Build your big career with the firm that does Big Law, Better. McDermott Will & Schulte is a leading global law firm that brings together more than 1,700+ lawyers and 1,400 business professionals. We celebrate excellence, collaboration, and community and have been recognized as a top workplace by USA Today, Fortune, The American Lawyer, Vault and others. We are also certified by Great Place to Work.
At McDermott, we don’t just invest in your future, we accelerate your career – wherever it may lead. That includes supporting you both in and outside of the office.
With us, you’ll find:
A firm where everyone belongs: Our award-winning culture prioritizes warmth and authenticity — we encourage you to be yourself!
Enthusiasm for all perspectives: We’re smarter and stronger when everyone has a voice and a seat at the table. We welcome unique viewpoints and ideas, and we make opportunities for you and your career to thrive.
Support to feel your best and do your best: Wellness is integral to building a successful career and a rich life. That’s why our benefits program supports your physical, emotional, mental, and financial health, with an emphasis on work-life balance.
Real rewards for real work: We offer generous compensation packages that recognize hard work and excellence.
Job Description:
The Director of Attorney AI Learning & Strategy develops, coordinates and oversees the firm’s attorney AI learning strategy, including baseline AI training, practice-based AI learning, and advanced workshops and credentialing. This position combines legal practice expertise with the ability to design, operationalize and evaluate attorney training and development initiatives in a rapidly evolving AI environment. The Director of Attorney AI Learning & Strategy reports to the firm’s Senior Director of Talent & Development and will work closely with Professional Development, Knowledge Management, Information Technology, practice and affinity group leaders, and other relevant stakeholders to assess attorney learning needs, design AI learning strategy and ensure that programming is aligned with the firm’s goals, approved tools, and evolving market and legal trends.Essential Functions and Responsibilities:
Lead development and implementation of the firm’s attorney AI learning strategy
Assess current attorney AI training efforts and develop recommendations regarding learning architecture, credentialing, cadence, workshop design, and training modalities
Serve as the day-to-day cross-functional lead across Talent & Development, Knowledge Management, IT, practice group leaders, and other stakeholders on attorney AI learning initiatives, including identifying legal workflows, use cases, and case studies that should inform attorney AI learning
Partner with Talent leadership to integrate attorney AI learning with the broader attorney lifecycle, including onboarding, skills development, supervision, advancement, and practice-group programming
Continuously evaluate and update attorney AI learning strategy, curricula, and content to ensure they remain relevant, practical, and innovative
Recommend and operationalize a visible, credible approach to attorney credentialing and recognition in the AI learning space
Help shape an approach that protects foundational lawyer skill development while encouraging thoughtful adoption of new tools and workflows
Develop a practical framework for tracking participation, completion, credentialing, and other relevant program indicators
Prepare updates and recommendations for Talent leadership and other firm leaders regarding program progress, gaps, and next-step priorities
Leverage technology platforms and analytics to deliver, track, assess, and adjust the learning strategy over time
Monitor developments in legal AI tools, legal technology, and related market trends and translate them into timely updates to attorney learning content and guidance
Participate in learning and development, legal innovation, knowledge management, and AI-related organizations and conferences to stay abreast of emerging tools, learning methods, and market trends
Job Specifications:
Bachelor’s degree
Juris Doctorate (JD)
Meaningful experience practicing law at a law firm, in-house legal department or comparable legal setting
Hands-on familiarity with both general-purpose AI tools and legal AI platforms commonly used in law firm environments, including tools such as Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT Enterprise, Claude, Harvey, CoCounsel, Legora and comparable practice-specific or internally developed tools
Experience in attorney development, professional development, lawyer training, legal education, knowledge management, practice innovation or a related field
Experience with designing large-scale change management strategies
Experience evaluating how AI tools are used in legal workflows, including drafting, summarization, research support, document review, issue spotting, chronology building, diligence and other practice-specific applications, and translating that understanding into lawyer-facing training
Experience identifying and addressing the learning, supervision, risk and change-management issues that arise when introducing AI into legal practice
Familiarity with attorney professional responsibility rules governing AI and emerging jurisdictional guidance
Demonstrated ability to translate technical concepts and evolving AI capabilities into practical lawyer-facing learning
Experience designing firmwide or practice-specific lawyer-facing curricula, workshops or skills-based programs preferred
Experience building or scaling new programs in an ambiguous or evolving environment preferred
Familiarity with attorney supervision, professional responsibility and development of junior lawyer skills in a changing practice environment preferred
Strong executive presence and interpersonal skills; ability to work effectively with partners, practice leaders and senior business professionals
Ability to work independently, exercise sound judgment, and drive complex work forward with limited supervision
Ability to work in cross-functional and virtual teams
Strong organizational skills; ability to work under tight deadlines and prioritize responsibilities
Ability to handle and maintain confidential information
Ability to travel for work
Knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint and Word)
Excellent written and verbal communication skills
Successful candidates will be provided with outstanding career opportunities and will receive a competitive total rewards package with the opportunity to earn performance-based bonuses.
