Legal Assistant - Litigation (Detroit)
At Taft, we work as one team, driven and committed to helping our clients succeed. A full-service law firm with more than 925 attorneys and approximately 1,500 on our team, we have the collaborative approach, advanced technological resources, and depth of services that make us a preeminent law firm in the Midwest.
Taft is currently seeking a Litigation Legal Assistant to join our team in our Detroit (Southfield) office.
We are seeking a Litigation Legal Assistant with 3+ years’ experience and some bankruptcy skills to support our Southfield office. A Legal Assistant serves clients by providing administrative support to attorneys and paralegals. All Taft employees operate under a “Client First” philosophy—in all things, we seek to provide exceptional services to our clients.
Duties and Responsibilities:
- Exhibits outstanding client service orientation in greeting guests, responding to work requests, scheduling meetings, and conducting telephone conferences.
- Provides proactive administrative support for Litigation attorneys and paralegals. May assist in other practice areas, as needed.
- Displays strong attention to detail.
- Maintains strict confidentiality of matters and information.
- Responds to requests with a sense of urgency and effectively prioritizes work.
- Interacts with court personnel, attorneys and staff in a professional manner to obtain and provide data, answer questions, and resolve problems.
- Prepares and reviews letters and memoranda according to Firm standards using word processing and document management systems.
- Proactively monitors deadlines.
- Processes requests for payment and reimbursements.
- Creates, maintains and retires files in accordance with Taft’s Information Governance Policy.
- Assists in managing client contacts, emails, and print documents as well as processing mail.
- Clearly communicates in a concise, professional manner.
- Transcribes dictation.
- eFile in various courts, including circuit, federal and bankruptcy courts.
- Drafts documents and filings.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
- Proficient in the use of Microsoft Office programs is required.
- Proficiency with Kofax/Nuance, InTapp, LMS+, iManage, Bighand or those software programs’ counterparts strongly preferred.
- Knowledge of the litigation process and general court operations.
- Ability to read and identify pleadings and other documents related to a litigation matter.
- Ability to communicate effectively with, and follow instructions from, diverse individuals and to provide information with courtesy and tact in person, over the telephone and in writing.
- Ability to reason and apply common sense understanding to resolve problems and carry out instructions furnished verbally or in writing.
- Ability to add, subtract, multiply and divide and perform arithmetic functions normally needed to calculate dates.
- Ability to work under a high level of competency to perform the essential duties of the position. Ability to occasionally work more than 40 hours per week.
Education and Experience:
- 3+ years’ Litigation legal assisting experience in a law firm or other legal setting.
- Education beyond high school or coursework related to the legal industry preferred.
- Ability to read, understand and interpret complex documents such as pleadings and other documents related to a litigation matter.
Interested candidates should apply here.