career objective

seasoned litigation paralegal eager to contribute superior research, analysis, and writing / presentation skills toward supporting a progressive law firm as a driven and productive team member

profile

ø  offer numerous years of paralegal and legal assistant experience, with expertise in general litigation, personal injury; insurance defense, worker s compensation, employment law, corporate and business law, family law and domestic relations, environmental law, erisa, and real estate

ø  solid record of providing comprehensive support for multiple attorneys in busy law firm environments; conduct in-depth legal research, manage client communications, effectively organize office filing, maintain calendar, coordinate travel arrangements, input attorney time, review invoices for accuracy, and perform other administrative functions

ø  accurately draft, review, and edit critical documentation including legal forms, real estate and other contracts, estate planning documents, probate documents, tax documents, corporate structure documents, buy-sell agreements, child support worksheets, and correspondence; additionally prepare and submit social security claims

ø  assist with trial preparation, evaluate materials for subject matter applicability, organize documents and deposition notebooks, obtain and summarize medical records, prepare discovery responses and court pleadings, summarize depositions, and drive information management efforts

ø  extensive knowledge of idaho and washington state child support guidelines; experience attending child visitation exchanges along with clients

ø  strong understanding of medical terminology; background in summarizing and indexing medical records

ø  depth of practical knowledge regarding ninth circuit, federal, and district court rules, as well as ecf procedures

ø  outstanding ability to develop and implement records management systems and procedures that increase efficiency, accuracy, and accessibility to knowledge

ø  demonstrated ability to consistently meet deadlines while maintaining high quality of work; proactive team player equally effective in independent and collaborative settings

ø  sharp technical proficiencies including ms office (word, excel, powerpoint, outlook), word perfect, pc law, timeslips by sage, dictaphone transcription; type 90 w.p.m.

 

~ key achievements ~

• as a legal assistant with jones & smith, concurrently support two attorneys respectively specializing in business law and family law; additionally prepare all litigation documents for the firm
• successfully launched and ran legal services business; clients included huntley law firm, erisa law firm, fisher, pusch & alderman llp, morton law office, and state of idaho attorney general s office c civil division
• managed all aspects of business operations and legal support functions for the family law office of ronald p. rainey during attorney s absence due to illness

professional experience

legal assistant, jones & smith law firm, mount vernon, wa                                                                   7/09 c present

owner / operator / freelance paralegal, perry secretarial services, boise, id                                                3/07 c 7/09

paralegal, kimberly d. brooks law, nampa, id                                                                                              1/06 c 3/07

paralegal, ronald p. rainey, p.a., caldwell, id                                                                                              8/02 c 1/06  

legal assistant, hawley troxell ennis & hawley, boise, id                                                                             9/99 c 8/02  

legal assistant / paralegal, quane, smith, howard & hull, boise, id                                                              2/96 c 8/99

 

~ prior background information available ~

education

paralegal certification, northwest nazarene college, nampa, id

general studies, boise state university, boise, id

 

~ continuing legal education ~
advanced legal drafting for the paralegal ~ understanding medical terminology ~ ethics in today s office ~

practical legal research and analysis for the paralegal in idaho