JOB PURPOSE

Provides para-professional, administrative, organizational and technical support to the staff in Trustee Services and in the Regulatory Services Department. Support includes file management and assisting with inventory management and cataloguing of practice related materials. Processes, responds to, and tracks client / public and professional inquiries regarding requests and the retrieval of client / lawyer / paralegal files, wills, and other valuable client property.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Requires completion of a 2 year college program in Law Clerk or Paralegal diploma or a related discipline.
• Requires Either Law Clerk Certificate and membership in the Institute of Law Clerks of Ontario, a Paralegal license, or a license with the Law Society, or equivalent experience (at least 5 years of significant and directly relevant experience).
• Requires a minimum of 4 years’ experience as a law clerk or legal assistant in a law practice, government, and/or regulatory environment.
• Law office and court practice and procedure.
• Legal procedures and substantive areas of law (e.g., real estate, estates and family law).
• Knowledge of the Rules of Civil Procedure, Courts of Justice Act and court practices.
• Knowledge of law office and court practice and procedure is essential as is an understanding of basic practice areas and the ability to conduct searches and inquiries.
• Familiar with Client Contingency Planning resources and requirements.
• Current trends and developments in the legal profession.
• Microsoft Office Suite / 365 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.).
• Customer service skills.
• Negotiation skills with tact and diplomacy.
• Analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Project coordination, prioritization, and time management skills.
• Interpersonal, oral, and written communication, and presentation skills.
• Organizational and multitasking skills with attention to detail.
• Flexible and adaptive in response to changing priorities.
• Works at a computer desk in a hybrid arrangement at the office and at home.
• Travels <10% of the time within the province of Ontario to attend the recovery of legal / paralegal practice materials, sometimes on short notice.

Regulatory Support & Coordination

• Provides administrative support for trusteeship matters (e.g., organizing equipment, obtaining preliminary information for trusteeship applications, ensuring procedural, legal and administrative requirements are met for court applications and assisting counsel with court materials, etc.).
• Administers Superior Court applications, court-ordered and voluntary trusteeships, and the orderly winding up of professional businesses, including collecting, organizing, and distributing documentation and property.
• Assists licensees and members of the public with law practice windup and locating potential administrators for licensee practices pursuant to the Client Contingency Planning requirements.
• Assists with planning for access and packing up of practices, and arranging for on-site shredding and movers. Ensures compliance with handling, cataloguing, securing and control of client/licensee property, and acts as liaison with storage companies and other service providers.
• Conducts outreach to County Law Associations for Client Contingency Planning.
• Reviews and executes affidavits for court applications and serves as the primary liaison with court offices.
• Gives evidence at discipline hearings and in civil litigation proceedings.
• Prepares notices of orders and assists with client requests (e.g., document processing, preparing correspondence, memoranda, and reports, etc.).
• Responds to inquiries from clients, licensees, and financial institutions while meeting service standards.

Operations and Process Management

• Develops resources and a roster of administrators for Client Contingency Planning purposes.
• Supports Team Managers and/or Counsel in preparing court applications, maintaining physical court materials, and coordinating service of court documents.
• Maintains electronic and paper files / databases and provides timely data entry.
• This job description indicates the major duties and responsibilities expected in the job and is not designed to cover or contain a complete or comprehensive listing of all required activities, duties, or responsibilities; incumbents may be asked to perform other assigned duties.
• Completes court document processing, drafts correspondence and memoranda, and handles internal and external inquiries.
• Organizes and catalogues practice related materials.
• Conducts legal searches, including real property, corporate, motor vehicle, and court records.

Team Membership

• Works closely with members of Trustee Services to ensure assigned work is processed on a timely basis and with effective utilization of resources, including assisting other staff in assignments; identifies and implements workflow improvements.
• Develops department policies and maintains assigned sections of department manuals.
• Develops standardized practices, guidelines, and procedures in the appropriate conduct of Trustee Services files and implements department and individual performance targets.
• Monitors and identifies issues and trends related to legal topics and file management and identifies and forwards these issues to other staff in support of policy development or process change.
• Provides administrative support to the Compensation Fund and Regulatory Compliance departments as needed.

Financial Responsibility

• Reconciles assigned Trustee Services accounts monthly (e.g., storage, MTO, etc.).
• Orders and maintains an inventory of office supplies for the assigned work area.
• Assists in tracking time and expenses for cost recovery.

The Law Society has introduced a Distributed Workforce Model to leverage flexibility and agility, and to maximize employee productivity and engagement. Work arrangements will be determined by role and departmental requirements. The working arrangement for this position has been classified as hybrid, where the employee will regularly flex their work location between home and office. The specific application of this will be communicated to applicants contacted during the recruitment process.

The Law Society of Ontario values and respects diversity. We are committed to creating an accessible, barrier-free and inclusive workplace in compliance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). Please make any requirement you may have for accommodation during the recruitment process known when contacted. If you are unable to apply to this position due to the requirement for an accommodation of any kind, please email us at hr@lso.ca or call 416-947-3475.