Paralegal Supervisor - Freeman Mathis & Gary, LLP

Freeman Mathis & Gary is a dynamic and growing 350+ lawyer national litigation firm, with thirty-six offices in twenty-one states. The Paralegal Supervisor will assist in overseeing the Firm’s Paralegal Department and manage their own caseload. The Supervisor assists with onboarding, training and overseeing the day-to-day tasks of our paralegal team and will be the first contact for any questions related to the paralegal role, offering advice and guidance on substantive work. Responsibilities include coordinating assignments and workflow as needed, initiatives, coordinating and/or providing training, and maintaining direct daily contact with attorneys and support staff. This position reports to the Director of Litigation Support. Candidates must have substantive familiarity with the litigation process (i.e., case management, discovery, databases, privilege logs, court filings, e-filing, cite checking) and have the capacity to work both independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced, high-volume environment. Paralegals need well-developed Microsoft Office skills, the ability to solve problems, and communicate well with all levels of the FMG team.

ROLE RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Monitors and assigns paralegal support to specific matters, determining scheduling and support requirements while ensuring that all deadlines are met.
• Assist with recruiting and onboarding paralegals, including communicating with attorneys to understand needs, screening resumes, conducting interviews and reference checks.
• Assists with coordinating training regarding all paralegal skills and support applications (includes coordination of seminars and educational gatherings as needed).
• Assists in analyzing and reporting on paralegals’ time to assess workload, productivity, and ability to meet ongoing firm needs.
• Assists Director in assessing paralegals’ performance, resolving issues, and preparing annual evaluations.
• Provide paralegal support to attorneys with case organization, document management, witness interviews, discovery matters, administrative tasks, and trials.
• Assists attorneys with the preparation of a civil case for trial.
• Obtains, reviews, analyzes, and summarizes legal documentation pertaining to cases.
• Manages discovery process and conduct records management.
• Schedules depositions and other meetings with clients, witnesses, experts, opposing counsel, court reporters and others.
• Identifies, locates, interviews, and evaluates potential experts and sends expert packages to parties for review.
• Tracks requests for documents and regularly follows up on progress of receipt;
• Ability to summarize case records, create chronologies, and summarize discovery responses.
• Ability to organize and prioritize numerous tasks and complete them under time constraints with minimal supervision and exceptional attention to detail.
• Performs legal research timely and efficiently to inform attorney decisions.
• Organize and maintain case files, coordinate with Legal Assistants and other staff.
• Regularly reviews files and proactively works to move cases forward.
• Ensures all functions are performed in accordance with applicable client guidelines.
• Keep accurate time records and meet 1,200 annual billable hours requirement.
• Maintain positive relationships with firm attorneys, co-counsel, clients, and vendors.
• Proficient in software programs such as Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Westlaw and Kofax PDF editor.
• Additional duties and special projects as assigned.

SKILLS & KNOWLEDGE:

• Experience billing for work and meeting a monthly billing target.
• Leadership and Supervisor experience preferred.
• eDiscovery experience and demonstrated ability to manage multiple tasks.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Ability to organize and prioritize numerous tasks and complete them under time constraints.
• Familiarity with workflow, roles, and responsibilities of professionals on legal teams.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to work with a wide variety of people at every level of the organization.
• Consummate professional, even tempered, and problem solver.
• Ability to manage changing priorities and pressure situations.
• Open to improving and eager to develop professionally.

EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE and SKILLS

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience preferred.
• Certificate in Paralegal studies preferred.
• 5-7 years defense litigation paralegal experience.
• Civil litigation, and/or employment litigation experience required.
• Familiarity with performing research tasks using web-based legal research services.
• Proficiency in electronic file setting, comfortable with a paperless system.
• iManage experience a plus.
• Must successfully pass a background/drug screen.

Freeman Mathis & Gary, LLP (FMG) is committed to providing equal employment opportunity to all applicants and employees by maintaining a workplace free of discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local law. FMG complies with all applicable federal, state, and local laws. Employment dependent on successful completion of a background check.