Target Hiring Range $211,000 - $301,000
Please note that quoted salary ranges are not guarantees of what final salary offers may be. Base pay is based on market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and geographic location. Base pay is only one part of the Total Rewards that MWE provides to compensate and recognize our staff professionals for their work. Full time positions are eligible for a discretionary bonus and a comprehensive benefits package.
Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.
#LI-AR2
#LI-Hybrid
Physical Demands and Work Environment:
The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Physical Demands:
While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to sit, use hands, reach with hands and arms, stoop, talk and hear
Employee must occasionally lift up to twenty (20) pounds
Work Environment:
Typical indoor office environment
Disclaimer:
The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of the work being performed by people within this classification. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required of employees assigned to this job.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree
- Juris Doctorate (JD)
- Meaningful experience practicing law at a law firm, in-house legal department or comparable legal setting
- Hands-on familiarity with general-purpose AI tools and legal AI platforms such as Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT Enterprise, Claude, Harvey, CoCounsel, Legora
- Experience in attorney development, professional development, lawyer training, legal education, knowledge management, practice innovation or a related field
- Experience with designing large-scale change management strategies
- Experience evaluating how AI tools are used in legal workflows and translating that into lawyer-facing training
- Experience identifying and addressing learning, supervision, risk and change-management issues when introducing AI into legal practice
- Familiarity with attorney professional responsibility rules governing AI and emerging jurisdictional guidance
- Demonstrated ability to translate technical concepts and evolving AI capabilities into practical lawyer-facing learning
- Strong executive presence and interpersonal skills; ability to work effectively with partners, practice leaders and senior business professionals
- Ability to work independently, exercise sound judgment, and drive complex work forward with limited supervision
- Ability to work in cross-functional and virtual teams
- Strong organizational skills; ability to work under tight deadlines and prioritize responsibilities
- Ability to handle and maintain confidential information
- Ability to travel for work
- Knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint and Word)
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Experience designing firmwide or practice-specific lawyer-facing curricula, workshops or skills-based programs
- Experience building or scaling new programs in an ambiguous or evolving environment
- Familiarity with attorney supervision, professional responsibility and development of junior lawyer skills in a changing practice environment
McDermott Will & Schulte Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about McDermott Will & Schulte and has not been reviewed or approved by McDermott Will & Schulte.
-
Strong & Reliable Incentives — Bonus programs often match or exceed market, with discretionary and special awards that materially raise total compensation in strong years. Merit-driven structures are seen as enhancing overall satisfaction among attorneys.
-
Fair & Transparent Compensation — Compensation communications and public announcements outline explicit base and bonus levels by year, reinforcing clarity around pay expectations. Market-scale adjustments and stated increases support perceptions of fairness.
-
Wellbeing & Lifestyle Benefits — Well-being initiatives include 24/7 mental-health access, individual coaching, mindfulness resources, and billable credit for certain activities that integrate wellness into work. On-site counselor support in select offices and app-based tools further extend day-to-day support.
McDermott Will & Schulte Insights
What We Do
McDermott Will & Emery is now McDermott Will & Schulte. Leading organizations turn to global law firm McDermott Will & Schulte for a better way to address legal challenges, connect with those at the forefront, and drive stronger outcomes. Working across more than 20 offices globally, our 1,750+ lawyers act on data-driven insights, deep relationships, and unmatched industry experience to deliver on our commitment of Always Better.
.jpg)
