Small Law Office – Syracuse, New York
Schedule: Part-Time, Monday–Friday, approximately 9:00 a.m.–3:30 p.m. with a 30-minute unpaid lunch
Hours: Approximately 30 hours per week

Starting Salary Range: $19-22/hour

Position Overview

A small Syracuse law office is seeking a dependable, organized, and professional Part-Time Legal Secretary / Office Assistant to provide front-office and administrative support to our attorneys and staff.

This is primarily a secretarial and administrative position. Prior paralegal experience is not required, and we are not seeking someone to perform substantive paralegal work. The ideal candidate is someone who takes pride in keeping an office organized, communicates well with clients and coworkers, is comfortable handling a busy telephone, and can reliably keep track of appointments, deadlines, and administrative tasks.

Because this position is often the first point of contact for clients and prospective clients, professionalism, good judgment, and strong communication skills are particularly important.

Primary Responsibilities

The Legal Secretary / Office Assistant will be responsible for duties including:

• Answering incoming telephone calls promptly and professionally, taking accurate messages, and directing calls to the appropriate staff member;
• Greeting clients, prospective clients, vendors, and other visitors to the office in a friendly and professional manner;
• Communicating with clients and prospective clients by telephone, email, and other approved methods;
• Receiving and managing prospective-client leads and ensuring appropriate information and follow-up are documented;
• Scheduling appointments, maintaining office and attorney calendars, and accurately entering appointments and other important dates;
• Scanning, uploading, organizing, and filing documents electronically using MyCase;
• Creating new matters/cases in MyCase and accurately entering basic case and client information;
• Assisting with administrative case-closing procedures and maintaining orderly electronic files;
• Taking clear and accurate notes during meetings when requested;
• Maintaining organized physical and electronic files;
• Keeping the reception area, lobby, conference areas, and general office environment neat, organized, and presentable;
• Assisting attorneys and other staff members with routine administrative projects as needed; and
• Taking on additional reasonable office responsibilities as needs arise.

The position may also involve answering telephone calls and providing basic secretarial support for an affiliated business. Accordingly, the ability to professionally handle incoming calls, determine the nature of an inquiry, take accurate information, and route matters appropriately is essential.

What We Are Looking For

The successful candidate should be:

• Punctual and dependable. Consistent and timely attendance is important to the operation of a small office.
• Highly organized. The candidate must be able to keep track of appointments, documents, messages, and multiple administrative tasks without things falling through the cracks.
• Professional and personable. The candidate will interact with clients, attorneys, court personnel, vendors, prospective clients, and individuals with a wide variety of personalities and communication styles.
• A strong communicator. Clear, professional verbal and written communication is essential.
• Comfortable on the telephone. Answering and appropriately handling incoming calls is a major component of this position.
• Detail-oriented. Accuracy is important when entering client information, scheduling appointments, uploading documents, and taking messages.
• Coachable. We are looking for someone who can receive direction and constructive feedback professionally, learn from it, and consistently apply that direction going forward.
• A team player. In a small office, everyone occasionally assists outside of their usual responsibilities. The successful candidate should be willing to help where reasonably needed.
• Self-motivated. The candidate should be able to recognize routine tasks that need attention and complete them without requiring constant supervision.
• Discreet and trustworthy. The position involves access to confidential and sensitive client information, and maintaining confidentiality is essential.

Schedule

This is a part-time position of approximately 30 hours per week, generally:

Monday through Friday
9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
30-minute unpaid lunch

Regular, punctual attendance during scheduled hours is an essential part of the position.

Ideal Candidate

This position would be a particularly good fit for someone who enjoys being the person who keeps an office running smoothly. We are looking for someone who can answer the phone professionally, welcome clients, keep calendars and administrative matters organized, learn the basic functions of MyCase, maintain a presentable office, and provide dependable support to the rest of the team.

We value reliability, professionalism, attention to detail, good communication, and a willingness to learn more than an extensive legal résumé.

• High school diploma or equivalent required;

• Prior experience in an office, receptionist, secretary, customer-service, or administrative position preferred;
• Strong telephone and interpersonal skills;
• Good written communication, spelling, and grammar;
• Basic computer proficiency and comfort learning office software;
• Ability to scan, upload, organize, and retrieve electronic documents;
• Ability to manage calendars and scheduling accurately;
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and exercise appropriate discretion; and
• Experience with MyCase or other legal practice-management software is helpful but not required. Training can be provided.

Prior law-office or paralegal experience is not required. We are more interested in finding a dependable, organized, professional person who communicates well, learns quickly, and works effectively as part of a small team.