Legal Secretary

With eleven offices across the United States, 450+ professionals and 350+ staff professionals, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP is a multidisciplinary, integrated national professional services firm known for quality and an extraordinary commitment to clients. The Firm’s groundbreaking approach—bringing together legal services, advocacy and business strategy—differentiates Manatt from its competitors and positions the Firm to provide a unique and compelling value proposition.

Our prestigious national law firm has an immediate opportunity for an experienced Legal Secretary with strong administrative skills to join our growing San Diego office. The ideal candidate is a bright professional with strong proofreading skills, familiarity with both state and federal court filings, E-filing experience, and is detail oriented with great spelling and grammar skills. A successful candidate will be someone who is positive with strong initiative, a high degree of flexibility, works independently and who is self-motivated. We’re looking for someone who is interested in taking ownership of their work, loves working as part of a team.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Daily interface with attorneys, visiting attorneys and teams to manage requested administrative support tasks and act as a liaison between billing partner and team members including paralegals. 
• Reception duties, including greeting incoming visitors for client meetings, depositions and team meetings, hospitality and conference room scheduling assistance.
• Oversees meeting set ups and catering requirements with Office Services staff.
• Occasionally duplicates, organizes and prepares documents for court filings when Office Services staff are not available.
• Organizes, prepares client documents obtained directly from the professionals during office hours and during client meetings.
• Receives original travel & expense related receipts and documentation directly from attorneys and prepares for reimbursement.
• Creates and maintains client records and files in the office.
• Edit and proofread all legal documents.
• Maintain attorney calendars by scheduling conferences, depositions, and meetings.
• Welcome clients and assist in coordinating meetings, depositions, hearings.
• Organize all legal documents and ensure they are updated.
• Ensure all court documents are in order and filed before deadlines.
• Answer emails and phone calls, and when necessary, redirect calls.
• Research and authenticate important case information.
• Prepare different legal documents including appeals, motions, and petitions
• Familiarity with, efilings and knowledge of state court rules and deadlines a plus.
• Act as a backup to other secretaries/attorney shares in the office.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Minimum of 5 years’ experience as a Litigation Secretary required
• Must have knowledge of Federal, State court filing rules
• Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Office, iManage and various legal software applications;  heavy knowledge of Word, plus strong Outlook knowledge
• Writes clearly and informatively; edits work for spelling and grammar, varies writing style to meet needs, able to read and interpret written information
• Must be skilled at typing correspondence and pleadings for attorneys
• Must be extremely detail oriented, organized and have great follow through skills
• Must be able to coordinate complex scheduling for multiple individuals
• Must have the ability to prioritize, work well under pressure, and multitask to meet deadlines and be able to identify and resolve problems in a timely manner 
• Accuracy, and professionalism a must
• Has the ability to use diplomacy and maintain strict confidentiality
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills

The base annual pay range for this role is between $75,000-$85,000. The base pay to be offered will vary and depend on skills and qualifications, experience, location and will also take into account internal equity.  A full range of medical, financial and/or other benefits dependent on the position will also be offered.

EEO/AA EMPLOYER/Veterans/Disabled

Manatt is an equal opportunity employer, dedicated to a policy of non-discrimination in employment on any basis including race, color, physical or mental disability, religion, creed, national origin, citizenship status, ancestry, sex or gender (including gender identity, gender expression, status as a transgender or transsexual individual, pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), age (over 40), genetic information, past, current, or prospective service in the uniformed services, sexual orientation, political activity or affiliation, genetic or and any other protected classes or characteristic protected under applicable federal, state, or local law. Consistent with the American Disabilities Act, applicants may request accommodations needed to participate in the application process.

This employer will provide the Social Security Administration  (SSA) and, if necessary, the Department of Homeland Security  (DHS), with information from each new employee’s Form I-9 to confirm work authorization.

IMPORTANT: If the Government cannot confirm that you are authorized to work, this employer is required to provide you written instructions and an opportunity to contact SSA and/or DHS before taking  adverse action against you, including terminating your employment. 

Employers may not use E-Verify to pre-screen job applicants or  to re-verify current employees and may not limit or influence the  choice of documents presented for use on the Form I-9. In order to determine whether Form I-9 documentation is valid,  this employer uses E-Verify’s photo screening tool to match the photograph appearing on some permanent resident and employment authorization cards with the official U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) photograph. If you believe that your employer has violated its responsibilities under this program or has discriminated against you during the verification process based upon your national origin or citizenship status, please call the Office of Special Counsel at 1-800-255-7688 (TDD: 1-800-237-2515).