Barbara Pease
Ponte Vedra Beach
Summary
Experienced with managing complex litigation cases and coordinating legal support activities. Utilizes strong organizational skills to maintain thorough case documentation and support attorneys in trial preparation. Knowledge of legal research techniques and excellent communication abilities, contributing to successful legal outcomes.
Overview
35
35
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Litigation Paralegal, Office Manager, Bookkeeping, Helpdesk
Ford & Miller, P.A.
FL
07.2011 - Current
- Civil Litigation, Personal Injury
- State Courts: FL
- U.S. District Court: Middle District of FL
- U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Middle District of FL
- Drafted legal documents, including pleadings and discovery requests, ensuring compliance with court rules.
- Organized case files and maintained electronic filing systems for efficient retrieval.
- Developed streamlined processes for document management, enhancing overall workflow efficiency.
- Ensured accurate record-keeping by maintaining up-to-date case files, both physical and electronic formats.
- Assisted in obtaining key evidence through subpoenaing records from various sources such as financial institutions or medical providers.
- Supported attorneys during trial proceedings, ensuring the availability of key exhibits and witnesses when needed.
- Drafted clear and concise correspondence on behalf of attorneys to clients, opposing counsel, and court personnel.
- Organized evidence, exhibits, motions, and subpoenas to support cases and prepare for trial.
- Reduced discovery costs by implementing efficient e-discovery strategies and utilizing technology to review documents.
- Optimized billing process, ensuring accurate and timely invoicing for legal services rendered.
- Supported attorneys during trials by managing exhibits and ensuring necessary documents were at hand, contributing to seamless courtroom operations.
Litigation Paralegal
Gunster Yoakley & Stewart
FL
01.2009 - 01.2011
- Business Litigation, Construction Defect Litigation
- State Courts: FL
- U.S. District Court: Middle District of FL
- Reviewed evidence and exhibits, summarizing findings to inform legal strategies and arguments.
- Managed high-volume caseloads effectively by creating organized systems for tracking deadlines and prioritizing tasks.
- Maintained litigation database and document organization for construction defect cases.
Project Manager/Paralegal
Friedman Gaythwaite Wolf & Leavitt, Portland, Maine
Portland, ME
01.2005 - 01.2008
- Insurance Defense, Product Liability, Environmental & Complex Litigation
- State Courts: ME, MA, NH, NY, CT, PA
- U.S. District Court: ME, MA
- 1st Circuit Court of Appeals
- Planned, designed, and scheduled phases for large projects.
- Established effective communication among team members for enhanced collaboration and successful project completion.
- Managed case files, maintaining organization and accuracy for efficient retrieval and review.
- Oversaw complex case management systems to streamline documentation and reporting processes.
- Enhanced case efficiency by organizing and maintaining legal documents, files, and correspondence.
- Liaised with other paralegals and legal staff to complete common tasks on schedule.
- Revised and finalized letters, briefs, and memos.
- Reviewed, edited and proofread litigation for proper grammar, spelling and punctuation.
Legal Secretary/Paralegal and Temporary Bookkeeper
Daniel G. Lilley Law Offices PA, Portland, Maine
Portland, ME
01.2003 - 01.2005
- Medical Malpractice Claims, Criminal Defense
- State Courts: ME, MA
- U.S. District Courts: ME
- Managed case files and maintained organized document systems for efficient retrieval and processing.
- Coordinated schedules for attorneys, managing appointments and deadlines to optimize workflow.
- Implemented new filing systems that improved document management efficiency by streamlining access to records.
- Liaised with clients to gather necessary information and provide updates on case progress, enhancing communication effectiveness.
- Maintained strict confidentiality of sensitive information to protect client privacy and uphold professional ethics.
- Facilitated communication between clients and attorneys, ensuring prompt responses to inquiries.
- Arranged for delivery of legal correspondence to clients, witnesses, and court officials.
- Filed documents with courts on behalf of attorney.
- Transcribed legal documents and phone conversations.
- Created, indexed, and maintained client binders.
- Supported attorneys during trials by efficiently coordinating exhibits, witness interviews, and other essential tasks.
Legal Assistant/Paralegal/Office Manager/Bookkeeper
Law Offices of Ralph A. Dyer PA, Portland, Maine
Portland, ME
01.1991 - 01.2003
- Complex Business Litigation
- State Courts: ME, MA
- U.S. District Court: ME, NH, MA
- U.S. Bankruptcy Court: ME
- Courts of Appeals: 1st & 9th Circuit
- U.S. Supreme Court
- Managed case files, maintaining organization and accuracy throughout litigation process.
- Assisted attorneys in trial preparation, gathering evidence and preparing exhibits.
- Communicated with clients to schedule appointments and provide case updates.
- Conducted legal research, compiling relevant statutes, regulations, and case law.
- Streamlined office operations by implementing efficient filing systems and document management protocols.
- Led initiatives to enhance workflow efficiency within the office, resulting in improved turnaround times for case processing.
- Maintained strict confidentiality, protecting sensitive client information as required by legal ethics and regulations.
- Managed high-volume workload while maintaining strict attention to detail on every task such as drafting pleadings or summarizing depositions accurately.
- Reduced errors in court filings by meticulously proofreading documents for accuracy before submission.
- Handled billing tasks efficiently and accurately, ensuring smooth financial operations for the legal team.
- Gathered key information during initial client intake interviews that contributed significantly to the formulation of effective legal arguments.
- Assisted with trial preparation, including creation of exhibits, compilation of witness lists, and organization of evidence materials.
