Immigration Paralegal II - Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP

Who we are: BAL is a team of brilliant people who change lives through elite immigration work and collaborative innovation. We pursue the exceptional in all that we do, but never at the expense of our values. There’s no denying our work is demanding, both in volume and pace, but we’re up for the challenge. We love the balance of hard work and fun – so, you’ll see us in jeans as we shatter glass ceilings and conventional stereotypes. BAL employees feel valued, rewarded, and respected. We seek opportunities to be of service to others and our communities. We are committed to your growth and development and want to set you up for success here at BAL and beyond.    

Who you are: You are looking for work that has a purpose. You aren’t afraid to roll up your sleeves and get stuff done. You learn quickly. You move fast. You embrace challenge and detail as well as creative thinking. You believe you have something unique to contribute and you aren’t afraid to raise your hand. You understand that powering human achievement is ultimately about impacting a real person. You are looking for a place to grow and an environment where everyone has a spot and is genuinely welcome.    

We’re better together: A bright, driven person like you and an industry-leading powerhouse like BAL? It’s a perfect combination! We truly want to see you succeed here and become an integral part of our mission to provide an experience that makes a positive difference in people’s lives. Come be a part of something special, where you can have an impact and be valued just for being you!    

OVERVIEW:  A Paralegal II is responsible for working with attorneys in the preparation, filing, and monitoring of various immigration and nationality law matters. Additionally, a Paralegal II should have a comprehensive knowledge of the immigration process, mastery of multiple case types, and increasing company client interaction.    

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES:    

• Under direction of Senior Paralegal/Attorney, takes lead in email/phone client communications.
• Provides guidance to assignees regarding proprietary systems and case processing.
• Increased understanding of client communication procedures and requirements.
• Inputs client services rendered and sends to Accounting for processing.
• Complete competence of case types previously handled and continually strives to advance and broaden knowledge base; demonstrates increasing levels of independence in case handling.
• Processes more advanced and varied corporate immigration cases.
• Evaluates cases, relays concerns, and proactively escalates to the appropriate BAL team members(s).
• Prepares forms, letters, documents and correspondence for attorney review; adapts tools and resources for casework which deviates from templates; increases knowledge of BAL best practices.
• Manages status of all filed applications and petitions and finalizes documents after attorney review.
• Utilizes document and data management systems to prepare, monitor, and record all aspects of client casework as per BAL policy.
• Prepares internal caseload reports for management.
• Shares process flow with assignees; Identifies problematic cases and discusses strategies and/or solutions with Attorney.
• Performs research to obtain information such as background on a company or industry, current wages, processing procedures, standard processing times, etc.
• Initiates contact with government agencies to obtain necessary information; alerts Senior Paralegal and/or attorney regarding potential process delays/problems.

QUALIFICATIONS:    

• Bachelor’s Degree; 1-year law-related experience under licensed attorney; or, PL certificate from ABA approved program.
• Typically at least 2+ years of U.S. corporate immigration experience.
• Comfortable and ability to thrive in an extremely high-volume environment.
• Demonstrates sound judgment.
• Ability to execute and work well with minimal supervision.
• Strong attention to detail and ability to catch errors and correct work and the work of others.
• Superior client service skills.
• Effectively able to prioritize cases, caseload and other assigned tasks (i.e. projects, company management responsibilities, etc.).
• Ability to meet deadlines and goals.
• MS Office, Scan/Copy; learn, apply and effectively navigate daily use of propriety software.