Full Time Litigation Paralegal

Our mission is to ignite fire and joy to care for our team, our guests, and our communities. At Fogo, we’ll provide you with a fulfilling career with professional and personal growth opportunities at every level. Join our esteemed team as a Litigation Paralegal. You'll play a pivotal role in supporting our restaurant's legal framework, particularly litigation portfolio management, service of process, outside counsel coordination, litigation strategy, and exposure management.

This position is ideal for an experienced paralegal with a passion for the food service industry and a keen interest in managing litigation, reducing legal risk, and supporting the company's dispute-resolution strategy.

Litigation Portfolio Management: Own and maintain Fogo's centralized litigation claims and general liability claims portfolios, including all active, threatened, and newly filed matters. Claims Intake and Triage: Serve as the first-line intake and triage point for lawsuits, demand letters, subpoenas, pre-suit claims, guest incidents, and other potential litigation matters. Determine urgency, identify required internal stakeholders, review investigations, preserve evidence, and coordinate immediate next steps.

Service of Process and Legal Notices: Serve as the notice point for service of process and other formal legal notices. Outside Counsel Management: Act as the day-to-day liaison with outside counsel on litigation matters.

Drive litigation strategy discussions in coordination with the Legal Department and outside counsel for litigation and general liability.

Legal Operations and Reporting: Build and maintain litigation trackers, reporting processes, and workflows to support a disciplined litigation management function and provide Legal Department leadership and business stakeholders with clear visibility into active matters, exposure, and overall litigation risk.

Discovery and Document Management: Manage litigation holds, document preservation, discovery coordination, subpoenas, internal fact gathering, and evidence collection for litigation and claim defense.

Collaborate with internal departments prior to insurance coverage renewals for EPLI, D&O, property, auto, cyber, general liability, and Workers’ Compensation coverages to obtain and/or provide information or documentation needed to properly analyze claims for all lines of coverage prior to the stakeholders’ meeting to discuss renewals.

Outside Counsel Billing and Budget Oversight: Review outside counsel invoices and adherence to billing guidelines. Research Monitoring: Monitor litigation trends and regulatory developments affecting the restaurant and hospitality industries.

Qualifications: Bachelor's degree in Legal Studies, Paralegal Studies, Business, or a related field.

Paralegal certificate, Certified Paralegal (CP), Certified Legal Assistant (CLA), or comparable credential preferred.

A minimum of five to seven years of paralegal experience, with substantial litigation experience, is required.

Experience working in-house, in a restaurant/hospitality, retail, multi-unit, franchise, or consumer-facing business environment is strongly preferred.

Demonstrated expertise in labor and employment litigation, civil litigation, claims management, and other disputes commonly affecting restaurant, hospitality, or multi-unit retail businesses.

Proficiency with Microsoft Office, legal billing systems, and legal research tools. Experience with Smartsheet is a plus.

Applies strong litigation, claims management, discovery, subpoena, legal notice, and legal operations knowledge to manage matters accurately, improve workflows, and support timely business and legal decisions.

Builds trust with Legal, HR, Risk, Operations, restaurant teams, outside counsel, and other partners by communicating clearly, following through on commitments, and working across functions to move matters forward.

Decision Making: Uses sound judgment to prioritize sensitive, urgent, or complex legal matters; and recommends practical next steps based on facts, risk, deadlines, and business impact.

Identifies root causes, analyzes matter trends, organizes complex information, and develops process improvements that strengthen litigation management, reduce risk, and support operational excellence.

Role Expectations: The Litigation Paralegal will act as a central control point for claims, lawsuits, subpoenas, service of process, discovery, outside counsel communications, and litigation-related internal coordination across departments and restaurant operations. This person must be able to think independently, identify risk, elevate responsibly, and run the litigation function with urgency, ownership, and judgment.

Ability to work in a professional office environment and use a computer, phone, and standard office equipment for extended periods.

Ability to perform the essential functions of the job, with or without reasonable accommodation, in accordance with applicable laws.

This position is fully on-site at our Addison, TX office.

Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance are available for full-time Team Members on the first of the month following their start date. Additionally, company-paid Life Insurance and Short-Term Disability are provided where allowed.