Paralegal

Job Title: Paralegal

Firm: Angela Hawekotte, A Professional Law Corporation

Web Site: https://www.hawekottelaw.com/

Compensation: $25-35 per hour, based on experience

I am hiring a Paralegal primarily to cover a current legal assistant’s short-term leave of absence and another paralegal’s semi-retirement after an upcoming vacation, although I would be interested in having this person stay on long-term. This role is full-time through the end of June and could continue either full-time or part-time beyond then.

I have practiced law for almost forty years, and I am passionate about making my clients’ lives easier and giving them general peace of mind. To that end, I like to have my office staff feel that they are part of the “team” and I encourage them to become intimately familiar with a client’s file and situation. I am open to, and truly appreciate, hearing my staff’s impressions and suggestions about our client work and I take pleasure in training them to better understand and enjoy their role in our client service.

My practice is focused primarily on estate planning, trust administration, and probate administration, with minimal focus on corporate work. I rarely perform any litigation work, except for probate matters. I share an office with two other attorneys and their support staff. I have an “of counsel” relationship with another attorney who primarily works remotely, but would expect my Paralegal to be available for his needs, as well, on matters where he is assisting me on specific client matters. Because I am currently working on a separate long-term project that requires my presence onsite with a client, I will not be in the office every day. As a result, the Paralegal will need to be able to work independently.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Initial document preparation, under supervision of attorney

  • Various estate planning documents and probate administration court filings

  • (Sparingly) Initial incorporation filings, including corporate maintenance documents, e.g. board of director’s and shareholders’ minutes

  • Other court documents, as applicable

• Prepare correspondence with third parties including clients, beneficiaries of trusts and estates, the Assessor’s Office, Recorder’s Office, and other agencies, as needed

• Maintain attorney’s calendar for appointments, court deadline dates, and other work

• Answer incoming phone calls

• General administrative tasks, including dealing with outside vendors

QUALIFICATIONS

• At least one of the following:

  • Certification or Associate’s Degree in Paralegal Studies

  • Bachelor’s Degree

  • 2 years of paralegal experience

• Comfort with word processing tools (e.g. Microsoft Word, Corel WordPerfect)

• Comfort with spreadsheet tools (e.g. Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets)

• Ability to take direction while being proactive about primary responsibilities

• Probate administration experience preferred

• Notary public certification preferred

OTHER REQUIREMENTS

Must be willing and able to come into the Pasadena office every workday

MISCELLANEOUS

My firm uses WordPerfect for all legal documents. I am happy to train the Paralegal in this tool which is not too different from Word but, for legal documents, I find it easier to use

NOTES ON APPLYING

I have a few recommendations for your resume when you apply to this job:

1. In your bullet points for each job, rather than listing out your basic tasks, please let me know more about your specific working context. For example, how many attorneys did you support at each job, and what fields of law did your firm practice? What would I want to know that has been specific about your experience as a paralegal?

2. Let me know what pieces of experience are the most relevant to the needs of this job. Have you worked with similar documents or in any of these same fields?

3. Let me know about any specific accomplishments you had. Was there anything you did that stood out to others? Did you achieve a particularly impressive milestone?

I recommend the following web pages for advice on how to structure a resume that will tell me more about who you are and give you the best chance of standing out.

• https://www.businessinsider.com/why-this-is-an-excellent-resume-2018-7

• https://www.themuse.com/advice/how-to-quantify-your-resume-bullets-when-you-dont-work-with-numbers