Paralegal - Education Law

Description

Best Best & Krieger LLP is a nationally recognized law firm focused on delivering effective and client-service oriented solutions to complex legal issues facing public agencies, businesses and individuals across the U.S. BBK is proud to trace the firm's success back to the groundwork of professionalism and community service laid by its founders 135 years ago. Today, with nearly 250 attorneys in offices throughout California and in Oregon and Washington, D.C., we efficiently and meaningfully assist our clients with complex, multi-disciplinary issues and provide creative solutions.

At BBK, we place a high degree of value in creating and nurturing a work environment that attracts the best talent and reflects our commitment to inclusiveness and collaboration. We are proud of our diverse workplace, where we respect and value our colleagues for their unique perspectives and experiences.

Paralegal with responsibility for assisting attorneys in a variety of education matters, including, but not limited to: special education due process administrative hearings; various superior or district court hearings, as well as appellate court matters; and pre-litigation liability risk investigations.  Under limited supervision, the subject should have the ability to perform a wide variety of tasks while assisting the entire group of attorneys that represent education law clients, including K-12 school districts, community college districts, and colleges and universities. The candidate must have knowledge of the Education Code, Federal Regulations, special education due process hearings governed by the IDEA, NCLB, and state and federal court rules and procedures.  Familiarity with special education definitions and terminology of various disabilities is preferred.  Computer skills are required including proficiency with Outlook, Word,  Internet, online legal research tools (Lexis-Nexis, Westlaw, SpecialEdConnection) PowerPoint, and other software necessary to adequately monitor case status and complete work assignments.  The education law group is aggressively growing in a variety of practice areas, so the ideal candidate would be entrepreneurial and skilled at workflow management and process improvement.

Paralegals should have a high degree of knowledge and familiarity with various software, including e-Discovery software, Westlaw, Pacer, Case Notebook, TrialPad for iPad, and the Microsoft Office group of software especially Outlook, Word and Excel.  

RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES:

• Case manage and monitor the progression of cases from inception to close, and proactively initiate case progress, when appropriate
• Knowledge of the California Code of Civil Procedure, California Rules of Court, local court rules and in some cases, the California Education Code, and other state and federal statutes concerning student education including statutes that are applicable to students that present with disabilities, as well as other legal sources to prepare legal documents, such as memos, briefs, pleadings, appellate filings, etc.
• Effectively use document review databases, such as iPro or Relativity, for searching and producing documents as well as preparing reports for attorneys   
• Effectively use the Firm's other information technology, including commercial databases, on-line research engines and the Internet
• Oversee organization, maintenance and appropriate utilization of documents and other case-related materials
• Perform cite checking and proof reading of briefs and other legal documents
• Manage the discovery process, which may include document collection, drafting notices and subpoenas, preparing for deposition, propounding and responding to written discovery, preparing for expert discovery, and drafting discovery motions, drafting witness and attorney declarations 
• Perform analytical tasks, which may include preparing witness interview memoranda, reviewing and summarizing documents such as deposition and court transcripts and preparing and maintaining privilege logs as needed
• Assist with law and motion practice, which may include drafting motion papers, assembling motion papers and exhibits, assisting with filings of pleadings and briefs and ensuring proper service
• If requested by attorneys, assist during meetings, hearings, depositions, arbitrations, mediations, and communicate with opposing counsel and court staff
• Ascertain calendaring requirements for each matter and ensure proper maintenance of any required case calendars
• Assist with trial preparation, which may include preparing trial subpoenas and on-call agreements, determining applicable jury instructions and jury research, participation in the voir dire process, creating trial notebooks, identifying and organizing exhibits, preparing witness lists and coordinating witness schedules, drafting motions in limine and trial briefs, maintaining trial calendars and communicating effectively with opposing counsel and courtroom staff
• Draft pretrial statements and settlement conference memoranda
• Prepare and/or supervise vendor preparation of graphs and demonstrative exhibits
• Assist attorneys at trial to operate and maintain trial software such as Trial Director and TrialPad for iPad software or other similar technology
• Attend trial or witness interviews to take notes and handle demonstrative exhibits
• Serve as main liaison between trial attorneys and litigation support team and work with litigation support team to plan and build electronic databases for the organization of voluminous hard copy and electronic documents  
• Prepare memorandum of costs and draft attorney fee declarations
• Prepare post trial documents, knowledge of drafting and serving abstracts of judgment, monitor and renew judgments, knowledge of best practices and legal tools for collections of judgments

Qualifications

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

• Experience and satisfactory skill levels in all areas of Responsibility and Duties, above, with excellent skills in at least several of those areas. Paralegals without satisfactory skill levels in one or more areas may satisfy the requirements of that skill set by demonstrating a likely ability to quickly develop such a skill level.  Substantive expertise in one or more areas of the law (i.e., Education Law) is viewed favorably
• Strong organizational, reasoning and research skills
• Strong written and verbal communication abilities
• Attention to detail and initiative
• Flexibility, composure and the ability to prioritize and handle many urgent tasks and requests simultaneously with a high level of competence and accuracy
• The ability to remain composed and professional under stressful circumstances
• Sensitivity to ethical and confidentiality requirements
• Ability to work effectively as a member of a team
• Ability to work independently, with little supervision
• Display initiative and leadership in analyzing and resolving problems and issues as they arise
• As necessary, supervise other paralegals, including managing work flow, assisting in the training of Paralegal I and delegating responsibilities, as authorized or requested by Firm administration
• Observe assigned secretarial support in order to meaningfully contribute and complete an annual performance evaluation, as requested by Firm administration
• Other tasks, as required by Firm attorneys or Firm Administrators

REQUIRED EDUCATION:

• B.A. or B.S. degree from an accredited college or university, or equivalent experience
• Paralegal certificate from an ABA approved program or an affidavit re work experience sufficient to comply with California Business and Professions Code Sections 6450-6456

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE:

A minimum of seven (7) years’ experience as a paralegal

The reasonably expected pay scale for this position with 7 or more years of experience is $75,000 - $85,000 annually, non-exempt.  The actual salary within that range will depend on the selected candidate’s location and experience.  We encourage all interested candidates to apply.

Best Best & Krieger is an equal opportunity employer. 

Salary : $75,000 - $85,000