Docket Specialist

O’Hagan Meyer, a national insurance defense litigation firm with more than 400 attorneys across 26 offices, is seeking a full-time Docketing Specialist to join its Chicago, IL office. We’re looking for resourceful, detail-oriented candidates who care about the little things, communicate clearly, follow established procedures, and ask questions when unsure.

The Docketing Specialist is responsible for calendaring court dates, tracking deadlines, and maintaining dockets across multiple jurisdictions, as well as providing regular reports of response dates and supporting special projects and research assignments in collaboration with legal support staff and other firm docket specialists.

Responsibilities

Primary duties include, but are not limited to:

• Perform litigation docketing for state, federal, appellate, bankruptcy, and administrative matters.
• Docket matters in the Circuit Court of Cook County and collar county courts (DuPage, Lake, Will, Kane, and McHenry), the U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Central, and Southern Districts of Illinois, the Illinois Appellate and Supreme Courts, and the Seventh Circuit.
• Apply the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure, Illinois Supreme Court Rules, Cook County Circuit Court rules and General Orders, and N.D. Ill. Local Rules when calculating deadlines.
• Support docketing for other offices, states, and practice areas (e.g., trademark, IP, federal court nationwide), applying each jurisdiction’s rules for service, response periods, and court holidays.
• Independently analyze pleadings and court orders to determine all applicable deadlines.
• Calculate deadlines involving multiple service methods, continuances, and stipulations, and research procedural rules, statutes, and local rules when deadlines are unclear.
• Monitor court queues for updates requiring immediate action.
• Manage high-volume docket requests, including expedited and high-priority ("RUSH") requests, with exceptional accuracy.
• Perform quality control review of docket entries in collaboration with legal support staff
• Process complex case transfers, consolidations, removals, remands, appeals, and related proceedings.
• Maintain accurate case records and docket history, and prepare reports and deadline summaries.
• Serve as a subject matter expert on court rules and procedural deadlines for attorneys and legal staff.
• Coordinate with attorneys, paralegals, legal assistants, and litigation teams on procedural issues.
• Participate in testing and implementing docketing software, system enhancements, SOPs and workflow improvements.
• Stay current on rule changes affecting litigation deadlines.

Qualifications

Required:

• 4–6 years of progressive docketing experience, with a background in docketing or litigation support and administration in a high-volume setting.
• Strong understanding of the litigation process and federal, state, and local court rules and procedures.
• Strong understanding of docketing software
• Proficiency in Adobe Acrobat and Microsoft Office, including Outlook and Excel.
• Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Exceptional attention to detail, organization, and time management.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a collaborative team.

Preferred:

• Knowledge of Illinois state and federal court rules and procedures (strongly preferred).
• Multi-state docketing experience.
• Experience with CourtAlert
• Familiarity with eFile IL and the Cook County Clerk’s online case search.
• Paralegal certificate or other legal education.

Schedule, Salary & Benefits

Schedule: In office for the first 90 days, then eligible for a hybrid schedule (3 days per week in office) based on performance. Occasional overtime may be required.

Salary: $60,000 – $80,000