Senior Litigation Paralegal

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Gibson Dunn & Crutcher in San Francisco, CA, seeks a Senior Litigation Paralegal to support attorneys through all phases of litigation, including case management, discovery, deposition and trial preparation.

Reporting to the Associate Director and Manager of Paralegal Services, the role requires 8–10 years in a major law firm, strong organizational skills, and proficiency with eDiscovery tools and AI-assisted workflows to boost efficiency.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent per-state requirements for paralegal duties.
• 8–10 years of experience in an AmLaw 100 law firm.
• Strong knowledge of litigation practices, procedures and workflows.
• Proficiency with Word, Excel, Outlook, Adobe and Google Workspace tools.
• Experience with LexisNexis, Westlaw, and eDiscovery databases like Relativity and CaseMap.
• Experience using AI tools to streamline workflows and support legal tasks.

Responsibilities

• Perform litigation case management, discovery, and trial activities.
• Assist attorneys with complex matters and meet deadlines.
• Utilize AI tools to streamline workflows and interface with client representatives.
• Maintain client document management systems and provide reports.
• Draft court filings and assist with deposition and trial preparations.
• Coordinate with external vendors and manage scheduling and travel as needed.

Skills

Self-starter

Communication skills

Organizational skills

Attention to detail

Multitasking

Written and verbal communication

Creative thinking

Education

Bachelor’s degree preferred

Tools

LexisNexis

Westlaw

iManage

Relativity

Opus 2

CaseMap

Microsoft Word

Excel

Outlook

Adobe

Google Workspace

Google Docs

Google Sheets

Claude AI

Harvey AI

ChatGPT

CoCounsel

Gemini

Job description

Gibson Dunn is a leading global law firm, advising clients on significant transactions and disputes. Our exceptional teams craft and deploy creative legal strategies that are meticulously tailored to every matter, however complex or high-stakes. The firm’s work is distinguished by a unique combination of precision and vision.

Based in San Francisco or Palo Alto, the Senior Litigation Paralegal will be responsible for supporting attorneys in all phases of litigation, including case management, court filings, calendaring, document review and production, cite checking, document organization, drafting and responding to discovery, deposition and trial preparation. The Senior Litigation Paralegal will be a key member of a team that is dedicated to the Firm’s top client. This role involves facilitating the smooth progression of cases from inception to resolution, ensuring they are handled efficiently and effectively.

This role reports to the Associate Director of Paralegal Services and the Manager, Paralegal Services.

Responsibilities

• Performing all elements of litigation case management, including file management, discovery, and trial activities.
• Assisting attorneys with complex matters, ensuring all deadlines and milestones are met.
• Experience utilizing AI tools to streamline workflows and improve efficiency; experience interfacing with client representatives to develop and implement AI workflows is preferred.
• Ensuring client’s document management systems are updated, if applicable.
• Assisting in ensuring detailed reports and summaries of case activities and developments are up to date, if applicable.
• Utilizing existing systems and procedures and/or establishing new procedures to facilitate the organization and retrieval of documents by and for the attorneys on the case team.
• Assisting attorneys in all phases of litigation from case initiation through trial.
• Assisting with calendaring case deadlines/comfortable with researching Local Rules, Rules of Civil Procedure and Judge’s Standing Orders to ensure compliance.
• Assisting with and drafting court filings and preparations in Federal and State courts.
• Assisting with discovery, document collection, organization, review, and productions.
• Proofreading, cite checking and blue book court briefs and discovery documents.
• Assisting with deposition, meeting, or interview preparations.
• Assisting with all aspects of trial/arbitration management, including travel and logistics.
• Preparing and submitting timekeeping reports in a timely manner.
• Preparing various charts and indices.
• Coordinating with external vendors.

Qualifications

• Self-starter with demonstrated instances of taking initiative.
• Must be comfortable and effective in demonstrating strong communication and interpersonal skills to build and maintain professional relationships.
• Ability to support complex litigation cases from beginning to end.
• Excellent organizational skills and a strong attention to detail.
• Flexible and able to multi-task, balancing priorities and tight deadlines.
• Proactive and able to efficiently handle multiple projects and client matters simultaneously.
• Must possess strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Superior analytical and reasoning abilities.
• Exhibit high degree of initiative and critical‑thinking skills in exercising independent judgment and making decisions in managing multiple priorities in a fast‑paced, deadline‑driven, detail‑oriented work environment.
• Creative thinker who is open to considering multiple approaches to issues and collaborating with other leaders to develop and execute plans.
• Demonstrated ability to both understand the “big picture” and pay attention to detail.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team, with members across multiple offices.
• Available to travel as needed.
• Ability to work overtime as necessary.

Experience

• Bachelor’s degree preferred, or an equivalent combination of education and substantive paralegal experience. Candidate must meet any applicable state requirements governing the performance or paralegal duties, including any required certifications or qualifications.
• Minimum 8-10 years of relevant experience in AmLaw 100 law firm.
• Understanding of common litigation practices, procedures, regulations, and workflow.
• Proficient with Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, Adobe, Google Workspace, Google Docs, Google Sheets.
• Proficiency in Lexis Nexis and Westlaw.
• Proficient in iManage.
• Experience with eDiscovery Databases such as Relativity, Opus 2, and CaseMap.
• Experienced with AI tools such as, Claude, Harvey, ChatGPT, CoCounsel, Gemini etc.

Gibson Dunn will consider for employment qualified Applicants with Criminal Histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of local law.

The annual compensation range for this position is $150-180k. The salary offered within this range will depend on qualifications and other operational considerations.

Benefits offered for this position include health care; retirement benefits; paid days off, including sick time, and vacation time; parental leave; basic life insurance; Flexible Spending Accounts; as well as discretionary, performance‑based bonuses.

Gibson Dunn is committed to ensuring equal employment opportunities for all qualified applicants, including individuals with disabilities. We strive to ensure an inclusive and accessible hiring experience. The Firm will provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities to enable participation in the application and recruitment process, unless doing so would impose an undue hardship, in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. If you require a reasonable accommodation to complete an application, participate in an interview, or otherwise take part in the recruitment process, please contact us at [e-mail]. Please note, this is a dedicated email inbox established exclusively to assist applicants with accommodation request related to the recruitment process. Inquiries about the status of an application or other non‑accommodation matter will not receive a response.