Legal Assistant - Litigation

Job Description

The City of Jacksonville Office of General Counsel is seeking a legal assistant with three (3) years of experience as a legal assistant in litigation. Successful candidates must possess strong analytical and detail oriented skills, superior computer skills, and organizational skills. Candidates also must be able to prioritize workloads, perform administrative task, and have knowledge of electronic filing in state and federal courts, ability to prepare pleadings, motions, discovery and correspondence relating to litigation matters as assigned.

We offer competitive salary and benefits. Employees in this role deal with subjects legal in nature and must be familiar with legal terminology. Employees provide paraprofessional legal support to attorney(s), and may specialize in litigation, bankruptcy, real estate, labor and employment, legislative affairs, or government operations and commercial law.

Salary will be commensurate with legal experience.

Examples of Work

EMPHASIS ON LITIGATION

• Provides administrative and litigation support to attorney(s).
• Communicates with clients, vendors and witnesses.
• Helps prepare documents such as pleadings, applications, declarations and motions, initial drafts of routine legislation.
• Drafts, reviews and revises legal and professional documents.
• Maintains, organizes and creates resources and databases.
• Coordinates and schedules conferences with clients, witnesses and opposing parties.
• Obtain data from clients and second parties.
• Creates letters, basis of claims, and other forms.
• Creates documents from templates as necessary.
• Monitors all litigation cases docketed via an electronic filing system and provide regular updates and calendaring and internal pleading files.
• Establishes, organizes and maintains physical evidence and exhibits, attorney notebooks, witness notebooks, document indexes and lists.
• Organizes and compiles documents relating to litigation, contracts, closing documents, legislation and land use.
• Handles electronic filing of legal documents in courts.
• Calendar scheduling and follow up for deadlines.
• Schedules and manages witnesses through litigation process.
• Performs other duties as may be assigned from time to time

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Knowledge of legal principles and practices at a level normally acquired through formal paralegal training and associated experience.
• Proficient in Word, WordPerfect, Outlook, Access and Excel data program management; knowledge of TABS3software is a plus.
• Exceptional ability to organize and prioritize numerous tasks and complete them under time constraints.
• Ability to concentrate and pay close attention to detail for up to 75 percent of the work time when evaluating legal matters.
• Ability to proofread materials for contextual, grammatical, typographical, or spelling errors.
• Interpersonal skills critical in order to communicate in person, by e-mail and telephone and follow the instruction effectively from a diverse group of clients, attorneys and staff and provide information with ordinary courtesy and tact.
• Work occasionally requires a high level of mental effort and strain while organizing and maintaining multiple cases.
• Work may occasionally require more than 40 hours per week to perform the essential duties of the position.
• Ability to operate standard office equipment such as computers, photocopiers and fax machines.
• Ability to schedule and manage attorney's appointments on calendar.
• Familiarity with electronic filing in CORE and/or ECF.
• Knowledge of the Local Florida Rules of Court.

Open Requirements/Supplemental Information

• Three years of experience as a legal assistant OR three years of administrative experience OR a masters' degree is required.