Legal Assistant

Department: Litigation

Location: Rochester, NY

Classification: Nonexempt 

Job Type: Full-time, M-F, 8 AM- 5 PM

Company Overview:

Woods Oviatt Gilman LLP is a leading and reputable full-service law firm dedicated to providing exceptional legal services to our clients. With a team of highly skilled and experienced attorneys, we strive to deliver comprehensive and effective solutions to meet the diverse needs of our clients. Headquarters are located in Rochester, NY, with satellite offices in Albany and Buffalo, NY.

We foster a collaborative and inclusive work environment where every team member is valued and respected. We encourage open communication, teamwork, and professional growth. Our firm promotes a healthy work-life balance and supports the well-being of our employees.

Summary: 

Woods Oviatt is seeking an experienced Litigation Legal Assistant with strong technical skills, self-motivation, exceptional organizational abilities, and a commitment to excellence. This individual will play a crucial role in supporting our attorneys within the dynamic and fast-paced litigation practice group.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Open new files, conduct conflict of interest checks, and maintain client and general files, including indexing and organizing documents for easy retrieval.
• Schedule hearing dates and deadlines, ensuring all parties are informed and prepared.
• Prepare correspondence, memoranda, and other legal documents from written or verbal instructions; draft standard correspondence and other documents.
• Accurately transcribe dictation to produce high-quality legal documents.
• Assemble documents for filing with the court and serving opposing counsel and/or clients.
• Electronic filing of documents with various court systems and prepare hard copies when necessary.
• Photocopy and scan documents as needed.
• Request filing fees/checks from Accounting.
• Entering attorney time into the Accounting system for billing purposes and coordinate with Accounting to generate bills; draft billing correspondence.
• Greet clients and visitors, maintain good public relations, and observe the confidentiality of the attorney-client relationship.
• Maintain attorney calendars, scheduling appointments and reminders as applicable.
• Assist with overflow projects and assignments as requested, ensuring timely and accurate completion.
• Coordinate messenger deliveries, as needed, to ensure timely delivery of documents.

Requirements:

• Preferred experience with bankruptcy, creditors' rights, and/or commercial litigation.
• Proficiency in Kofax (Adobe adjacent) and Microsoft Office Suite (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
• Strong typing, computer, organizational, and administrative skills with meticulous attention to detail.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to prioritize workload and manage multiple tasks independently.
• Must be a team player and effectively use firm resources.

Physical Demands:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Other Duties: Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. This is a snapshot of the core functions and responsibilities. All inquiries will be handled with the utmost confidentiality. The compensation range for this position is $20-$30 per hour, representing our good faith and reasonable estimate of the potential compensation at the time of posting. Actual compensation will be determined based on various factors, including the candidate's qualifications, experience, skill set, and office location.

Woods Oviatt Gilman LLP is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We value an open mind, dedication to work, and a collaborative spirit. We hire based on these qualities, a job’s requirements, our business needs, and an applicant’s qualifications. We do not tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind—in the hiring process or in the workplace. We comply with the ADA and consider reasonable accommodation measures that may be necessary for eligible applicants/employees to perform essential functions. We participate in E-Verify. We will provide the federal government with employees’ Form I-9 information to confirm authorization to work in the U.S. We will only use E-Verify once an employee has accepted a job offer and completed Form I-9.