We are looking for a seasoned family law paralegal who plays all in.
Who places excellence above all.
Who knows what matters most is how we make people – both our clients and our colleagues – feel.
Who has emotional intelligence and empathy for their clients and co-workers. Who speaks to all people politely, honestly, and productively.
Who understands that not having an answer is fine, but not answering isn’t.
Who wants their work to be measured candidly and transparently because they know they are the very best at what they do, and they want to work somewhere where they will be rewarded for their accomplishments.
Who values openness, candor, and honesty. Who sees every opportunity as a chance to grow and improve. Who hates gossip, dwelling on negativity, and self-importance.
The perfect person for this job, and for Freed Marcroft, is someone who understands that a rising tide lifts all boats.
Position Overview:
We are looking for an experienced family law paralegal who thrives under pressure and loves people, finding solutions, and technology. The ideal candidate anticipates their clients' needs and questions ahead of time and provides them with information, updates, and support before they ask.
Key Responsibilities:
- Communicates with clients early and often to provide updates on status and progress (including emailing/calling clients regarding discovery status, court dates, scheduling, and next steps).
- Keeps the trains running on time and our clients are well taken care of while attorneys are in court.
- Understands the difference between the legal advice that needs to come from an attorney and the client support at which the very best paralegals excel.
- Ensures compliance with court rules and deadlines.
- Prepares first drafts of initial pleadings, motions, notices, discovery inventories and responses, legal correspondence, affidavits, financial affidavits, child support guidelines, and other documents.
- Point person for all aspects of discovery, electronic evidence, and evidence production as directed by the responsible attorney, including initial and updated financial affidavits and discovery.
- Files with the court and communicates with all court staff.
- Ensures proper service of process and notarization.
- Promptly and accurately updates the client files with notes and updates.
- Creates tasks and utilizes task lists in the case management system based on upcoming court dates and status reports (including tasks to prepare compliance for court, update financial affidavits, responses to clients).
- Manages and organizes client matters and files within the case management system and electronic filing system, including receiving scanned documents and filing and indexing digital/electronic files throughout the case.
- Ensures that attorney calendars are properly maintained by the Docketing Clerk and be responsible for court filings, deadlines, and tracking any statutes of limitations.
- Follows up with attorneys to get the answers and instruction required to complete their work.
- Accurately and promptly enters time.
Qualifications:
- 5 to 10 years of experience as a family law paralegal with a proven track record of success.
- In-depth knowledge of family law procedures, court rules, and regulations in Connecticut.
- Strong drafting and organizational skills; perfectionists welcome.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills; able to handle difficult conversations with tact and calm.
- Ability to work independently and collaboratively with attorneys and other team members.
- High attention to detail and ability to manage multiple priorities without dropping the ball.
- Bachelor's degree or Paralegal Certificate from an accredited program preferred.
Disclaimer:
You must be a positive person. We don’t mean someone who is never sad. We mean someone who can realistically see the silver lining in the thundercloud. Someone who chooses to see the opportunity wrapped up inside what looks like a problem, when other people might only want to see the obstacle and not the gold that lies within.
We know life isn’t always perfect . . . in fact, we’ve built a law firm so we can help people when life doesn’t go the way they expected. We have found that some people are attracted to divorce and family law because they love drama and being the center of the attention it brings. There’s a lot of heavy emotion in the work we do with our clients, and we need to protect our team from drama seekers.
However, if you are smart, serious, and funny and believe that we can all contribute our special abilities to improving people’s lives, then we will probably enjoy working together.
