Legal Assistant – Litigation & Transactional

Kaplan Kirsch LLP; Northern, New York (KY, NY); Hybrid; USD 87,000 - 113,000; Full time

Job summary

Kaplan Kirsch LLP seeks an experienced Legal Assistant to support transactional and litigation work. You will collaborate with attorneys, assistants, and clients to ensure precise drafting, timely filings, and organized case management across multiple jurisdictions.

The role emphasizes calendar coordination, document redlining, E‑filing navigation, and client communications in a fast-paced, professional environment. New York office; full-time, on-site with competitive benefits.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of prior legal assistant experience in a private law firm
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, Outlook)
• Strong drafting, proofreading and citation verification skills

Responsibilities

• Drafting & editing legal documents ensuring accuracy and adherence to court rules
• Filing, docketing and calendar management across multiple time zones
• Trial and hearing prep including exhibits, binders and deposition materials
• Contract review, redlining and exhibit compilation for transactions
• Pre-bill review, auditing and time-entry accuracy
• Notarial services and administrative document support
• Opening and onboarding new matters, conflict checks and billing setup
• Office reception, travel arrangements, records management and filing

Skills

Organizational skills

Attention to detail

Communication

Discretion

Teamwork

Tools

Microsoft Office Suite

Word

Excel

Outlook

Job description

Description

We are seeking an experienced and versatile Legal Assistant who is interested in transactional, litigation, and overall office support to join our dynamic team. You will work collaboratively with attorneys, legal assistants, and clients. You will play a critical role in providing legal support for both private and public clients. The ideal candidate will have strong organizational skills, and has the desire to work in a fast‑paced environment. You will thrive in a collaborative, supportive culture that values teamwork, initiative and professional growth.

Litigation Support

• Drafting & Editing: Prepares, proofreads, cite checks and formats legal documents such as motion and discovery shells, exhibits, trial binders, correspondence, pleadings, and agreements, ensuring strict adherence to court rules and firm style guides.
• Filing & Docketing: Manages electronic and physical filing systems; accurately dockets court deadlines, case milestones, and hearing dates to mitigate scheduling risks.
• Trial & Hearing Preparation: Coordinates the assembly of exhibits, binders, and required documentation for depositions, hearings, trials, or client presentations. Downloads and distributes court documents.
• Calendar & Schedule Management: Coordinates complex calendars, scheduling client consultations, depositions, and internal team meetings across multiple time zones.
• System Proficiency & E‑Filing Navigation: Manages the accurate and timely electronic submission of pleadings, motions, briefs, and regulatory comments across various jurisdictions, including:

Federal/U.S. District Courts: CM/ECF (Case Management/Electronic Case Files)

Surface Transportation Board (STB): The STB E‑Filing portal

Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) & Federal Transit Administration (FTA): Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) via Regulations.gov or specific agency portals.

Transactional Support

• Contract Review & Redlining: Performs preliminary contract reviews to identify key provisions, terms, and standard clauses (such as indemnification, termination, and confidentiality), redlining documents based on firm playbooks or client guidelines.
• Exhibit Compilation & Verification: Gathers, reviews, and organizes complex sets of exhibits, schedules, and ancillary documents for transactions, ensuring internal references within the primary agreement align perfectly with the attached materials.
• Closing Binder Production: Assembles, indexes, and indexes comprehensive electronic or physical closing binders following the execution of a transaction, ensuring all signature pages and final agreements are archived.
• Distribution & Archiving: Handles the prompt distribution of finalized closing materials to clients, partners, and internal archives in accordance with security and document retention policies.

