Legal Assistant

Department: Real Estate

Location: Rochester, NY

Classification: Nonexempt

Job Type: Full-time, M-F, 8 AM- 5 PM

Company Overview:

Woods Oviatt Gilman LLP is a leading and reputable full-service law firm dedicated to providing exceptional legal services to our clients. With a team of highly skilled and experienced attorneys, we strive to deliver comprehensive and effective solutions to meet the diverse needs of our clients. Headquarters are located in Rochester, NY, with additional offices in Albany and Buffalo, NY.

We foster a collaborative and inclusive work environment where every team member is valued and respected. We encourage open communication, teamwork, and professional growth. Our firm promotes a healthy work-life balance and supports the well-being of our employees.

Summary:

We are currently seeking a Legal Assistant with excellent organizational skills and a keen eye for detail to join our real estate legal team. This position is responsible for supporting attorneys and paralegals by performing a variety of administrative duties, including drafting correspondence, answering phones, and communicating with attorneys and clients. Our ideal candidate is a polished professional who exercises discretion and carries themselves with professionalism.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Assist attorneys with preparing and processing real estate transfer documents, transaction checklists, loan documentation, and closing statements.
• Cultivate and maintain an efficient documentation and filing system for real estate/banking files.
• Work with abstract companies, municipalities, and clients to obtain required information for closings.
• Utilize internet-based resources to gather and synthesize property information.
• Obtain copies of recorded documents from various governmental offices where applicable, obtain tax receipts for properties.
• Open new files, request conflict of interest checks, and maintain (including indexing and organizing) client and general files.
• Prepare correspondence and other legal documents from written or verbal instruction.
• Draft various letters to clients based on the specific transaction/matter.
• Log attorney's time for billing purposes and work with accounting to generate bills.
• Coordinate funding for closings, including processing payment of invoices, and working with accounting to ensure a smooth closing process.
• Provide admin support such as setting up meetings, coordinate courier deliveries, sorting and distributing mail, and filing.
• Assist with overflow projects/assignments such as filing, photocopying, scanning, and perform other duties as needed upon request by immediate supervisor.

Qualifications:

• 1-3 years prior law firm administrative assistant experience preferred
• Working knowledge of Kofax, Microsoft Teams, and Microsoft Office Suite: Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• Strong typing, computer, organizational, and administrative skills with meticulous attention to detail
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Ability to prioritize workload and independently manage multiple tasks
• Must be a team player and use firm resources effectively and efficiently
• Must maintain professional contact with attorneys and staff and observe confidentiality of client and firm matters
• Type a minimum of 60 wpm

Physical Demands:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Employee is regularly required to stand, walk, use hands/fingers to type, hold, handle, or feel; and reach with hands and arms.
• Regularly required to talk or hear.
• Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
• The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 15 pounds.

Other Duties: Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. This is a snapshot of the core functions and responsibilities. All inquiries will be handled with the utmost confidentiality. The compensation range for this position is $20-$30 per hour, representing our good faith and reasonable estimate of the potential compensation at the time of posting. Actual compensation will be determined based on various factors, including the candidate's qualifications, experience, skill set, and office location.

Woods Oviatt Gilman LLP is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We value an open mind, dedication to work, and a collaborative spirit. We hire based on these qualities, a job’s requirements, our business needs, and an applicant’s qualifications. We do not tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind—in the hiring process or in the workplace. We comply with the ADA and consider reasonable accommodation measures that may be necessary for eligible applicants/employees to perform essential functions. We participate in E-Verify. We will provide the federal government with employees’ Form I-9 information to confirm authorization to work in the U.S. We will only use E-Verify once an employee has accepted a job offer and completed Form I-9.