Legal Secretary
Irvine, CA

An excellent boutique law firm has an opening for a full-time legal secretary in its Orange County office. Candidates must have a minimum of 5 years of civil litigation experience and must be familiar with and proficient with calendaring and using Compulaw/Vision. Duties include but are not limited to drafting correspondence, editing, and filing pleadings with State, Federal, Appellate and out-of-state courts, scheduling depositions, file maintenance, research local court rules, expense reports, time entry and maintaining attorney calendars.
Ideal candidate should have a very strong understanding of State and Federal court rules and procedures, excellent computer skills with knowledge of Excel and MS Office, including Outlook; experience with Compulaw/Vision required; excellent oral and written communication skills; exceptional attention to detail; able to work independently as well as with the team; exceptional organizational skills.

• Position is full time 35 hours per week, M-F with the possibility of some overtime.

• The salary range for this position is $80,000 - $100,000 and is based on location, experience and skill set.  The firm offers PTO, paid holidays and paid medical/dental/vision, as well as 401-k and profit sharing.

Summary:
Assist legal and non-legal staff in performing any needed secretarial functions for the firm. Duties include word processing, scanning, copying, filing, service, maintaining attorneys’ calendars and dockets.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities: “
Essential functions” are primary job duties that Litigation Secretary must be able to perform unassisted or with some reasonable accommodation made by the employer.
1. The expected workload for this position would be providing secretarial support to at least three (3) to four (4) attorneys, or the equivalent workload.
2. Prepare legal documents such as pleadings, briefs, complaints, motions, subpoenas, form, and other correspondence from verbal and written instructions, including filing, e-filing, and e-service of such documents.
3. Receive, profile, calendar and distribute incoming mail as directed in accordance with firm practice. Prepare outgoing mail and filings for processing, with the assistance of support services.
4. Maintain attorney’s calendars, including all hearings and deadlines with appropriate reminders. Provide method of attendance for all hearings and check for last minute docket changes and tentative rulings. Provide attorneys with reminders and communicate daily regrading deadlines and hearing dates.
5. Participate in the litigation process by coordinating and assuring delivery and service of documents to courts and participants in law suits. This includes scheduling attorney services assignments, e-filing in accordance with local, state and federal rules and service as required.
6. Litigation Secretary is expected to perform any other duties that may be requested by the Managing and Supervising Secretaries or firm administration.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Required:
1. Ability to read and write in order to prepare routine office correspondence and forms; perform non-complex arithmetic calculations when verifying calculations on form and documents and when maintaining records and files.
2. Knowledge of County, State and Federal court filing and e-filing guidelines and procedures.
3. Knowledge of legal phrases, terminology, content and formal of legal documents.
4. Knowledge of Compulaw required.
5. Approximately five years on-the-job experience necessary in order to perform complex administrative duties in a professional services setting.
6. Ability to organize and prioritize numerous tasks and complete them under time constraints.
7. Ability to proofread typed materials for grammatical, typographical and spelling errors.
8. Ability to type standard memoranda and correspondence from rough draft at a level of 70 words per minute.
9. Interpersonal skills necessary in order to communicate in person, by e-mail and telephone to provide information with ordinary courtesy and tact.
10. Interpersonal skills necessary in order to communicate and follow the instruction effectively from a diverse group of clients, attorneys, and staff and provide information with ordinary courtesy and tact.
11. Work occasionally requires a high level of mental effort and strain when performing a high volume of clerical tasks and performing other essential duties.
12. Ability to operate standard office equipment, including personal computer, copier/scanner, facsimile and telephone.
13. Work occasionally requires more than 40 hours per week to perform the essential duties of the position.
This position plays an intricate role in the day-to-day operations as the legal secretary will perform various functions, including by not limited to, calendar management, document preparation and proofing, document filings, trial preparation, and day to day case management.
Job duties include calendar management, electronic file management, document preparation, filing in both State and Federal Court, and scheduling.

Position Requirements
· At least 3+ years of experience in Civil Litigation.
· Excellent oral, written, and interpersonal communication skills, be detail oriented, hard-working, enthusiastic, team oriented, and a critical thinker.
· Excellent communication skills, typing skills, computer skills and interpersonal skills and professional appearance.
· Active knowledge of the Rules of Civil Procedure, ability to calendar deadlines, and experience in preparing basic legal documents and pleadings.
· Be familiar with Microsoft Office, especially Outlook and Word.