Senior Legal Editor

Senior Legal Editor
Communication and Outreach Department (COM) – Washington State Bar Association (WSBA)

Salary Range: $99,092 to $99,092 + Washington State Employee Benefits
FLSA - Full-time, Exempt

The WSBA's mission is to serve the public and the members of the Bar, to ensure the integrity of the legal profession, and to champion justice.

Purpose and Position Summary:

The Senior Legal Editor ensures the quality and legal accuracy of a library of comprehensive legal reference deskbooks relied on by members of the Washington State Bar Association. In additional to editorial oversight, this position is responsible for the production (in print and digital delivery), marketing, and fiscal aspects of deskbooks.

This position also has editorial and fiscal oversight of the WSBA’s member magazine, Washington State Bar News, (in print and digital delivery), vetting submissions to ensure that published articles will be of interest to practicing lawyers and editing all content in each issue for style, accuracy, and compliance with parameters established in court rules and legal precedent for permissible publication by a mandatory bar association.

As part of its responsibility for the magazine, this position manages the relationship with the WSBA Career Center, the organization’s partner-led job-posting center. The Senior Legal Editor is a member of the Communications and Outreach Department’s management team.

Primary Job Duties and Responsibilities:

Deskbooks:

• Manage the fiscal, editorial, production, marketing, and fulfillment functions of WSBA Deskbooks in print and online versions.
• Manage partnerships with outside entities to license deskbooks for online and e-book release.
• Serve as contract sponsor for such licensing agreements.
• Plan and produce annual budget for deskbook line, including topics, formats, and pricing, and track actual revenues and costs against budget projections throughout the fiscal year.
• Develop new titles (acquisitions) via monitoring legal developments, negotiations with Bar Sections, and communication with other CLE publishers nationally.
• Set and enforce quality standards and best practices for deskbooks; exercise final decision-making authority regarding acceptance of submissions for publication.
• Help recruit volunteer authors and editors and manage those relationships if issues arise.
• Supervise the Deskbook Coordinator II, including performance of all management functions for personnel issues (hiring, retention, coaching, training, performance evaluations, etc.) and providing leadership, strategic visions, and oversight for their work.

Washington State Bar News:

• Oversee team of five (only one of whom is a direct report) in producing nine issues per year of the WSBA’s official member magazine.
• Guide processes for content development and provide review—or recruit peer reviewers—to evaluate substantive legal content.
• Perform final review over all content prior to publication.
• Develop and oversees the budget and monitor efforts of outside ad sales company and Career Center, to reach budget revenue goals in order to cover costs of producing the magazine.
• Supervise the WA State Bar News Editor, including performance of all management functions for personnel issues (hiring, retention, coaching, training, performance evaluations, etc.) and providing leadership, strategic vision, and oversight for their work.

Performs other duties as needed and assigned.

Education Required:

• Graduation from an accredited law school with Juris Doctor (JD), or successful completion of WSBA Law Clerk Program.
• Membership in a state bar, preferably the Washington State Bar Association.

Education Preferred:

Experience Required:

• Three years of substantive editorial experience analyzing legal issues and concepts and identifying and correcting legal errors in material written by lawyers and other subject matter experts.
• Two years of experience in managing staff (performance management and coaching, annual evaluations, etc.).
• Experience with legal research and cite-checking (including use of online research tools such as Lex Fastcase; Lexis; and Westlaw).
• Experience in copyediting to conform to house styles: high level of familiarity with style guides such as the Associated Press Style Guide, Chicago Manual of Style, The Bluebook, and the Washington Supreme Court Office of Reporter of Decisions Style Sheet.
• Experience with Microsoft Office Suite in a Microsoft 365 environment with particular emphasis on Word (especially Track Changes and version control), Excel, Outlook, and Teams; experience in editing in Adobe Acrobat.
• Experience drafting annual budgets and monitoring actuals against budget throughout the fiscal year.

Experience Preferred:

• Law practice or other basis for familiarity with Washington’s legal community and legal culture
• Writing marketing copy.

