Experienced Litigation Paralegal

Position Overview

A well-established Houston law firm is seeking an experienced Litigation Paralegal to assist attorneys throughout all phases of sophisticated civil litigation. Responsibilities include case organization, factual investigation, discovery, eDiscovery, document production, depositions, hearings, trial preparation, trial support, appeals, and post-judgment proceedings.

Hands-on experience using eDiscovery platforms is required. Candidates must be comfortable managing electronically stored information, document review, productions, privilege analysis, and related discovery workflows using Relativity or a comparable platform.

Experience in fiduciary, probate, trust and estate, or guardianship litigation is preferred but not required. Qualified paralegals with strong commercial, business, financial, or other complex civil litigation experience are encouraged to apply.

Non-Negotiable Qualifications

Applicants must meet all of the following requirements:

• At least five years of paralegal experience in a law firm environment
• Demonstrated experience supporting complex civil litigation
• Hands-on experience using Relativity or another eDiscovery platform
• Experience managing discovery, document review, and document productions
• Working knowledge of Texas state and federal court procedures and electronic filing systems
• Stable employment history, with no more than two jobs during the past five years

Candidates who have worked more than two jobs during the past five years will not be considered.

Key Responsibilities

Case Management

• Assist attorneys with matters from initial case evaluation through final resolution
• Attend client and witness interviews and help gather relevant information
• Organize and maintain electronic and physical case files
• Investigate and analyze factual issues
• Maintain litigation calendars and monitor court, discovery, deposition, trial, and appellate deadlines
• Coordinate service of process and communicate with courts, clients, witnesses, experts, and vendors

Discovery and eDiscovery

• Draft interrogatories, requests for production, requests for admission, disclosures, and related discovery documents
• Assist attorneys and clients with preparing discovery responses
• Coordinate the collection, review, organization, and production of electronically stored information and other documents
• Use Relativity or a comparable eDiscovery platform to manage document review and production workflows
• Review documents for relevance, responsiveness, confidentiality, and privilege
• Prepare production sets and privilege logs
• Track document collections, review progress, productions, and related discovery deadlines
• Coordinate with attorneys, clients, litigation-support personnel, and outside vendors on eDiscovery matters

Depositions and Pretrial Preparation

• Schedule depositions and coordinate witnesses, court reporters, videographers, and other vendors
• Prepare deposition notices, subpoenas, exhibits, and witness materials
• Summarize and index deposition transcripts
• Work with attorneys, experts, and witnesses to organize supporting documents and exhibits
• Prepare trial notebooks, exhibit lists, witness lists, chronologies, and other case materials
• Assist with drafting pretrial motions, pleadings, and trial-related filings

Trial, Appeal, and Post-Judgment Support

• Coordinate witness subpoenas and appearance schedules
• Manage exhibits and provide in-court support during hearings and trials
• Track testimony and maintain updated exhibit records
• Maintain appellate deadlines and assist with notices of appeal, record review, appendices, and briefs
• Perform cite-checking and validate legal authorities
• Assist with judgment-enforcement matters, including garnishments, levies, writs of execution, and abstracts of judgment

General Litigation Support

• E-file documents in Texas state and federal courts
• Draft routine motions, stipulations, notices, correspondence, and memoranda
• Conduct preliminary legal research using Westlaw, Lexis, or comparable resources
• Prepare and format tables of contents and tables of authorities
• Convert, combine, label, organize, and edit PDF documents
• Maintain case calendars, records, and filing systems
• Perform additional litigation-support responsibilities as assigned

Additional Qualifications

• Fiduciary, probate, trust and estate, or guardianship litigation experience preferred
• Commercial, business, financial, or other sophisticated civil litigation experience may satisfy the practice-area requirement
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Word, Outlook, Excel, and PowerPoint
• Strong PDF editing and legal-document formatting skills
• Experience with styles, track changes, tables of contents, and tables of authorities
• Excellent proofreading, grammar, spelling, and editing abilities
• Strong organizational, analytical, and time-management skills
• Ability to prioritize multiple assignments and meet competing deadlines
• Professional communication skills and ability to work effectively with attorneys, clients, staff, witnesses, experts, and outside parties
• Ability to work additional or irregular hours when required by case activity or trial schedules
• Ability to travel occasionally for case-related needs

Education

• High school diploma or equivalent required
• Paralegal certificate required; substantial directly related experience may be considered in place of certification
• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university preferred

Confidential Application Process

This confidential search is being managed by Trend Personnel Services. The law firm’s identity will be shared with qualified candidates at the appropriate stage of the recruiting process.

Candidates should apply directly through Trend Personnel Services and refrain from contacting potential client firms regarding this opportunity. A candidate’s résumé will not be presented to the client without first discussing the position and obtaining the candidate’s consent.

Trend Personnel Services considers qualified applicants without regard to any characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. Reasonable accommodations are available during the application and interview process upon request.