Law Firm billing and accounting, as well as collections

Jennifer Dion

SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS

• Adept Elite specialist with 30 years of experience in the legal industry.

• Thorough knowledge of the Elite Legal Billing System (ELBS) and Financial Management System (FMS) modules in Character, Windows and Enterprise versions, with limited experience with 3E. Current experience with TimeSlips

• Extensive experience in training and mentoring personnel on all modules of the Enterprise system

• A self-motivated, efficient, articulate, reliable, disciplined, organized, detail orientated, and tenacious team player, with an excellent ability to meet deadlines, anticipate trends, and create efficiencies within a procedural framework

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

• Temporary Law Firm Position(s), including Billing, EBilling, A/P and Collections December 2022 - May 2024

• Ellis George Cipollone, Los Angeles, CA July 2020 - October 2022 Billing Supervisor

• Supervise three billing coordinators and assist them in billing as necessary; direct billing coordinator for twelve billing attorneys, including collections upon request; assist AP/AR with settlement payment approvals and A/P entry as necessary; A/R and WIP reporting upon request; responsible for eBilling site management set-ups

(timekeepers, rates, budgets), as well as monitoring payments and rejections for write-off or resubmission. Venable LLP, Los Angeles, CA

Account Executive II September 2017 – May 2019

• Manage collections activity for 29 billing partners in Los Angeles and San Francisco offices in Aderant, client account relations and accounts receivable (A/R) reporting, drafting and implementation of alternative payment arrangements, various status reporting for management review and meetings, coordinating A/R discounts/ write-offs/reapplications, preparation and submission of Accounts Payable (A/P) related to refunds and trust transactions, resolution of stale checks and client trust balances, and coordination with Accounting and Billing team on related collections issues.

Bryan Cave LLP, Santa Monica, CA November 2003 – March 2017 Accounting Manager (September 2011 – March 2017)

• Supervisor of two Billing Coordinators, one Accounts Payable Coordinator, and a Data Entry Clerk

• Responsible for training accounting and administrative staff on all procedures relating to billing and A/P

• Managed Accounts Payable Petty Cash account and on-hand petty cash

• Managed collections for 30 billing timekeepers, which included coordinating efforts with attorney, compiling collections packages, client account relations and A/R reporting, implementation of alternative payment arrangements, coordinating A/R discounts, short pays and write-offs, and resubmitting electronically rejected billing

• Supported collections for Irvine office for six months during the absence of onsite coordinator

• Management of Personnel expenses and personal charges

• Assisted firm Trainer with Chrome River roll-out Collections and Accounts Payable Coordinator (January 2010 – September 2011)

• Directed collections efforts in 2010 resulted in an overall 80% success rate

• Reduced major client A/R by more than 50% in 2010 by crafting a procedural upgrade which included: o Streamlined reporting for relationship attorney

o Developing adept procedure for capturing information on rejected balances in a timely manner o Diligent rebilling of rejected balances

o Detailed analysis of rejection trends

o Coordination with relationship attorney and accounting personnel which culminated in the implementation of a restricted text database for fees and front-end narrative modifications for expenses o Attention to necessary write-offs

International Trade Group Coordinator (August 2007 – January 2010)

• Direct assistant to three partners, including the Client Service Group (CSG) and Asia Practice Leader

• Trained and mentored Trade Group Assistant

• Maintained billing responsibilities for Santa Monica Office Trade CSG members and offices in Bangkok and Singapore

• Assist and liaise with Professional Associations for CSG marketing efforts related to International Trade

(OWIT-LA, FTA)

• Board of Advisors member for the El Camino College Center for International Development Billing Coordinator (November 2003 – August 2007)

• Assisted new Accounting Manager without prior Elite experience to become proficient user of Enterprise

• Wrote office user/procedure manual for Billing Coordinators

• Trained and mentored new billing clerks

• Conducted interval tutorials on billing, eBilling, set-ups, trust transactions and reports

• Trained staff and attorneys on WebView and DTE

• Successfully headed collections efforts for two offices during a leave; and provided overflow A/P coverage

• Continuously called upon to upgrade and create procedures to meet the changing needs of this office and new International Trade Group LLC

Relis Consulting Agency, Inc. July 1999 – November 2003 Elite Specialist - onsite support for large and small law firms during conversion to Enterprise

• Trained Billing, A/R and A/P personnel

• Provided hands-on support for all billing and accounting transactions

• Project management

• Minuteman support in set-ups and user access

Wolf Rifkin & Shapiro, LLP, Beverly Hills, CA July 1995 – June 1999 Billing Coordinator

• Direct firm billing and A/R activities; assist with A/P

• Perform collections and client account relation functions; financial reporting

• Accounting systems trainer for attorneys and staff

• Drafted firm manual for all billing and A/P procedures EDUCATION

North Carolina School of the Arts

UCLA Extension Certificate Program – International Trade and Commerce coursework SKILLS

Thorough knowledge of Elite Information System, (Character, Windows, Enterprise), WebView; experienced with Aderant, ProLaw; Juris; MS Office (Word, Excel, Outlook), QuickBooks, Timeslips, DTE, Chrome River; eBilling: eBillingHub, TyMetrix 360, eCounsel, CounselLink, Legal Tracker

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