Administrative Support

• Conflict‑of‑Interest Screening and New Matter Onboarding: Run conflict checks through the firm database during the intake process, meticulously flagging potential adverse relationships for attorney review. Manages the end‑to‑end matter opening process, drafts engagement letters, coordinates electronic file directories, and ensures billing profiles are accurately configured according to client guidelines.
• Entering Attorney Time: Captures and inputs daily billable hours for designated attorneys into the firm’s practice management system, ensuring narrative descriptions are clear, accurate, and aligned with client‑specific billing guideline.
• Pre‑bill Review & Auditing: Reviews monthly pre‑bills for administrative accuracy, corrects formatting errors, adjusts time entries, and flags variances against client billing rules prior to final partner sign‑off.
• Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Tracking & Compliance: Maintains a centralized tracking system to monitor the mandatory CLE compliance cycles, credit requirements, and deadlines for designated attorneys across multiple state bars (includes tracking Ethics, Diversity, or Elimination of Bias credits).
• Tracking Client Budgets: Monitors active client and project budgets, tracks monthly spend against approved caps and proactively alerts attorneys when billing reaches designated thresholds.
• Expense & Reimbursement Processing: Reconciles corporate credit card statements and prepares detailed out‑of‑pocket expense reimbursement requests, ensuring all receipts are attached and properly coded to client matters or internal accounts.
• Administrative Document Support: Assists the legal team with basic document formatting, high‑speed scanning, photocopying, and indexing both physical and electronic files into the firm’s centralized document management system.
• Notarial Services: Serves as a commissioned Notary Public for the state, verifying the identity of signers and witness‑signing critical affidavits, deeds, powers of attorney, and other legal instruments in strict compliance with state legal standards.

Office Support

• Visitor Reception and Phones: Welcomes visitors and forwards calls as needed.
• Environment Upkeep: Ensures the reception lobby, primary conference rooms, and client‑facing areas remain pristine, organized, and fully stocked, reflecting the firm's professional standards.
• Conference & Event Logistics: Coordinates the shared calendar for conference rooms, resolves scheduling conflicts and setup/cleanup logistics for client meetings, depositions, firm‑wide lunches, and internal events.
• Travel & Reservation Support: Assists attorneys with booking corporate travel, lodging, ground transportation, and client dinner reservations.
• Mail & Courier Handling: Sorts and routes incoming mail, priority packages, and time‑sensitive legal correspondence. Manages outgoing courier shipments (FedEx, UPS, USPS, DHL) and coordinates local hand‑deliveries, including the secure receipt of documents from process servers.
• Inventory: Proactively monitors, inventories, and stocks all office supplies (stationery, printer toner, paper) and kitchen provisions (coffee, snacks, beverage stations), optimizing inventory levels to avoid shortages.
• Building Liaison: Acts as the primary point of contact for building maintenance, facility engineering, and custodial staff; promptly submits and tracks work orders for repairs, climate control, and security access cards.
• Office Upkeep: Monitors and maintains general office equipment (copiers, scanners, postage meters), coordinating routine maintenance or troubleshooting technical issues with IT service vendors.
• Other Duties: Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Requirements

Qualifications

• 5+ years of prior legal assistant experience in a private law firm
• Tech Savvy: Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, Outlook, Adobe, and Power Point) required
• High level of accuracy in document drafting, formatting, and proofreading.
• Critical thinking skills, superior communication and organization skills, decisive judgment, high attention to detail, and the ability to work under minimal supervision.
• Familiarity with citation verification and source pulling
• High attention to detail and ability to manage multiple matters and deadlines simultaneously
• Ability to work independently with a high degree of professionalism and discretion.
• Proactive, team‑first attitude and a genuine interest in the work we perform and client service
• A deep understanding of attorney‑client privilege and the necessity of keeping all firm matters strictly confidential.

Position Type/Expected Hours of Work

Regular business hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., including lunch hour. This is a full‑time non‑exempt position working from our New York office.

Salary Range

$87,000 to $113,000 annually. The final salary will be commensurate with education and experience. We offer medical, dental, vision, HSA, FSA, STD, LTD, group term life insurance, 401(k), flexible PTO, and parental leave. The firm will also cover some public transportation costs.

An Equal Opportunity Employer

The Firm is actively committed to fostering the principles of diversity, inclusion, and equal employment opportunity. We do not discriminate against applicants or employees on the basis of age, race, color, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sex, sexual orientation, sexual identity, disability, marital status, military status, or any other status protected by federal, state, or local law.