Bennett Jones is a leading full-service international law firm with offices in Calgary, Toronto, Edmonton, Ottawa, Vancouver, Montreal and New York. We are proud that Bennett Jones was named one of Canada’s Best Employers in 2022 in Kincentric’s “Best Employers in Canada” survey. The firm was also recognized in 2022 as one of Alberta’s Top 75 Employers and as one of the Top Employers for Young People in a Mediacorp study. For 22 years, Bennett Jones has been recognized as one of Canada's top employers.

Bilingual legal assistant, litigation

Job summary:

* Hybrid schedule: three (3) days in the office

We are looking for an experienced bilingual legal assistant to join the litigation group in our Montreal office. Reporting to the Director of Administration, the candidate will assist our team of lawyers in managing their litigation practice and carrying out mandates, at both the legal and administrative levels.

Roles and responsibilities: 

• Prepare, organize and /or assemble litigation and court documents, including affidavits, notices, motion records, factums and books of authority, and ensure their notification;
• Coordinate with bailiffs and the Court regarding service and filing of court documents;
• Coordinate with court clerks regarding trial and motion bookings and related court filings;
• Draft, edit and finalize correspondence and other documents in accordance with handwritten, dictated, working notes, precedents and/or instructions, including memos, letters, emails, reports, presentations, proposal documents, budgets for future work, forms and court documents;
• Apply writing and rereading skills to all products of his work, ensure their accuracy and completeness, while ensuring that the formatting, spelling and grammar are impeccable in both English and French;
• Act as a liaison between lawyers and various internal and external individuals with respect to case progress and other practice issues;
• Participate in the administrative management of the firm, in particular by opening and closing files, organizing meetings (including booking rooms and arranging for food services or audiovisual equipment), setting calendars, organizing trips and/or other types of accommodation;
• Ensure the management, organization of physical and computer files and administrative follow-ups from the opening to the archiving;
• Develop and maintain a document filing system on iManage;
• Master the billing process: provide administrative support for the preparation and completion of time entries, coordination of billing, expense processing and invoice payment in accordance with the Firm’s accounting policies and standards;
• Prepare requests for cheques and deposits/withdrawals from trust accounts, as well as expense reports and expense accounts;
• Track deadlines and matters' timelines;
• Receive, filter, respond, transmit emails, calls and faxes, and file paper and electronic documents;
• Manage the agenda of the assigned lawyer;
• Perform other office tasks and special projects.

Qualifications:

• The employee in this position will have to interact with clients and third parties who understand and communicate only in English. This position also requires that the candidate be able to interact seamlessly with colleagues in our offices across Canada, where English is the predominant language. Since we estimate that more than 50% of the work required for this position must be done in English, the language requirements for this position are a high level of writing, understanding and oral communication in that language. The employee must also have a high level of writing, understanding and oral communication in French;
• Minimum of five to seven (5 to 7) years experience as a legal assistant for several lawyers specializing in complex litigation, ideally including class actions, preferably in a large national law firm;
• Experience and knowledge of the rules of civil procedure, judicial practices and procedures;
• Technical diploma as a legal assistant or college diploma in office administration, or the equivalent;
• Proficiency in MS Office, Adobe Pro, digital dictation and other technologies specific to the legal field;
• Experience with Aderant (or other billing technology specific to the legal industry) and an excellent understanding of the billing cycle, expense processing and bill payment;
• High attention to details and ability to perform multiple tasks quickly and accurately;
• Excellent organizational skills, personal motivation and ability to manage multiple tasks at the same time and under pressure;
• Demonstrate professionalism, confidentiality and discretion, as well as being customer service-oriented, adaptable and responsible;
• Ability to work as a team and in a constantly evolving environment;
• Demonstrate discernment, ingenuity and autonomy in solving administrative problems;
• Willingness to work overtime on occasion.

Apply to:

Jacinthe Landry, Director of Administration, Montreal Office
E-mail: landryj@bennettjones.com
Bennett Jones LLP. 
900 Boulevard de Maisonneuve W, Suite 1800
Montreal, QC H3A 0A8
#LI-Hybrid