Program Paralegal

Ropes & Gray LLP; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 60,500 - 87,750; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive health benefits

Personal and professional development

Supportive culture

Job summary

A leading global law firm is seeking a Legal Support professional in Chicago. You will manage legal documents, perform public searches, and assist in legal proceedings while ensuring strict confidentiality. The ideal candidate has a bachelor’s degree and strong organizational and communication skills. This role offers a competitive salary range of $60,500 to $87,750 and is hybrid requiring on-site presence for effective collaboration.

Qualifications

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills; must be a self-starter.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality of sensitive information.
• Demonstrated organizational skills and ability to manage multiple tasks.

Responsibilities

• Track and maintain legal documents and filings.
• Assist with public searches and prepare relevant documentation.
• Prepare for and attend legal proceedings and client meetings.

Skills

Organizational skills

Communication skills

Confidentiality

Attention to detail

Flexibility

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

Microsoft Office

Adobe Acrobat

Westlaw

Lexis/Nexis

Relativity

Job description

Ropes & Gray is a preeminent global law firm. The firm has been ranked in the top three on The American Lawyer's prestigious A-List for eight consecutive years and #1 on Law.com's UK A-List twice in the past three years - rankings that honor the "best of the best" law firms.

The firm has approximately 2,500 lawyers and professionals serving clients in major centers of business, finance, technology, and government in Boston, Chicago, Dublin, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Milan, San Francisco, Seoul, Shanghai, Silicon Valley, Singapore, Tokyo and Washington, D.C.

The firm has consistently been recognized for its leading practices in many areas, including asset management, private equity, M&A, finance, real estate, tax, antitrust, life sciences, health care, intellectual property, litigation & enforcement, privacy & cybersecurity, and business restructuring.

Ropes & Gray is an equal opportunity employer.

Essential Functions: may differ based on client assignments and practice area support

• Track, maintain and help to coordinate paper and electronic document collections, reviews and productions, and client flies, including corporate minute books, board books and stock records. Calendar and maintain deadline-driven documents and filings.
• Understand and utilize rudimentary e-discovery and computer forensic concepts, such as, preservation of data and chain of custody.
• Implement and maintain organizational systems for discovery phase of litigation, including, but not limited to, document collection review and production tracking logs, privilege logs, deposition material, and exhibit logs.
• Perform public searches, including federal and state lien searches, financing statement, and secretary of state records and prepare charts or summaries to illustrate results. Assist with filings to and searches of Federal and state Agencies, including U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; Secretary of States sites, and others.
• Assemble and provide quality checks on exhibits and appendices for court filings and/or hearings, depositions and trials. Utilize Adobe to assist and prepare e-binders and hard copy binders for case and deal teams.
• Create, implement, and maintain case files and workroom organizational systems. Assist with the organization and maintenance of corporate closing and data rooms, whether physical or electronic.
• Prepare for and attend depositions, hearings, trials and arbitrations, and client and deal team meetings and presentations.
• Analyze and review various documents as required by lawyers. Prepare documents, such as statistical charts and graphs. Assist in the preparation and drafting of corporate documents, including but not limited to: stock certificates, option agreements, and financing statements as needed.
• Understand database concepts and terminology. Assist with and help to coordinate litigation support projects through utilization of document databases such as Relativity (web repository or in-house) and Case Notebook.
• Perform litigation due diligence searches, obtain docket sheets and other court papers utilizing electronic tools such as Courtlink. Utilize legal research software such as Westlaw and Lexis/Nexis for case retrieval and citation reference. Assist with due diligence review of materials and retrieval of publicly available documents from state officials for corporate transactions or when requested.
• Assist with the preparation and filing of forms, certificates and other writings with various state and federal agencies and authorities, including but not limited to the IRS, SEC, and others.
• Draft and process legal response letters in connection with audit requests in compliance with established firm policy and procedure.
• Coordinate and participate in the proofreading of internally and externally prepared filings and documents including printer proofs and other writings.
• Assist in preparation of closings, attend closings, and attend to post-closing activities and deliveries, including closing binder preparation and distribution.

Responsibilities:

• Perform other work-related duties as assigned by the Legal Services Managers and Paralegal Coordinators.
• Comply with department and firm administrative procedures, policies and best practices.
• General working knowledge of Microsoft office programs including MS Word and Excel needed. Prior experience utilizing Adobe Acrobat a plus.
• Responsible for billing a minimum of 1600 hours of client-related projects and other credited work, pro-rated based on start date.
• Communicate, correspond and interact with clients and outside entities, such as government agencies, expert witnesses, corporations and other law firms to gather information or data.
• Complies with department and firm administrative procedures and requirements including weekly and monthly deadlines for submitting time sheets, time entries, status reports and availability updates.

Essential Capabilities:

• Able to maintain strict confidentiality of the firm's internal and personnel affairs and client information. Understands ethics of position including ethical rules in regards to confidentiality, billing, and client representation and advocacy.
• Able to interact effectively and professionally with clients and all levels of personnel, including attorneys, co-workers, management and support staff.
• Able to own professional development by seeking out feedback and learning new skills.
• Able to embrace new processes and incorporate new technology to meet client demands as they evolve.
• Must be flexible in order to respond quickly and positively to shifting demands and opportunities; able to work under tight deadlines and handle multiple, detailed tasks.
• Must be team-oriented and able to share information, goals, opportunities, successes and failures with the appropriate parties.
• Able to plan, organize and complete multiple related tasks.
• Able to exert influence at all levels of the organization.
• Able to problem solve and work with minimal supervision.
• Able to anticipate problems and issues and exercise independent judgment for resolution.
• Must deliver high quality work product and display ownership, having the ability to follow up and follow through.
• Must possess the ability to work independently, as well as on teams, in a fast-paced environment.
• Able to effectively work in a multi-office environment and a culturally and educationally diverse environment.
• Must be flexible in accommodating finite Secondment opportunities with the Firm's clients.
• Some lifting of boxes up to 20 pounds.
• Flexibility to travel on short notice and work overtime as needed, including nights and weekends.

Education, Experience and Skills Required:

The successful candidate will have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution. The position will involve significant contact with lawyers and paralegals at the Firm and requires strong interpersonal and communication skills. The candidate must be a demonstrated self-starter who is both highly organized and a team player.

Working Conditions:

This position requires hybrid on-site presence as an essential function of the role. Consistent and predictable on-site presence is required for ongoing business continuity, professional development and effective collaboration with colleagues and management.

Incumbent is expected to work the hours necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of the position. The above is intended to describe the general content of and requirements for the performance of this job. It is not to be construed as an exhaustive statement of all essential functions, responsibilities, or requirements.

Compensation and Total Rewards Package:

Ropes & Gray is proud to offer a comprehensive Total Rewards package to our business support team members. The firm also offers comprehensive health and well-being benefits, personal and professional development, career growth opportunities and a collegial and supportive culture. The anticipated pay range for this role is listed below and represents our good faith and reasonable estimate of the starting salary range at the time of posting. In addition, this role is eligible for a discretionary bonus based on performance. The actual offered rate for this position will be determined based on job-related, non-discriminatory factors, including qualifications and experience, geographic location, education, external market data and consideration of internal equity.

• Chicago: $60,500 - 87,750

Ropes & Gray is committed to a policy of equal employment opportunity in all its employment practices and does not discriminate against any individual working at the firm, employee or applicant for employment, on grounds of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy or pregnancy-related condition, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other factor prohibited by applicable law.