Paralegal

Our firm needs an exceptional person to assist the partner attorneys with a variety of legal work relating to the practice of elder law.

Our Firm: We are passionate about serving our clients. We’ve put a lot of energy into building our “A+ Team,” and we are committed to protecting them! If you take the time to read this ad and follow the instructions to apply, we will be excited for the opportunity to learn more about you.

This will probably be the longest, most honest, and most detailed job posting you will ever read. That’s because we want to be very up front about our expectations about this position and our ideal candidate. If you are up for a job that is as demanding as it is rewarding, please continue reading the rest of this summary. If you are up to the challenge, we look forward to seeing your resumé and cover letter.

You must be an optimistic, positive person. Our office does not do well with toxic people, negative attitudes, whiners, complainers, gossipers, martyrs, or victims. You will not fit in here if you even think you may fall into one of these categories of negative people.

We seek people who are not afraid of computers or learning new things that will make their jobs easier. You must be able to handle working with several different databases of information. If you aren’t 100 percent confident managing data and people, you are not the right person for this job. You must be competent and proficient in the use of WordPerfect (and/or Word), Outlook, and office equipment like copiers and scanners, at a minimum. If you are familiar with legal case management software, that is a plus.

We are fully invested in policies and procedures and systems. We believe in a team approach, where you can ask for help when you need it without fear of being judged. But at times, you will also need to know how to figure things out on your own and be able to creatively solve problems and come up with solutions. You must be able to think on your feet and make smart decisions. If you can’t think on your feet, please do not apply.

If, while you are reading this, you were distracted by the buzz of your cell phone or a Facebook alert, this is likely not the job for you. If you lose stuff, are not organized, or get easily distracted, please do not apply.

If you think there are many good reasons to not show up to work on time or if you need to take more than two coffee, smoke, or cell phone breaks during the work day, this job is not for you. If you want to spend time Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. surfing the Internet, Facebooking, or chatting on the phone and still expect to be paid, this is not the job for you.

If you are the type of person who stays on your cell phone having a conversation while you are placing a food order, pumping gas, or in the check-out line face to face with a cashier, this is not the job for you.

If you are one of those people who likes to play sick on Thursday night or Sunday night so you can come in late or take a sick day on Fridays and Mondays, this really is not the job for you. We know and understand the difference between “sick” and *sick*. We provide reasonable PTO. We know how to spot a pattern. If you get “sick” when it is convenient for you and don’t care how your long weekend impacts the rest of the team, please do not apply for this position.

Can you tell that we want someone who knows how to play on a team? You will be working in a small office where staff members are all accountable to one another. We are strong believers in the team approach, and our office is a team environment. So, if you are not a team player, this is not the job for you. If you think you can fake being a team player, you can’t. Don’t try. Just accept that this is not the job for you.

You need to be able to talk to people (all people, including co-workers, clients, family members under stress, visitors, sales people, servers, and the public) in a manner that puts them at ease and is polite, professional, and well spoken. You cannot “talk down” to anyone you deal with in our office.

To be perfectly honest, we expect you to give us 100 percent when you are at work. You owe it to yourself, to us, and to our clients to do the best job you can. You need to be willing to do what it takes to get the job done right the first time. In our practice, getting it done right the first time for our clients is very important, and we need everyone working with this goal in mind. If this seems too much to ask of you, don’t apply for this position.

Most importantly, you must have compassion when dealing with our clients. As an ambassador to the world for our firm, you will be one of the first people to whom our clients speak. Your ability to listen to what you are being told and ask follow-up questions as necessary is very important.

To put it simply, we want you to do good work and rally around our clients to help solve their legal problems. We want people who want to make a positive difference in our little piece of the world.

If you realize that the work environment we have created will enable you to get your job done efficiently while working with people who love what they do, and also allow you to earn more money than you can anywhere else and also have a life outside of work, then you are the type of candidate we would like to meet.

If you are selected for this position, you will be a part of a wonderful team of people who take great pride in their work and always strive to get the job done right the first time. You will become a part of a team that is rewarded for hard work.

With regard to compensation, the starting salary range is $20.00 per hour. However, this rate is based upon experience in the field.

Is this going to be an easy job? No. It might be one of the biggest challenges of your life. But is it our belief that anything truly great is worth working for and that our greatest growth comes from our biggest challenges. You will be challenged. You will have fun. You will be compensated. You will help our clients.

If you have gotten this far, you are truly an exceptional person (most people stopped reading this ad a long time ago). If you are thinking about applying, it means that you are ready for a challenge and want to be part of a team where your hard work and efforts are recognized and rewarded.

$20 hourly

• Draft, prepare, update and proofread complex estate administration, estate planning and fiduciary representation documents and forms, such as wills, trusts, court pleadings, incapacity planning documents, various financial institution beneficiary designation forms and asset lists, while maintaining confidentiality
• Handle frequent phone calls from clients and diligently place and return calls to clients as case needs require and at direction of attorneys
• Maintain and update case, relationship, document and other mission-critical management systems
• Help attorneys prepare cases for hearings through managing discovery, researching laws and judicial decisions, assisting lawyers in the courtroom
• Interact with the courts and administrative agencies regarding hearings, motions and other appearances, becoming the courts’ primary point of contact with the firm for all administrative and scheduling issues
• Enter time and billing data; track and enter all time worked daily; bill time in compliance with ethical standards reflected in firm policies and procedures
• Conduct estate planning signing meetings in compliance with outlined procedures; witness to and authenticate signatures as Notary Public

• High school diploma, with some post-secondary education
• At least three years of related experience supporting attorneys
• Completion of a course of study offered by a college or university especially for Paralegals or equivalent work experience
• Current Notary Public license or the ability to get one
• Self-discipline, great deal of compassion, ability to learn quickly and be calm under pressure
• Professional demeanor with excellent client service skills

We are an Elder Law firm. It’s all we do…and we do it well. So well, in fact, that we have plans to grow rapidly for the next few years. We are passionate about serving our clients. We’ve put a lot of energy into building our “A+ Team,” and we are committed to protecting them!

We have a “magic statement” that communicates to others whom we help and how we help them:

We help people live with dignity and assurance through the power of planning and by compassionately guiding their loved ones through the pain of illness and loss.

Our Firm’s primary values:

• Love, Kindness, Integrity, Compassion, Gratitude and Professional Excellence.
• To be the Northwest’s leading law firm that makes the aging and dying experience better through compassionate, professional legal excellence delivered with a heart of service and gratitude.