Legal Administrative Assistant

Overview

DLA Piper is bold, exceptional, collaborative and supportive. Our people are the backbone, heart and soul of our firm. The Legal Administrative Assistant (LAA) works in collaboration with and in support of the firm’s strategic initiatives, providing a wide range of administrative and clerical support to attorneys and legal teams. The role requires strong organization, attention to detail, and the ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously.

The LAA collaborates regularly with Legal Support Assistants (LSAs), Legal Executive Assistants (LEAs), and attorneys to ensure work is allocated and completed on time. The position requires flexibility to operate in a fast-paced environment with multiple projects and high-level technical skills in Microsoft Office and legal software used in law firms.

Location

This position is located in our Short Hills office and offers a hybrid work schedule.

• Provides practice-specific support to multiple associates, partners, and other attorneys, prioritizing work based on knowledge of practice tasks, requirements, and functions.
• Drafts, edits, and proofs legal documents, communications, files, or presentations for accuracy.
• Oversees the maintenance and organization of electronic and paper filing systems within the firm’s DMS/repositories, ensuring accessibility and up-to-date work products.
• Collaborates with other LAAs or LEAs to complete complex projects; provides mentorship and delegation to LSAs and delivers status updates to assigned attorneys; escalates as needed.
• Organizes and monitors assignments within the firm’s workflow tool, ensuring tasks are allocated and completed on time, including time entry and expense reimbursements.
• Oversees billing matters including approval forms and collaboration correspondence; acts as a proxy to address billing questions; ensures prebills are processed timely and final bills are delivered as requested.
• Acts as a trusted advisor for associates, partners, or other attorneys; handles confidential or sensitive matters with discretion and promotes professionalism and exceptional service.

The following competencies and skills are required to perform the Legal Administrative Assistant role successfully.

The ability to communicate effectively via e-mail or voice in the region is essential. Takes initiative to learn and adapt; experience with Microsoft Office and legal software such as iManage, Aderant, DocXTools, Innova, etc. Ability to adapt to upgrades and AI-powered tools for document production, review, and research. Flexible, able to learn new skills, and able to work in a fast-paced environment while adhering to firm best practices.

Willing to collaborate with LSAs as appropriate and work well under pressure.

General familiarity with legal terminology and best practices for law firms or similar settings; strong attention to detail and problem-solving skills; experience in workflow-management roles; proficiency with virtual collaboration tools such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams.

Minimum Education

• High School or GED.

Preferred Education

• Bachelor's Degree in legal studies, business administration, or a related field.

Minimum Years of Experience

• 2 years’ experience in a legal setting under the supervision of a licensed attorney or office administrator, or in a similar role.

Universal requirements for DLA Piper employees include the following and may vary by scope and specialty:

• Effective verbal and written communication with clients, lawyers, business professionals and third parties.
• Produce deliverables, answer calls, and respond to correspondence efficiently.
• Provide timely, accurate, and high-quality work product.
• Meet deadlines and perform duties as required; foster positive work relationships.
• Comply with all firm policies and practices.
• Engage in both physical and sedentary activities, such as computer work, virtual meetings, and in-person meetings as needed.
• Ability to work under pressure and manage competing demands in a fast-paced environment.
• Perform all other duties, tasks or projects as assigned.

Our employees are expected to embrace and uphold our firm values as part of our DLA…