Paralegals and Legal Assistants 16708

Job Title: Legal Assistant

Job Duties:

• Performs a key support staff role, assisting and supporting the AAGIC and attorneys by organizing and coordinating administrative activities and helping to direct the information flow in the office.

• Helps AAGIC establish work procedures or schedules and assists in keeping track of/monitoring the daily work of other clerical staff. Assists AAGIC with the tracking and coordination of assignments.

• Maintains office filing systems and assists attorneys with case file organization and management.

• Provides training and orientation to new staff related to both administrative and legal support staff responsibilities.

• Learns and becomes proficient with the NYMatters database to assist in retrieving information and generating reports as necessary.

• Assists with data-keeping and the opening and closing of files, following office procedures. Sets up and manages paper and electronic filing systems. Learns and become proficient with the Paper Archive Management database to assist with the archiving and retrieval of records.

• Communicates with attorneys, stenographers, and client agencies related to scheduling and/or administrative arrangements. Assists attorneys with scheduling of conferences, depositions, trials, and other court appearances as directed.

• Maintains scheduling and event calendars, assisting the attorneys in managing multiple deadlines and commitments.

• Assists attorneys in making travel arrangements and creates and submits travel expense reports for and with staff as required.

• Orders and distributes supplies.

• Performs clerical and support staff duties required in a law office including, but not limited to, the following:

• Answers telephone and gives information to callers, takes messages, and transfers calls to appropriate individuals.

•Greets visitors or callers and handles their inquiries; or directs/refers them to the appropriate persons. Appropriately responds to simple inquiries from the public, whether by phone, email, or in-person.

•Operates office equipment such as printers, scanners, and copiers; and arranges for repairs when equipment malfunctions.

• Opens, reads, routes, and distributes incoming mail or other materials (faxes, emails, deliveries, etc.) and answers routine inquiries.

•Produces correspondence, reports, forms, charts, and other material. Completes forms in accordance with agency procedures.

•Makes copies of various documents, places them in proper files, and distributes them to appropriate staff.

• Locates and attaches appropriate files to incoming correspondence requiring replies.

• Composes, types, and distributes meeting notes, correspondence, and reports.

• Learns and applies legal concepts and follows procedures related to the production of legal documents, working independently while also regularly conferring with and following attorney instructions related to document contents and procedural steps.

• Produces neat and timely legal work, including pleadings, correspondence, Orders, Decisions, memoranda, opinions, affidavits/affirmations, jury charges, motions, subpoenas, deposition summaries, and other legal documents.

• Helps proofread legal documents for spelling, grammar, and punctuation, scans and digitally saves documents for attorneys, opens and organizes files, creates and maintains records on Excel spreadsheets as directed and, when necessary, independently.

•Assists attorneys with timely and proper e-filing, physical filing, filing via facsimile and mailing/serving of documents.

• Perform other support staff and administrative duties and ad hoc tasks as necessary or assigned.

Preferred Education: Technical Degree/Certificate Program