Paralegal

THE FIRM

At Alston & Bird, an international law firm, we take pride in our work through impactful communication, collaboration, and community involvement. Our company culture has been recognized for Fortune magazines 100 Best Companies to Work For for 25 years in a row. This accolade, along with many others, fosters a continuous drive for innovation and professional development amongst our employees. Here at Alston & Bird, we have built a foundation of trust, consistency, and humanity that contributes to our overall success.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Alston & Bird's Los Angeles, CA office is seeking an experienced Paralegal to work in our Environmental & Land Use - Litigation practice group. Qualified candidates will have at least 5+ years of experience in all stages of litigation as a paralegal to include pretrial and trial experience. Experience with federal and California state court litigation is required, and experience on environmental or toxic tort matters is preferred. Candidates should be self-starters, highly organized, and team players. Overtime is often needed to meet client deadlines.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES

• Organizes and maintains document files including, but not limited to, correspondence, court papers, corporate documents, case records, and materials produced in the discovery process

• Reviews and analyzes matters for the purpose of preparing evaluations and status reports for internal use and for clients

• Drafts shells for complaints and answers, routine notices, affidavits, motions and petitions as well as detailed letters and memorandum

• Prior experience with large case management and E-Discovery

• Proofreads and revises legal documents for contextual, grammatical, typographical, or spelling errors

• Reviews and outlines depositions, indexes and summarizes documents

• Prepares materials for, and assists with compilation of, mailings to clients and other interested parties

• Conducts research and locates cases, depositions, opinions, reports and information related to the matter using all available resources including libraries and computer data systems

• Compiles, analyzes, and reports on data from reference materials such as digests, legal encyclopedias, regulations, legislative decisions and practice manuals, and materials produced in the discovery process

• Contacts and interviews parties, witnesses and experts, including the obtaining of written statements from witnesses

• Assists in preparation of a case for trial by drafting and preparing: Pretrial Orders, Form instructions to the Jury, Requested Voir Dire of Jurors, Conduct Jury Investigation, Prepare Witness and Exhibit Lists, Motions In Limine and Subpoena and contacts witnesses

• Assists in the trial of a case including scheduling of witnesses and tracking exhibits

• Establishes, organizes, and maintains pleadings, attorney trial notebooks, expert witness notebooks, and document indices and lists

• Utilizes computer databases to organize and store information; maintain document retention systems for large cases; and conduct research on Westlaw, LEXIS and other computer research databases

• Maintains current and accurate daily time record

• Promotes positive working relationships between legal administrative assistants, paralegals, other support staff and lawyers

• Follows the ethical requirements as set forth by the Rules of Professional Conduct of the state

• Performs special projects as assigned

SKILLS NEEDED TO BE SUCCESSFUL

• Knowledge of federal and California state court filing procedures, electronic discovery, cite checking and the ability to conduct database searches utilizing Westlaw, Lexis/Nexis, PACER, Relativity, and other search engines as needed

• Ability to organize and prioritize numerous tasks and complete them under time constraints.

• Interpersonal skills necessary in order to communicate and follow instructions effectively from a diverse group of clients, attorneys and staff and provide information with ordinary courtesy and tact.

• Work often requires more than 40 hours per week to perform the essential duties of the position; may require irregular hours.

• Ability to travel to private and public buildings, locally and statewide, via private or public conveyance to assist attorney in attending to client needs on legal matters. Position may entail domestic travel.

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE

• Completion of a four-year college degree required

• 5+ Years of experience as a Litigation paralegal

The salary range for this position is $90,000 - $125,000 and represents the Firm's good faith minimum and maximum range for this role at this time of posting. The actual compensation offered to a candidate will be dependent on a variety of factors including, but not limited to, the candidate's experience, qualifications, and locations. This range is specific to our Los Angeles office and may not be applicable to other locations.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

Alston & Bird LLP is an Equal Opportunity Employer does not discriminate on the bases of any status protected under federal, state, or local law. Applicants will be considered regardless of their sex, race, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition (associated with cancer, a history of cancer, or genetic characteristics), HIV/AIDS status, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, military and veteran status, or other protected category under the law on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, national origin, veteran status or disability in relation to our recruiting, hiring, and promoting practices.

The statements contained in this position description are not necessarily all-inclusive, additional duties and responsibilities may be assigned and requirements may vary from time to time.

Professional business references and a background check will be required for all final applicants selected for a position.

If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability you may contact us at[email protected].

Alston & Bird is not currently accepting resumes from agencies for this position. If you are a recruiter, search firm, or employment agency, you will not be compensated in any way for your referral of a candidate even if Alston & Bird hires the candidate.