Legal Assistant

Woodward & Co. Lawyers LLP; Victoria; On-site; CAD 60,000 - 75,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Dental benefits

RRSP contributions

Vacation time

Professional development

Job summary

Woodward & Co. Lawyers LLP in Victoria, BC seeks a Junior Legal Assistant to join a dedicated team supporting lawyers in Aboriginal law litigation. The role emphasizes drafting and formatting documents, file management, and calendar coordination in a collaborative, office-based setting.

The ideal candidate has formal Legal Assistant education, strong organizational skills, and proficiency with MS Office and Worldox. Experience with Indigenous communities is a plus and is encouraged to apply.

Qualifications

• Formal education as a Legal Assistant is required.
• Strong problem-solving skills and resourcefulness for decision making.
• Excellent organizational and interpersonal skills are essential.
• Advanced MS Office knowledge and MS 365 apps are required.
• Experience with Indigenous communities or nations is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Prepare, format, edit and file legal documents and correspondence.
• Proofread documents before lawyer review and signing.
• Maintain electronic and paper filing, calendars, and meeting schedules.
• Assist lawyers by locating files, resources, and references.
• Support e-discovery, document management, and court filing tasks.

Skills

Problem solving

Organizational skills

Communication skills

Dependability

MS Office

Microsoft 365

Education

Formal Legal Assistant education

Tools

Worldox

E-discovery tools

E-filing systems

Electronic document management

Litigation software

Job description

Woodward & Co. Lawyers LLP is a national law firm whose mission is to provide innovative, excellent legal services guided by the laws, values, languages, and voices of the Indigenous peoples we serve. We provide legal services to Indigenous communities, governments and businesses, and advancing transformative change in an era of reconciliation and decolonization.

We have a strong commitment to our workplace culture that prioritizes our meaningful work and values of collaboration, excellence, respect, accountability, trust, and ethics.

Woodward is seeking an experienced Jr. Legal Assistant to fill an existing vacancy and join a talented and dedicated team in our Victoria, BC office location, supporting lawyers engaged in complex Aboriginal law litigation. This role offers meaningful work that leverages your extensive litigation experience to a focused area of specialization and an opportunity to evolve in a dynamic and collaborative work environment.

QUALIFICATIONS:

This ideal candidate for this position meets the following requirements:

• Formal education as a Legal Assistant.
• Strong problem-solving skills and resourcefulness using good decision making or judgement.
• High level of initiative, (knowing when to seek appropriate advice).
• Excellent organizational skills and keen attention to detail.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Advanced use and knowledge of MS Office (Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint) and Microsoft 365 application (Teams, OneNote, and OneDrive).
• Reliability, flexibility, and dependability are essential for this position.
• Experience working with Indigenous nations, communities, businesses, or organizations would be considered an asset.
• Strong knowledge of rules of civil procedure in BC (including the ability to determine rules and procedures of tribunals or courts in other jurisdictions), for the Divisional Court, Federal Court and the Supreme Court.
• Familiarity with litigation software, and document management systems.
• Familiarity with e-discovery databases, electronic document management, electronic court registries, e-filing and e-hearing platforms.

KEY DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

Beyond specific role requirements for the file(s) assigned and/or outlined within the offer of employment, please review the following job description:

General:

• Prepares documents including (drafting, formatting, editing) correspondence, memos, agreements, legislation, codes, by-laws, and reports.
• Proofreads drafted documents and letters before asking lawyer(s) to sign.
• Prints emails and correspondence for filing.
• Sends outgoing correspondence (i.e., fax, scan and email, regular mail, courier).
• Assists lawyer(s) in locating files, resources, references.
• Scans documents for electronic file.
• Scans incoming/outgoing correspondence, taking note of proposed meeting dates and teleconference times to follow-up with appropriate arrangements.
• Follows-up with lawyer(s) if response from opposing counsel is not received in a timely manner (as applicable).
• Assists lawyer(s) in obtaining file-specific information from various government websites and government offices.
• Knows basic status of files to be able to assist clients with general information.
• Maintains specific file indexing and organization and management system, in both electronic and paper form, including daily use of internal document management system (Worldox).
• Takes phone messages as required and communicates such messages clearly to the lawyer(s) involved.
• Knows assigned lawyer(s) schedule/whereabouts and if the lawyer(s) called out of town unexpectedly, is prepared to re-schedule any upcoming meetings/teleconferences.
• Maintains calendars of all meetings/teleconferences and send reminders to assigned lawyer(s).
• Assists experts and external professionals retained by the firm as required.

Why Woodward?

Woodward is where meaningful work, strong relationships, and a great culture comes together. We offer a salary range of $60,000 to $75,000 per year (with consideration for education and experience), plus a comprehensive benefits package which includes health, dental, vacation and RRSP contributions, wellness, and professional development.

This full-time in-office role due to workflow and valued team collaboration.

Woodward is committed to equity, inclusion and belonging, and human rights. We know that our diversity strengthens our values and shared responsibility in creating a respectful, and collaborative workplace.

Indigenous ancestry is regarded as directly relevant to the skills and knowledge preferred and Indigenous applicants are strongly encouraged to apply.

While only shortlisted candidates will be contacted, we thank all candidates for their time and interest in Woodward & Co. Lawyers LLP.

Requirements added by the job poster

• 1+ years of work experience with Legal Administration