Competencies (Skills/Abilities) Required:

• Ability to manage volunteers effectively in order to recruit them to participate, to enforce deadlines, and to make their volunteer experience a positive one for them.
• Ability to communicate tactfully with volunteer authors to resolve conflicts over legal issues and maintain the reputation of deskbooks as objective, authoritative treatises on substantive areas of Washington law.
• Ability to exercise a professional demeanor, sound judgment, and a consistently high level of service orientation in interactions with a potentially demanding membership in a variety of situations.
• Strong organizational skills and ability to work independently, set priorities, manage multiple projects, and meet and enforce deadlines in an extremely detail-oriented environment.
• Ability to move between “big picture” strategic planning and highly detailed work like proofreading.
• Superior written and oral communication skills.
• Excellent proofreading ability.
• Ability to negotiate effectively with vendors, publishing partners, advertising sales representatives, etc., and to work with the WSBA Office of General Counsel to review and propose revisions to contracts with such entities.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office and 365 within Windows, with a strong technical aptitude to quickly learn others (including WSBA’s existing systems).
• Basic competency of office equipment including phone, videoconferencing tools, and photocopier.

Competencies (Skills/Abilities Preferred):

• Familiarity with conversion of content from print to digital formats.
• Experience with advertising sales (digital and print) for magazines.

Working Conditions: 

This position will have the option of working “Primarily On-site” or “Primarily Remote”, this will be determined by the employee and their supervisor upon hire. WSBA Staff must also be flexible to work in office or travel within WA state as deemed necessary, or as required. For remote work, must have an adequate home/work environment and internet access, for performing work of a highly sensitive and confidential nature. 

Employment with the Washington State Bar Association mandates that WSBA Staff must reside within the State of Washington at the time of hire, and during active employment status.

The essential functions of the job that must be performed, with or without a reasonable accommodation: This position must be able to regularly work five days per week in an office type environment (remote or in office), possess the ability to primarily sit/stand and use a computer, and occasionally lift/push/pull items weighing up to 50 pounds (file boxes, paper, and other supplies or equipment). Must be able to operate a computer keyboard, and other standard office equipment (e.g., printer/scanner/fax/telephone). This position must be able to read, write, and speak with others in English.

WSBA Benefits Include:

• State of Washington Retirement system (DRS/PERS), including an optional Deferred Compensation Plan
• Medical benefits (including Rx) through the WA Healthcare Authority, with WSBA paying a majority of the premium cost.
• 100% paid premiums for employee Dental and Vision
• Long-Term Disability and Life Insurance Plans
• Generous Paid Time Off Benefits (sick, vacation, holiday, float, emergency leave)
• Transportation incentives, *based on a primary work selection requirements
• Allowance to set up a home office, *based on a Remote work selection option 
• Free Employee Assistance Program, and National Employee Discount Program
• You will be working with a team of supportive, collaborative, creative, and dedicated colleagues driven to accomplish WSBA’s Mission
• A company culture that truly focuses on a quality Work and Life Balance for its Staff through our 4 Pillars: 1) Excellence (Mission-driven results), 2) Unity (Team-driven results), 3) Integrity (Value-driven results), and 4 JOY! (People-driven culture). 

For consideration and to apply: interested candidates are required to apply online and submit the following required materials: online application, and both a comprehensive professional cover letter and resume. Applications submitted without a cover letter will be considered incomplete. 

WSBA Staff must be authorized to work in the United States on a permanent basis, upon hire. This position is not eligible for Sponsorship.

WSBA administers pre-employment background screening upon a contingent verbal offer, and prior to hire.

The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) operates under the delegated authority of the Washington Supreme Court and exercises a governmental function authorized by the Washington Supreme Court to license and regulate the state’s nearly 40,000 legal professionals, including lawyers, limited practice officers, and limited license legal technicians. The WSBA both regulates legal professionals under the authority of the Court and serves its members as a professional association — all without public funding.  The WSBA administers the bar admission process, including the bar exam; provides record-keeping and licensing functions; administers the lawyer discipline system. and provides continuing legal education for legal professionals, in addition to numerous other educational and member-service activities.

The WSBA is committed to fostering a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.

The statements contained in this job announcement are not necessarily all-inclusive; additional duties may be assigned, and requirements may vary from time to time.

Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) Compensation Philosophy and Compensation Grid