Legal Secretary

At Haynes and Boone, our people are the driving force behind our success. Because we value the role every individual plays in how we deliver exceptional legal services, we hire people who will contribute to our professional reputation, enhance client relationships and share in our success.

Haynes and Boone’s Dallas-North office serves clients throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, nationally and internationally. Our office includes a large group of the firm's intellectual property and patent professionals, along with corporate, security, and technology law professionals. Our team members handle complex patent trial matters, including inter partes review proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and many of our attorneys are nationally recognized in this area of law. Our Dallas-North lawyers also counsel clients in patent strategy, patent prosecution and portfolio management, licensing, and litigation. Our lawyers are recognized in publications such as the 2021 edition of The Best Lawyers in America (Woodward/White, Inc.) We are committed to having a diverse workforce that reflects our communities, and we seek highly motivated lawyers and staff who value our culture of respect and teamwork. The new Dallas-North office is located in a mixed-use building with access to retail, restaurants and apartments at Legacy West in Plano – home to several national and global corporations.

The Dallas-North office of Haynes and Boone seeks an accomplished Litigation Legal Secretary who is accustomed to working on cases in various states and Federal court. The role assists attorneys in all aspects of their case and client work with a primary focus on producing accurate work timely and keeping things organized. This is a hands-on position that involves working in within a team in a client-focused environment.

The successful candidate will provide full secretarial and administrative support for attorneys under minimal supervision. This position requires the individual to perform with a high degree of independent judgment and discretion. It requires a thorough knowledge of organizational procedures and precedents. We seek someone who has a can-do, highly organized approach to work. In our setting, agility to quickly master new technology, flexibility, and strong communication and client service skills is a must. This is a non-exempt position.

The Dallas-North office is located in a mixed-use building with access to retail, restaurants, and apartments at Legacy West in Plano – home to several national and global corporations.

Come join us!

Essential Duties

• Work closely with attorneys and assist with the preparation of court filings and organization of pleadings, memoranda, discovery and other legal and administrative documents
• Calculate filing cost estimates
• Ensure all client communications are relayed accurately and timely to the team
• Maintain litigation binders and e-binders and case contact lists
• Compose correspondence. Performs word processing of drafts, revisions and final documents for client-related matters, including correspondence, including engagement letters, memoranda, bills, timesheets and project work, as needed. This includes proofreading and redlining work for accuracy of content and format;
• Electronically calendar litigation dates, maintain trial calendars, and subpoena process
• Keep appointment calendar (including hearings, court appearances and other commitments) and maintain contacts
• Edit client bills and collaborate with billing department.  Prepare forms and arrange for expense advancement, reimbursement, and invoice payments;
• Coordinate travel and meeting logistics including scheduling, arranging videoconferences, such as through Court Call, conferences calls, and conference rooms; requesting equipment and food and beverage orders; preparing presentation materials
• Coordinate meetings and appointments, and properly receive and greet clients/guests
• Copy, distribute, send (electronically and/or via mail, courier or express service), files and otherwise handles completed work
• Organize and maintain electronic files in accordance with Firm records retention policies and physical files as required; Maintain contacts and case dockets
• Collaborate with Conflicts team members to clear conflicts and open new client matters
• Assist with attorney time entries
• Handle incoming and outgoing mail

Other Duties

Assist summer associates, visiting attorneys and attorneys needing back-up or special project assistance; Perform other related duties as needed or assigned.

Reporting Relationship

The Legal Secretary reports directly to the Office Supervisor, Administrator or HR representative, and indirectly to assigned attorneys.

Qualifications

Knowledge/Experience

• At least five to seven years of experience as a litigation secretary with a strong working knowledge of state and federal court formatting and filing rules with various agencies, including e-filing.
• Ability to research other venues for local court rules, specifically California.
• Mid-size to large law firm experience preferred.
• Possess working knowledge of general office procedures, as well as, strong familiarity with legal terminology related to litigation.
• Have experience with electronic filing using ECF, performing searches using PACER and the Secretary of State websites.
• Working knowledge and experience with the Firm’s technology and applications strongly preferred (NetDocuments; Chrome River; Elite 3E, Compulaw).  Ability to use electronic calendaring is a must. Prior experience with handling expense reports, client bills, multi-line phones, conflict-checking forms, client and matter opening processes, as well as working with Interaction, or another CRM database, is strongly preferred. Prior experience supporting multiple attorneys is required with some of the attorneys at other locations.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Need professional phone and customer service skills for direct client contact.
• Strong organizational skills to manage several attorneys, files, and deadlines.
• Demonstrated ability to work under tight deadlines and prioritize responsibilities, maintain and handle confidential information, and work effectively in a fast-paced environment
• Proven ability to work with others in a friendly and collaborative way.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint)

Skills

• Advanced word processing and computer skills including, but not limited to, MS Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint, Compare, Adobe Acrobat Pro, Docusign, and Compulaw.
• Skilled with legal document formatting, including Table of Contents, Table of Authorities, and Pleadings.
• Legal filing and record-keeping practices as relevant to litigation.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including grammar, spelling and punctuation as well as strong phone etiquette.
• Must possess skills needed to support remote work including instant messaging (such as Cisco Jabber), email (Microsoft Outlook), remote meeting skills (Webex).
• Attention to detail and follow-through skills.
• Organization skills, ability to meet set deadlines and ability to effectively juggle multiple projects.
• Strong customer service skills, ability to be flexible, adaptable, and work effectively as part of a team including delegating and collaborating is required.

Education

High School diploma and least 2 years of college preferred. A paralegal certification from an ABA approved school or comparable experience is a plus.

Physical Demands

Must be able to move around the office up to 15% of the time to make copies, fax, file, etc. Remains stationary at least 85% of the time. This position operates computers and other office productivity machines (e.g., fax machine, copier, printer) on a regular basis. Occasionally required to move documents or files weighing up to 15 lbs.  This position requires constant communication and exchange of information with the firm attorneys, clients and staff. This position must be able to inspect and observe information on a computer screen at least 80% of the time.

Working Conditions

Office environment; Work across offices spanning different time zones; Able to work overtime. A hybrid work schedule of 4 days in the office, 1 day remote is available. Position may require occasional travel for trials and client meetings.