Family Law Paralegal

Position: Family Law Paralegal Location: Arlington Heights, IL Job Id: 1539 # of Openings: 1 Job Title: Paralegal “It was like stepping out of the Stone Age and into Star Wars.” – Kim Rose, recalling her first day at Sterling Lawyers Sterling Lawyers, LLC is focused on family law and we obsess to achieve the goal of empowering family law clients. We need smart teammates who fit our culture and are passionate about helping families in a legal context. Our team is approaching the practice much differently than how law firms have been built over the past 150 years. We are highly innovative in how we serve our clients and add value to them. Sterling Hughes, LLC (sterlinglawyers.com) is a rapidly growing law firm that exclusively practices family law with a fixed fee model. Leave behind the stress of tracking billable hours and toxic micromanagement to join a supportive, successful and very collaborative legal team. At Sterling Hughes, LLC we commit to making a positive impact at every touch point with clients, the community, and our team. We reduce stress and increase flexibility in your role by using modern, efficient technology and business practices. Are you ready to join our top-performing team and make a difference in people's lives? We’re looking for the right people to further expand our Paralegal team based in Illinois. Base salary range starting at $50,000 to $61,900 commensurate with experience Incentive based bonus Health, Dental, Vision, and Life Insurance Insurance starts on the first of the month following your hire date Paid vacation and holidays 401K with Matching Short & Long-Term Disability Experience: 2-3 years of family law experience but will consider motivated candidates with relevant skills and no family law experience. Work Schedule & Location: Monday - Friday from 8:30am-5pm Duties and Responsibilities: Ability to support two Attorneys in a fast‑paced environment. File documents initially and in existing e‑filed cases, and process payments related to the same. E‑file any/all documents for your attorneys, and update attorneys with any/all changes in e‑filing requirements. Draft and e‑file pleadings including Summons and Petition for Dissolution of Marriage, Petition to Establish Parentage, and any other required pleadings in a divorce or parentage proceeding. Prepare and submit prove‑up documents in each county. Draft and e‑file other documents as requested by attorneys, including but not limited to Appearance forms, Temporary Support Pleadings, Requests for Mediation/Guardian ad Litem, Motions, Rule to Show Cause and Financial Affidavits, etc. Prepare Interrogatories & Requests for Production of Documents. Prepare Answers to Interrogatories & Requests (compile all documentation; scan, categorize, tag, and draft the written responses; prepare copies per attorney instructions). Prepare Request for Pretrial: draft Pre‑Trial Memos for attorney review; forward Pre‑Trial Memos with all exhibits to judge and opposing counsel. Manage attorney calendars including scheduling all hearings, prove ups and continuously reviewing/reconciling electronic dockets in counties. Scheduling Client, opposing party and opposing counsel calls. Process incoming mail: scanning documents into the client file, forwarding mail to client and attorney, and determining/coordinating next steps. Organize and update electronic and/or physical file: Court case, participants, folders, county, judge, opposing counsel, GAL, etc. Filing of the attorney's in/outbox into physical files. Coordinate and facilitate the completion and execution of Qualified Domestic Relations Orders. Closeout files: confirm that the attorney sent a closing email and that our billing department has any financial information needed to complete the closing process. Enter and submit for reimbursement any case expenses. Ordering office supplies, filling paper in printers, changing printer cartridges when needed, adding funds to the postage meter, and fulfilling other office duties as necessary. Carry out follow‑up communication with clients for case updates, incoming/outgoing mail, new hearing dates, scheduling meetings with the attorneys, etc. Prepare documents for Service, coordinating with the Process Server, and providing all documents; follow‑up to confirm service, file Affidavit of Service, and inform the attorney/client of the same. About Us: Sterling Lawyers, LLC exclusively practices family law with offices throughout Wisconsin and Illinois. Our strategy starts with a clear focus on clients and their needs. In addition to this, we’re building new technologies to help better serve clients. Our team pursues new ways to offer clients more information in easy to consume formats. Job Type: Full-time We want people who possess and model the following: Authentic integrity Warrior spirit Servant’s heart Constructive spirit of discontent Excellent oral and written communication skills Three plus years of practical, in-the‑trenches family legal work - OR - five plus years of life experience developing strong empathy skills Open to embracing the power of technology We strive to reject candidates with outsized egos and who don’t enjoy working with others in a team environment. If you are enamored with titles and seeing your name on a door, expect your own parking space, lack mental toughness, can’t take constructive feedback from a younger person or a non‑lawyer, then we are definitely not the place for you. Furthermore, we are pushing technology limits in a law firm and experimenting with innovative legal services that clients are clamoring for. If you are comfortable with technology and willing to open your mind to new things, you will feel comfortable at Sterling. Conversely, if you are too set in your habits to learn new ways to serve clients using technology or if you love “pocket parts” in law books more than digital updates, let’s just be friends, not co‑workers. Perhaps most importantly, every lawyer on our team must be an over‑communicator with clients. This cannot be overstressed. Nothing tells a client that you don’t care more than failure to communicate, return calls, return emails, etc. If you have a history of clients complaining about inadequate communication from you, please, please, please do not apply. Failure to communicate copiously is the fastest way to be fired from Sterling Lawyers, LLC. Understanding our focus and mission may make more sense if you know how Sterling Lawyers, LLC started. My name is Jeff Hughes. I started practicing at a small, community law firm in 1997 (McLario, Helm & Bertling, S.C. in Menomonee Falls, WI). I mainly practiced family law and with a little criminal/traffic. By the age of 30, I enjoyed a high level of success in the courtroom and with my practice. My compensation was excellent, and I very much enjoyed my work and my clients. Despite my flourishing legal career, I always had a drive for entrepreneurship. The idea of building an enduring company/team captured my imagination much more than just building my own individual law practice. I almost always had on‑the‑side business interests. When I was 25‑26 and three years out of law school, I worked a good part of the year at night