Legal Assistant

**Job Posting**
- A municipal public servant makes a difference in the lives of over 400,000 people in the Halifax region. The municipality employs between 3,600-5,000 people annually. You could be one of them. Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) is recognized as one of the Top Employers for 2022 in Nova Scotia and Atlantic Canada
- Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) Legal & Legislative Services Business Unit is seeking a
- **Legal Assistant** to become a permanent member of the Legal Services support team. In the Team environment of Legal Services, Legal Assistants may be required to work for several lawyers at the same time & have additional expertise in
- **one or more** of the following areas of law: Litigation, Prosecutions, Solicitor Services (Advisory Services, Corp/Comm and/or Real Property)
- Reporting operationally to their assigned lawyers & administratively to the Business Unit Coordinator, the Legal Assistant is responsible for a wide variety of legal and administrative duties within the Legal Services division, with a high degree of confidentiality.
- Responsibilities include but are not limited to: preparation of legal documents & correspondence, dictation transcription; paper & electronic filing; file management; processing invoices; responding to inquiries and interacting with internal clients, external parties, and the public. Excellent interpersonal and communication skills are essential for this role, as well as broad and thorough knowledge of legal concepts, practices, and principles.**DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES (may specialize in one or both)**:
**Solicitor Services & Real Property**
- Ability to prepare a broad range of legal documents and correspondence for residential and commercial real estate transactions including, but not limited to, deeds, easements, legal descriptions, HST Certificates, Direction, and Statements of Adjustments & Proceeds, Parcel Description Certification Applications (PDCA) and Applications for Registration (AFRs) as well as final reports
- Reviews document packages received from other Business Units for completeness prior to forwarding to solicitor for approval and execution
- Tracks closing dates and other deadlines, following up as necessary with assigned lawyer, client(s) and external solicitors
- Conducts title searches, sub-searches and PPSA (Personal Property Security Act) searches, as required and acts as designated contact for requisition of all HRM title searches required by Legal Services as well as other business units;
- Conducts general and title related property research regarding easements, rights-of-way and property ownership as required
- Ensures documents are vault filed with the Clerk’s office, when required

**Litigation and Labour**
- Maintains knowledge of litigation file timelines regarding statutory limitations and deadlines, providing reminders and updates to solicitor as needed
- Assists solicitor to coordinate witnesses, client contacts, and organization of discovery and/or arbitration meetings
- General understanding of Collective Agreements, Unions and arbitration hearings
- Prepares evidence, arbitration binders, and any reference documents required by solicitor for court or hearings-
**QUALIFICATIONS**

**Education & Experience**:

- Certificate/diploma from a Legal Assistant or Paralegal program with a minimum of one year experience in a legal assistant role with demonstrated performance capabilities. A combination of education and experience will be considered.
- Experience preparing real estate closings and title search review will be considered an asset
- Experience working with file/document management systems will be considered an asset

**Technical /Job Specific Knowledge & Abilities**:

- Proficiency & expertise in the use of Microsoft Office (Outlook/Word/Excel/PowerPoint), Adobe Acrobat (writer)
- Excellent interpersonal & communications skills, both written & verbal
- Excellent organizational & problem solving skills
- Superior time management skills & the ability to prioritize tasks with mínimal supervision
- Strong sense of ethics & the ability to handle sensitive & confidential or private information with tact and discretion; knowledge of privacy laws
- High level of sound & independent judgment, reasoning, & diplomacy
- Ability to work effectively both independently & as part of a team on a multitude of tasks in variable situations
- Strong customer service orientation, ability to deal with lawyers & public under stressful situations
- High level of accuracy & attention to detail is required while working within strict timelines
- Excellent writing skills, including proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation for complex documentation & ability to independently draft correspondence at a professional skill level
- Knowledge of legal terminology & ability to draft legal documentation as required
- Understanding of legal reference materials, procedures, & legal filing systems
- Critical thinking, analysis, & researc