Legal Staff Paralegal in Barrie, Ontario

In-House

Barrie, Ontario

Legal Staff Paralegal in Barrie, Ontario

Legal Staff

No

Legal Assistant

Job Title: Legal Assistant

Job Responsibilities:
The Legal Assistant at the reputed firm is responsible for providing a single point of contact for legal matters within the organization. This role involves ensuring that information is stored securely, remains confidential, and is accessible as needed. The candidate will support the legal team, promoting efficient operations within the legal department to provide support to members who may require legal assistance due to work-related duties. Key responsibilities include:

- Providing support to members expressing a need for legal assistance and directing them to appropriate resources to promote issue resolution and minimize escalation.
- Answering, screening, and forwarding phone calls received by the legal department, acting as the first point of contact for members in extreme legal situations, including those involving the Special Investigations Unit and criminal matters.
- Managing requests for access to the Legal Assistance Program funding by intaking, reviewing, and referring them appropriately.
- Monitoring the legal department’s general email account and responding to or redirecting messages to facilitate member satisfaction and issue resolution.
- Handling Duty Reports by intaking, reviewing, and following up to ensure member issues are forwarded to appropriate members.
- Maintaining strict confidentiality when handling material communicated verbally and in writing.
- Ensuring all information provided to members is accurate and delivered within an appropriate timeframe to mitigate risks.
- Preparing documents required by legal counsel, including affidavits, hearing and court briefs, and Police Service Act (PSA) sheets, to support legal counsel in key meetings.
- Maintaining PSA sheets, and bring forward lists for weekly review by legal counsel, and finalizing updates post-review to ensure complete and accessible files for future reference.
- Preparing summaries of all legal issues for Board of Directors’ meetings and updating file notes post-meetings to create reference materials and archives.
- Opening and closing legal files, ensuring filing systems are maintained in an orderly manner to promote efficiency in retrieving documents and creating case histories for future reviews.
- Maintaining the legal library by ordering new materials, updating legal resources, and ensuring efficient retrieval of required information.
- Reviewing and reconciling invoices for legal work to confirm accuracy and ensure appropriate allocation of costs to case files.
- Supporting efficient operations in the legal department through tasks such as placing orders for transcripts, making electronic updates, reviewing accounts, arranging for subpoena service, distributing mail, filing pleadings, reviewing legal invoices, scheduling meetings, making travel arrangements, and collecting relevant data for legal counsel and the Board of Directors.
- Contributing to the review and revision of manuals to ensure all relevant legal matters are included and communicated.
- Attending staff meetings and other meetings as requested to stay updated on activities and contribute to improving operational objectives.

Education and Experience Information:
- Diploma in Legal Administration is preferable.
- A minimum of three years of work experience in a similar work environment is required.

Abilities:
- Ability to listen and understand key issues expressed verbally by members.
- Ability to synthesize written materials to understand key issues expressed by members in writing.
- Ability to communicate verbally and in writing to interact with members, present options and solutions, and respond to needs and concerns.
- Ability to recognize patterns in materials presented by members to facilitate early identification and resolution of issues.
- Ability to sustain strong attention to detail to ensure legal procedures are followed and information is communicated correctly and consistently.
- Ability to identify, organize, and expedite solutions for the legal team.
- Demonstrated ability to conduct oneself professionally.

Salary Information:
- The position offers a salary of $70,595 per year.

Additional Information:
- Job Type: Fixed term contract, 12 months
- Schedule: Monday to Friday
- Work Location: In person
- Anticipated Start Date: May 2025
- Application Deadline: May 16, 2025