Director of Artificial Intelligence in Los Angeles, California at Panish Shea Ravipudi LLP

Director of Artificial Intelligence

Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP, a top-tier plaintiff’s trial law firm with offices in California, Nevada, Arizona, and Washington, is seeking a hands-on Director of Artificial Intelligence to lead the firm’s strategic and practical adoption of AI technologies across all four offices. This position is based in California and reports to firm leadership and will work closely with the Director of Information Technology on security, infrastructure, and compliance matters where the two roles intersect.

Position Overview

The Director of Artificial Intelligence is responsible for leading the firm’s AI strategy, tool selection, governance, and training across every stage of plaintiff-side litigation – from intake through trial and disbursement – as well as firm marketing, HR, and operations. This role serves as the central point of coordination for AI use firmwide, partnering closely with attorneys, IT, risk, and administrative leadership, without requiring a large dedicated AI staff. The ideal candidate combines legal-industry judgment with technical fluency and can translate AI capability into workflows attorneys and staff will actually trust and use.

Key Responsibilities

AI Strategy & Prioritization

• Develop and maintain a realistic, firm-appropriate AI roadmap focused on near- and medium-term value across litigation, marketing, and administrative functions.

• Identify practical AI use cases across the litigation lifecycle – intake and case evaluation, discovery and document review, medical record and damages analysis, demand letter and pleading drafting, trial preparation, and settlement disbursement.

• Advise firm leadership and equity partners on where AI should – and should not – be used, given plaintiff-side litigation risk and client trust considerations.

Governance, Risk & Professional Responsibility

• Create and maintain firmwide AI policies covering acceptable use, confidentiality, data handling, and attorney supervision of AI-generated work product.

• Ensure AI tools and workflows comply with the Rules of Professional Conduct in California, Nevada, Arizona, and Washington, including duties of competence, confidentiality, and candor, along with applicable privacy laws (e.g., CCPA/CPRA) and client outside-counsel guidelines.

• Partner with Firm Management and the Director of IT to vet new tools, review vendor data-use and AI-training terms, and mitigate exposure in litigation and client-facing work – working closely with the Director of IT on security and compliance matters the IT function currently owns.

Tool Selection & Implementation

• Evaluate, pilot, and deploy commercially available AI and legal-tech solutions (e.g., AI-assisted demand and drafting tools, medical chronology and record-review platforms, knowledge management systems) with a strong emphasis on ROI, security, and vendor stability.

• Assess build-vs-buy tradeoffs for firm-specific AI needs, and where the firm elects to build, serve as project manager overseeing development – defining requirements, managing timelines and budget, and coordinating outside developers or contracted engineering resources (this role is not expected to write code or build tools directly).

• Oversee contracts, renewals, and vendor performance for AI-enabled tools, including negotiation and redlining in coordination with firm operations and legal.

• Provide scalable, supportable solutions that work across all four offices and integrate with existing case management and practice systems, coordinating closely with the Director of IT on infrastructure, network security, and data handling requirements.

Attorney & Staff Enablement

• Translate AI capabilities into clear, attorney- and staff-friendly guidance, training, and quick-reference workflows.

• Design and deliver training tailored to partners, associates, paralegals, and administrative staff across offices and departments.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with legal teams and firm operations to embed AI appropriately into daily workflows, from case management to social media and recruiting.

• Work closely with the Director of IT and outside vendors on infrastructure, security, and support needs; while this role does not report to IT, the two positions partner regularly given the current overlap in AI-related compliance and security responsibilities.

• Support conversations with clients, co-counsel, and referral sources regarding the firm’s AI policies and responsible use practices.

Measurement & Continuous Improvement

• Track adoption, efficiency gains, and risk indicators for deployed AI tools, and report on outcomes to firm leadership.

• Make data-driven recommendations on expanding, modifying, or sunsetting solutions.

• Stay current on legal-industry AI developments, plaintiff-bar and defense-bar trends, and emerging regulatory guidance, without chasing hype.

• Strong working knowledge of generative AI and legal-technology tools used for legal research, drafting, document review, and case analysis.

• Ability to evaluate both third-party AI/legal-tech solutions and the feasibility of building custom internal AI tools, and to manage such projects to completion – no hands-on coding or software development required.

• Demonstrated ability to balance innovation with risk management, confidentiality obligations, and budget constraints in a regulated professional environment.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain technical concepts to attorneys and staff with varying levels of technical comfort.

• Strong project management skills and the ability to manage multiple initiatives across four office locations.

• Sound judgment and discretion in handling confidential client, case, and firm information.

• Must be authorized to work in the United States.

Education and Experience

• 7–10 years of experience in legal technology, innovation, IT leadership, or a closely related field, ideally within a law firm or professional services environment.

• Hands-on experience deploying AI or advanced legal-tech tools in a professional services or regulated environment.

• Knowledge of litigation workflows, confidentiality requirements, regulatory obligations, and attorney culture, ideally within plaintiff-side personal injury or civil litigation.

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree (JD, MS, MBA, or equivalent) preferred.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience developing internal technology governance or usage policies for a law firm or similarly regulated organization.

• Familiarity with plaintiff-side litigation tools and platforms (e.g., case management, AI-assisted demand generation, e-discovery).

• Demonstrated success driving AI adoption among attorneys and staff with varying levels of technical comfort.

• Experience supporting multi-state or multi-office law firm operations.

• Experience project managing the development of custom software or AI tools (e.g., working with in-house developers, outside development firms, or low-code/no-code AI platforms), without requiring hands-on coding experience.

Compensation and Benefits

• Salary: Commensurate with experience and qualifications

• Bonus eligibility

• Comprehensive benefits package, including:

? Medical, dental, and vision insurance

? 401(k) with match and profit sharing

? Paid parking

Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP is an equal opportunity employer. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.

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