, and case updates in SmartAdvocate and other systems.
- Collaborate with attorneys, leadership, and departments by providing updates, guidance, and recommendations on estate matters.
New York Estate Proceedings
- Draft, review, and oversee Surrogate's Court petitions and supporting documentation.
- Attend Surrogate's Court appearances throughout New York State.
- Monitor estate proceedings through the issuance of letters and entry of final decrees.
Wrongful Death & Court Approval Proceedings
- Determine whether court approval is required for settlements involving personal injury, survival, wrongful death, or mixed claims.
- Prepare and review wrongful death compromise petitions.
- Analyze proposed allocations between survival and wrongful death proceeds.
- Coordinate with key stakeholders to obtain information required for court approval.
- Monitor proceedings through completion and attend related court appearances.
Multi-Jurisdictional Estate Matters
- Evaluate estate matters involving decedents domiciled outside New York.
- Conduct legal research on probate, estate administration, wrongful death, survival actions, fiduciary appointments, and jurisdiction-specific requirements.
- Identify and manage relationships with outside estate counsel based on jurisdiction, expertise, responsiveness, cost, and case needs.
- Serve as the primary point of contact between outside counsel, decedent families, and internal litigation teams.
- Monitor referred matters, track progress, and follow up on outstanding requirements to support timely resolution.
- Review estate counsel recommendations and strategies to ensure alignment with firm litigation and settlement objectives.
Legal & Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Serve as the firm's primary internal resource on estate-related legal issues affecting litigation, settlement authority, fiduciary capacity, court approval, and distributions.
- Advise attorneys and case teams regarding estate requirements and procedural strategies.
- Participate in conferences involving complex, high-priority, or delayed estate matters.
- Coordinate estate-related activities with Litigation, Releases, Accounting, Liens, Medicare, structured settlement professionals, and firm leadership.
Department Leadership & Staff Management
- Oversee the day-to-day operations of the Estates Department.
- Directly supervise, mentor, and provide support to Estates Department legal assistants and support personnel.
- Establish assignments, priorities, deadlines, performance expectations, documentation standards, and escalation procedures.
Qualifications:
- Juris Doctor (J.D.) from an accredited law school.
- 4+ years’ experience as an Estate Attorney.
- Licensed and in good standing to practice law in New York.
- Experience handling Surrogate's Court proceedings, probate, estate administration, wrongful death matters, and fiduciary appointments.
- Strong knowledge of personal injury and wrongful death litigation processes.
- Demonstrated leadership and project management experience.
- Exceptional legal drafting, organizational, analytical, and communication skills.
- Ability to manage multiple complex matters simultaneously while maintaining accuracy and meeting deadlines.
- Proficiency with SmartAdvocate and Microsoft Office applications preferred.