- Conducted comprehensive legal research using various resources such as online databases, law libraries, or government agencies to support case strategies effectively.
- Managed correspondence with clients, courts, and opposing counsel, maintaining professionalism and confidentiality.
- Ensured compliance with legal procedures and court requirements through diligent monitoring and application of rules.
Education
No Degree -
University of North Florida
Jacksonville, FL01-2010
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LitWorks, a DTI Company
Atlanta, Georgia01-2009
Certificate - Paralegal
Casco Bay College
Portland, Maine05-1999
Associate’s Degree in Legal Secretarial Studies - Secretarial Science
Casco Bay College
Portland, Maine01-1991
Skills
- Key member of team in development of Intranet, Case and Document Management systems
- Authored training materials for end-users
- Drafting pleadings
- Court filings
- Document preparation
- Legal research
Affiliations
- Notary Public, State of Florida
- Member of the Paralegal Advisory Council - St. Johns River State College
- Member of the Paralegal Association of Florida, First Coast Chapter
- Positions Held:
- 2023–Present Past President
- 2021–2023 President
- 2015-2021 Director-At-Large – Community Involvement/Charity Liaison & Director-At-Large – Public Relations/Marketing Liaison
- 2013-2015 Secretary
Certification
NALA Certified Paralegal
Timeline
Litigation Paralegal, Office Manager, Bookkeeping, Helpdesk
Ford & Miller, P.A.
07.2011 - Current
Litigation Paralegal
Gunster Yoakley & Stewart
01.2009 - 01.2011
Project Manager/Paralegal
Friedman Gaythwaite Wolf & Leavitt, Portland, Maine
01.2005 - 01.2008
Legal Secretary/Paralegal and Temporary Bookkeeper
Daniel G. Lilley Law Offices PA, Portland, Maine
01.2003 - 01.2005
Legal Assistant/Paralegal/Office Manager/Bookkeeper
Law Offices of Ralph A. Dyer PA, Portland, Maine
01.1991 - 01.2003
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LitWorks, a DTI Company
No Degree -
University of North Florida
Certificate - Paralegal
Casco Bay College
Associate’s Degree in Legal Secretarial Studies - Secretarial Science
Casco Bay College
Law Firm Administration Skills
- Vendor Relations
- Administration of corporate accounts with Westlaw and Lexis (for both online and print materials)
- Negotiate contracts and Audit plan agreements
- Maintain user accounts
- 28+ years’ experience preparing legal professional liability insurance applications and renewals
- 15 + years’ experience working with Martindale Hubbell
- Draft listing proofs
- Manage listing contracts
- Design and maintain law firm website
- Maintain library
- Subscription management
- Update supplements
- Research and review new publications
- Inventory Control for firm owned and leased equipment
- Supply ordering for firm
- Bookkeeping
- QuickBooks Accounting Edition/QuickBooks Pro
- Assisted part-time bookkeeper, handled day-to-day accounts payables & receivables
- Maintained books for 2 law firms as well as personal and non-legal business accounts for lawyers and their families
- Clio Manage/Timeslips
- Prepared monthly statements for billing clients
- PCLaw
- Maintained client trust accounts as well as firm books
- General Help Desk – staplers to computers and beyond
Program Installations, Administration and/or Provision of User Training
- Clio Manage
- Oversaw the migration of firm data into the Clio cloud
- Set up firm settings and customizations
- In-house training and support
- Microsoft Office Products
- Transitions firm to Office 365
- Created templates and macros in multiple versions of programs
- Customization of 2007 Office Ribbon using VBA /HTML programming
- Authored training materials and presented seminars for firm upgrade of Office 2003 to Office 2007
- Lexis-Nexis CaseSoft Products
- CaseMap, TimeMap, NoteMap
- Lexis-Nexis & Westlaw
- Amicus Attorney (Gavel & Gown)
- Migration of existing databases into new Amicus database
- CT Summation
- Attended software training seminar in Boston
- QuickBooks (Intuit)
- Moved existing paper accounting methods to QuickBooks
- PC Law
- Created initial set of accounts and migrated existing information into new database
- Trained user to take over position
- TimeSlips
- Set up and administrated program
- Migrated database to PCLaw
- Adobe Acrobat Legal & Professional Editions/Foxit PDF Editor
Professional Profile
- Litigation Support/Paralegal Skills
- Legal Writing using Word
- Over thirty years’ experience drafting legal documents including
- Discovery requests and responses, tracking logs
- Motions, memoranda and proposed orders
- Exhibit lists, witness lists and other trial documents
- Personal Injury demand letters and medical summaries
- Case Management
- Clio Manage
- Worked with Clio to implement Clio software and migrate files in 2024
- Clio Administrator for firm
- CaseMap, TimeMap, TextMap, NoteMap
- Over 15 years experience using these tools for case organization, deposition transcript summarizing, and creating timelines to be used at demonstrative exhibits at trial
- E-Discovery Tools: Eclipse SE/CT Summation/Concordance/E-scan It
- Uploaded production sets in excess of 50,000 document images to databases
- Working with database in excess of 150,000 documents
- Coding and redacting of documents in database
- Creating production sets
- Importing deposition and trial transcripts
- Creation of
- .dii load files for uploading documents to Summation
- Research: Westlaw, Lexis-Nexis, Defense Research Institute, etc.
- PowerPoint: Prepare presentations including incorporation of spreadsheets, graphics and video transcripts in presentations for use at trial, mediation and seminars
- Proficient in Excel for creating spreadsheets to organize data
- Docket Control
- Office 365
- Outlook 2003-2010
- Amicus Attorney (Gavel & Gown)