Finance Associate, Structured Commissions & Referral Programs

Purpose: We are seeking a highly analytical and detail-oriented Finance Associate, Structured Commissions & Referral Programs, to manage the firm’s attorney commission structures, referral fee programs, and related financial workflows across the Litigation, Pre-Litigation, and Attorney-Generated case pipelines.

This role, reporting to our Chief Financial Officer, plays a critical part in ensuring accuracy, transparency, and timeliness in commission calculations and payouts—directly supporting growth, performance incentives, and attorney compensation models across the firm. The ideal candidate will bring strong financial acumen, advanced Excel skills, exceptional organization, and the ability to translate complex compensation structures into clear, consistent processes.

This is a full-time, in-person position that can be based in our Chicago, Washington, D.C., Lake Mary, Florida, office. The compensation for the position, depending on experience, is an annual base salary of $110,000 to $140,000 per year, plus a year-end discretionary bonus and benefits.  

Key Responsibilities:

Commission & Bonus Program Management

• Administer, in conjunction with the CFO and Senior Controller, all commission plans for Litigation attorneys, Pre-Lit attorneys, Intake Agents, and PSA roles, ensuring alignment with firm policy and individualized compensation structures.
• Calculate quarterly commissions for Litigation attorneys and apply additional incentives tied to KPIs and team performance.
• Work with HR to process commission payouts for Pre-Litigation settlements with accuracy and adherence to internal timelines.
• Track supplemental bonuses such as:
  • Case “flip” bonuses when a matter moves from Pre-Lit to Litigation
  • Settlement-based bonuses
  • Attorney-generated case incentives

Referral Fee & Case-Movement Tracking

• Maintain end-to-end visibility into the case lifecycle (New → Pre-Lit → Litigation → Settlement) to ensure compensation is applied based on the correct stage and program rules.
• Coordinate with Case Management, Personal Injury Leadership, and Attorney teams to verify when cases qualify for specific compensation structures.
• Track case status changes and ensure all relevant compensation adjustments are captured in real time.

Financial Operations & Reporting

• Build and maintain a comprehensive master spreadsheet/database capturing each attorney’s individualized commission structure, base compensation updates, and eligibility for incentive programs.
• Create dashboards and recurring reports summarizing payouts, trends, variance analyses, and forward-looking projections.
• Reconcile payouts with Finance and Payroll to ensure accuracy, compliance, and consistency across all departments.
• Prepare ad-hoc analyses for leadership regarding compensation costs, performance payouts, and attorney productivity.

Policy Governance & Process Improvement

• Help standardize and document all commission-related rules, referral workflows, and payout procedures.
• Identify gaps or inefficiencies in existing compensation processes and propose improvements.
• Work closely with HR and leadership to ensure new hires receive clear documentation of their commission plan, including updating the firmwide commission database upon hire, promotion, or compensation changes.
• Act as the internal subject-matter expert for commission and referral workflows.

Required Skills & Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, or a related field; equivalent experience considered.
• 2–5+ years of experience in compensation administration, commissions analytics, financial operations, or a similar role.
• Advanced Excel skills (complex formulas, pivot tables, data validations, cross-referencing, etc.).
• Strong understanding of variable compensation programs and incentive-based pay models.
• Exceptional attention to detail and ability to manage confidential data.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to distill complex financial structures into clear explanations.
• Ability to manage competing deadlines in a fast-paced, high-volume environment.