Legal Practice Assistant (Litigation)

Job Description Summary:

Fenwick is seeking a Litigation Legal Practice Assistant in our San Francisco, CA office. The role of a Legal Practice Assistant is to perform a variety of secretarial and administrative tasks to support assigned attorneys and paralegals by providing exceptional customer service and support while consistently producing a high volume and quality work product to meet the needs of the Firm and its clients.

This position offers a hybrid schedule and requires three days on-site with the possibility of additional required in-office days depending on business and client needs. The work schedule for this position will be 37.5 hours per week (non-exempt), Monday - Friday, from 9:00 am - 5:30 pm.

Job Description:

• Maintain and foster positive and collaborative working relationships with assigned Practice Group Partners/Associates/Paralegals, Firm clients, Administrative Departments, and external vendors.
• Responsible for producing high quality and error free work product in a timely manner. 
• Develop a comprehensive understanding of efficiencies and teamwork with the local and firmwide secretarial teams.
• Responsible for effectively collaborating within the secretarial team to ensure the assigned attorneys and paralegals are being supported with an eye towards superior client services.
• Shared responsibility for coverage of attorneys and paralegals.
• Possess a solid understanding of the litigation process:
  • Initiating document setup for cases, including Civil Coversheet, Summons and Complaint, along with Corporate Disclosure Statement;
  • Prepare, file and serve Answer to Complaint;
  • Arrange for service via a Process Server.
• Demonstrate proficiency in handling State, Federal, and Appellate ECF sealed and public filings along with a robust understanding of court rules, local rules, and calendaring needs utilized by courts relevant to attorney’s litigation practice.
• Working knowledge of the court’s PACER system and its workflow procedures/protocols.
• Complete familiarity with trial prep documents such as motions in limine, jury instructions, etc.; thorough understanding of trial logistics; ability to travel as needed for trial/trial preparation.
• Use legal resources effectively, including court websites, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, California Code of Civil Procedure, California Rules of Courts, Lexis-Nexis, and Westlaw for research, case law retrieval, and forms access.
• Generate and troubleshoot Table of Contents and Table of Authorities using Best Authority while maintaining proficiency with Blue Book and state citation styles.
• Responsible for compiling and coordinating court filings to maintain client's internal file system updated in iManage/Propel.
• Ability to convert documents from PDF to Word/vice versa, insert/remove pages, bookmark, redact documents and enable OCR formatting for searching capabilities. 
• Perform a variety of administrative functions including preparing check requests, invoices and reimbursements.
• Responsible for managing and keeping assigned attorney’s calendar updated with relevant information, i.e., client meetings, court deadlines, etc.
• Schedule messengers, process servers and other vendors for pick-up, delivery or service of documents.
• Knowledge of timekeeping protocols; assist with entering attorney time, as necessary.
• Acquire knowledge and understanding of the Firm’s resources, departmental schedules, and protocols to effectively delegate and ensure completion of assigned tasks.
• Ability to be flexible and available to work overtime as necessary.
• Perform other tasks as assigned.

Additional responsibilities may include:

• Review monthly bills for consistency, accuracy, spelling and substance, learn billing practices over time (usual write-offs, client format preferences, etc.); check bills for consistency against special engagement terms (deferrals, rates, caps, etc.).
• Respond to client requests for month-end estimates.
• Monitor, identify and resolve A/R and collections issues, as necessary.
• Ensure accurate execution of billing and collection instructions and follow-up with billing coordinator.

Desired Skills and Qualifications:

An ideal candidate should demonstrate the following competencies: 

• Possesses interpersonal skills necessary to support positive working relationships and to effectively communicate, interact, and follow instructions in a demanding environment with/from a diverse group of attorneys, staff, clients and vendors with demonstrated poise, tact and diplomacy.
• Ability to multitask in a highly demanding, deadline-driven environment.
• The ability to prioritize and manage time effectively to ensure assignments are completed in a timely manner while operating in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability and desire to learn and apply new skills and knowledge by attending all ongoing technical training, secretarial and department meetings.
• Exercise discretion and independent judgment in resolving problems, recommend solutions as appropriate and/or work with the service departments to resolve issues.
• Must possess a keen eye for details, by proofing materials; demonstrate accuracy and thoroughness to meet the Firm’s standards.
• Adapt to changes in the work environment, manage competing demands and the ability to pivot quickly to manage unexpected events.
• Ability to work proactively and independently with minimal supervision but can also work within a team.
• Work requires a high level of cognitive effort while performing a high volume of administrative and clerical tasks and other essential duties.

• Affinity for and knowledge of current technology and ability to comfortably adapt to new technology.
• Ability to identify future challenges and be proactive in offering solutions before they materialize.
• Initiative to identify areas and processes for improvement and takes action to implement change.
• Effective self-management and ability to make sound, independent decisions.
• High level of accountability; consistently meeting agreed-upon commitments.

Reporting to the Senior Manager of Legal Administrative Services, the ideal candidate will have 5+ years of experience supporting litigation attorneys/paralegals (litigation experience required). Experience with independently e-Filing documents in accordance with the federal and states court’s rules required. Proficiency in using MS Office: Excel Word and PowerPoint; Adobe Acrobat; Best Authority; Propel; Discclient; PacerPro; Compulaw; LegalMation; Lexis; Westlaw; iManage, Aderant, Google Scholar; comfortable navigating in Windows platform, and other Firm or Litigation software applications strongly preferred. Bachelor’s degree preferred, or equivalent experience/relevant certifications.

Benefits and Compensation Details:

At Fenwick, we believe that our partners and employees are our most important asset. Helping you and your families achieve and maintain good health - physical, emotional, and financial - is the reason we offer a comprehensive benefit program. We provide benefits to eligible employees under plans such as Healthcare, Life Insurance, Health Savings Accounts, Flexible Spending Accounts, and Wellbeing. Except as otherwise required by law, temporary employees are generally not entitled to these benefits.

The anticipated range for this position is:

$84,000 - $120,000

Depending on the role, the actual base salary offered may depend upon a variety of factors, including without limitation, the qualifications of the individual applicant for the position, years of relevant experience, level of education attained, certifications or other professional licenses held, and if applicable, the location in which the applicant lives and/or from which they will be performing the job.

A discretionary bonus for eligible employees may also be available based on performance.  Additional information about employee eligibility for benefits and discretionary bonus will be made available upon request.