Litigation Paralegal

About This Role

Working closely with attorneys and clients, the Litigation Paralegal monitors, manages, and moves cases forward, anticipating next steps and ensuring team alignment. This role is for a seasoned litigation paralegal with experience in probate and trust litigation who can run a case from intake through trial without constant attorney oversight.

Responsibilities

• Manage a portfolio of trust and probate litigation cases from inception through close or trial
• Monitor case pipeline using reports and review meetings to ensure clients and matters move forward at the right pace
• Flag and escalate cases that fall outside firm standards, such as overdue tasks or deadlines extended more than once, cases with no billable hours in 2–4 weeks (depending on phase), excessive billable hours compared to phase benchmarks, cases without a next step or future task identified, overdue retainer replenishments, matters open longer than expected, and cases approaching trial requiring significant firm resources
• Report status and exceptions to the Responsible Attorney weekly
• Ensure monthly case status meetings occur and case status letters are sent to clients
• Handle all phases of active litigation matters, including court filings (electronic and physical), document drafting, preparation, and editing, discovery drafting and serving, legal research, cite-checking, and shepherdizing, deposition summaries, trial binders, exhibit lists, and uploading evidence into Trial Director or similar tools
• Maintain organized and accessible case files; keep Case Management Workbooks current
• Calendar and manage deadlines and reminders to ensure the team never misses a milestone
• Conduct regular check-ins with attorneys and support staff to ensure tasks are completed timely
• Serve as the hub of communication and accountability between attorneys, clients, and support staff
• Lead internal case check-ins and ensure new client goals meetings occur within two business days of retention
• Mentor and support junior paralegals and legal assistants to ensure they meet performance expectations
• Review time entries and billing weekly for accuracy, quality, and timeliness; provide feedback as needed
• Identify when the amount of work completed versus work remaining is outside firm guidelines; work with the team to correct or validate exceptions
• Anticipate “next steps” and consistently manage up
• Handle special projects of significance assigned by the Owner
• Send monthly Case Status Letters to clients to align expectations on progress, strategy, and budget
• Ensure communication with clients is timely, clear, and consistent with the firm’s values

Requirements

• 5+ years of litigation paralegal experience, 3+ specifically in trusts and estates litigation