and weekends starting a dating website that focused on a large niche. That was the right idea and right time, but, in retrospect, I didn't have the ability or maturity to get it done. That business never got going. (Later eHarmony.com did what I envisioned. They executed. I did not.) I started another business with a partner when I was 28. That business reported on rapidly rising gas prices at individual stations. It failed. On the day after my 30th birthday, I started another business. That one failed too. At the age of 31 I had three failed business experiences. Ugh! (Oh yeah—that house painting business I had for three years in college and law school where I worked with my brother . . that doesn’t count.) So, at the age of 32, I did the natural thing for me . . I started another business. This business was selling satellite TV service for Dish Network over the internet. It worked well—really well. Over the next eight years we grew that business to $23 million in revenue and over 200 employees. Along the way we also started an online ad agency, RocketClicks.com. Today, that business helps Sterling Lawyers, LLC and another 50 clients or so. It is thriving and growing. Meanwhile . . back at the bat cave . . , my little brain was churning and scheming. I always thought law firms were mostly poorly managed and generally do a crappy job serving clients. I felt I had better ideas for how a law firm should be built around clients’ wants and needs. In late 2013, I had a gut check. It was a moment where I finally told myself to "shut up and quit whining about how things should be and do something." So, along with my long‑time colleague, Anthony Karls , we decided to start Sterling Lawyers, LLC. We officially opened Sterling Lawyers, LLC for new clients on June 22, 2014. Where are we going? So . . "where is Sterling going?" you say. What is your vision? Answer: We are building the most impactful family law firm on the planet. We strive to be “country mile” better than every other family firm that exists. Yes. I am putting our goal on the "world wide web" for everyone to see. If we fail in our quest, all our detractors could justifiably laugh and sneer. We are obsessed with providing an amazing experience to clients and being far better than every family law firm. (That is a huge goal because there are some extraordinary family lawyers at other firms.) We believe every family in America facing a legal crisis should have the opportunity to work with our firm. I don’t mean to come across as arrogant. It’s just that it’s true. We are better than the other family law firms. The seed has been planted. We are watching the tree to grow. Our strategy starts with an obsessive focus on clients. Here are some examples of what I mean. Clients who know the difference HATE hourly fees. Hourly fees totally suck because they put the lawyer and the client on opposite sides. So, we killed the hourly rate. If we can’t serve a client with cost certainty, we don’t do it. The percentage of pro se family law litigants seems to increase each year. Therefore, we are pioneering concepts in mediation, limited scope coaching, and other virtual services. Most law firms have one or two old‑school options for prospective clients. We have many with new ones on the drawing board. In essence, we are creating new services that most clients did not even know they wanted. We constantly ask and survey our clients to see how we can do better. Almost no firms in family do this. It is time consuming to do, and most lawyers don’t want to know when they stink. Conversely, when you are consumed with serving clients and getting better, we want to know every little way we can improve. There are a dozen other examples that happen every day internally because every system, every new hire, every new technology, every strategic decision is undertaken with the family law client in mind. We are not distracted with any other type of law. In addition to our client focus, we are building new technologies that will serve clients in bigger and better ways. Our team is pushing into new media to offer clients more information in easier to consume formats. We are questioning every “that’s how family law is done” statement that we can find. What will be expected of me if I join the team? We have five major expectations to be on our team: First... ...you must be an excellent communicator, both oral and written. Along with this, you must return phone calls and emails within a very fast reasonable amount of time. Second... ...you must be a relentless advocate for our clients. This does not mean you do everything they insist. Rather, it means bringing wise judgment to every interaction so that you tirelessly advocate for our clients within our team’s values. Third... ...you must embrace and live out our values. This is something you can’t fake. You either share these values or you don’t. Core Values Finish with Integrity We strive to finish every matter, interaction, engagement, deal, etc. to conclusion with integrity. This means that we should always be able to tell the whole story and not leave out a detail because we are ashamed. Compete with a Warrior Spirit We are competitive, and we want to win in everything we do. We can’t always control the outcomes, but we can control our preparation and the intensity of how we compete. We do our best and take pride in the effort. Embrace and Drive Change We accept that one of the certainties in life is change. We anticipate change and enact it before we are forced to accept it. Lead by Serving The most effective leaders are servants first. We expect everyone on our team to model a spirit of humility and gratitude toward others. It’s only after we serve that we can expect to lead. Fourth... ...you must attend our quarterly meetings. They are announced weeks in advance. These are after business hours during the week. We cater in a nice dinner, eat together, recognize special effort, celebrate our accomplishments, review our failures, and describe our plan for the next quarter. These typically go from 5:00 to 8:30ish. They are a fun part of our culture. Fifth... ...you must adapt to our training and technology. If you are not coachable (meaning if you already know it all), you would not enjoy working on our team. If you are not emotionally flexible enough to learn new technology, you would not enjoy working on our team. Conclusion Sterling Lawyers, LLC is focused on serving family law clients. We target clients with a household income of between $60,000 and $250,000. We are experts at growing consumer‑centered businesses, and we apply our expertise to family law. That is one of our competitive advantages. We have already built one sister company to $20+ million. Another sister company is an internet marketing ad agency with approximately 25 people on staff. Our team is approaching the practice much differently than how law firms have been managed over the past 150 years. The time is right for a sea‑change of disruption in the family legal practice. If you feel that you are capable of these challenges and also have the mental toughness to handle the rewards that come when we conquer them, then we would love to meet you. #J-18808-Ljbffr