ELLEN A. BENESCH
Washington,UT
Summary
Administrative support experience in fast paced legal environments demanding strong organizational, technical and interpersonal skills. Excellent time management skills with demonstrative ability to prioritize and handle multiple projects and deadlines. Confident and poised in interactions with individuals at all levels in writing, telecommunications and interpersonal communications. Skilled in assisting attorneys with preparing and managing legal documents. Hands on experience in drafting, formatting, editing and filing various legal documents. Over seven years of successful law firm experience.
Overview
11
11
years of professional experience
Work History
Paralegal
City of St. George
08.2018 - 04.2021
- Provide daily administrative assistance primarily to four City civil attorneys (including the head City Attorney) which entailed: answering, screening and directing phone calls, coordinating and scheduling meetings for attorneys while also maintaining attorney and conference room calendars for fluency; draft and prepare correspondence for attorney signatures
- Assist in preparation of a broad range of legal documents by transcribing/drafting, and making attorney revisions to petitions, motions and supporting memoranda, orders, stipulations, subpoenas, pre and post-trial statements, discovery documents, leases, contracts, declarations, city ordinances/resolutions and legal opinions and filing appropriate documents with the court
- Assisted the head City Attorney with his work making revisions to Utah land use statutes, and assisted with duties associated with his role on multiple legal boards and organizations
- Handle all travel arrangements for legal department staff and completed follow up expense reports and reimbursement requests in coordination with the City's finance department
- Manage general upkeep of the legal department by maintaining office supplies inventory, ensuring proper function of all office equipment and computers and scheduling maintenance or repairs as needed
- Process department's monthly accounts payable reports and reconciled each department staff's monthly credit card statement in coordination with the finance department
- Fulfilled role of the City's Hearing Examiner receiving administrative review requests from citizens regarding contested parking tickets and determined outcome of each request
- Assist the City prosecutors by reviewing complaints, citations, booking sheets, and police reports, pulling criminal history reports, and preparing legal documents for prosecutors' signatures and filing documents with the proper courts
- Assist Risk Management Specialist in arranging for accident and claims reporting, and arranging for drug-testing for employees which including being on-call outside normal working hours
- Maintain calendar of department activities, meetings, and various events coordinating activities and meetings with other City departments, the public and outside agencies
- Managed scheduling of court calendars and deadlines to maintain smooth flow of firm operations
Legal Assistant
Durham Jones & Pinegar
03.2016 - 08.2018
- Collect data from clients and research additional information necessary to draft complete kit of estate planning documents and/or business entity governing documents
- Conduct client interviews, intake, and client document signings for estate planning matters
- Interpret and relay and/or present legal information in clear format for clients
- Draft, create and implement governing documents for entities and complete necessary filings to bring entities into existence and secure an entity EIN number
- Assist clients with annual renewal and compliance with the Utah Division of Corporations
- Complete Utah Statute (and other states) research to ensure drafted documents were compliant with clients’ state laws
- Assist with drafting, editing, and filing with the Court Probate, Guardianship and Conservatorship cases; calendar deadlines and follow through Court and keep clients up to date to the closing of each case
- Manage correspondence, schedule meetings and conferences, answer phones, keep records of CLE credits and attorney licensing and other general office tasks
New Client Manager/Front Office Manager
Long Okura, P.C
10.2014 - 12.2015
- Acted as first tier of contact for all clients and potential clients
- Responsible for new client intake: ensuring necessary intake forms are completed, contract and policy forms executed and properly uploaded to company database, creation and maintenance of client files and process initial payment for services
- Follow up and solicit potential clients through a variety of mediums by informing, educating and selling potential clients on different types of services offered by the firm
- Identified needs of clients and resolved issues in timely manner or escalated to proper personnel with follow-up to ensure client’s needs were properly addressed
- Scheduled and completed individual weekly meetings with firm’s attorneys to review current leads, update and set proper tasks and ensure solicited follow-up was completed by attorneys
- Oversaw all administrative and clerical functions within office
- Purchase office supplies and maintain all office equipment, serving as primary contact with vendors
- Maintained vendor files issuing timely monthly payments
- Prepared conference rooms for initial consultations, client meetings, mediations and depositions
- Responsible for cleanup and daily maintenance of all conference rooms
- Trained new personnel on all company software applications, general office procedures and policies
- Created and maintained personnel files, track and update benefits and schedule annual reviews
- Acted as personal assistant to firm’s owner/managing attorney: maintained and monitored calendar, scheduled both business/personal appointments and meetings, completed errands and catered to daily needs.
Legal Assistant
Wilson Barrows Salyer Jones
05.2013 - 10.2014
- Drafting and formatting various legal documents such as contracts, affidavits, deeds, wills, notes, petitions, subpoenas, complaints, contracts, leases etc
- Maintain attorney calendars, schedule client meetings, court dates, deadlines and other appointments
- Attend legal meetings such as client interviews and document signings
- Superb client interaction, greeting clients, visitors and potential clients
- Responsible for the creation and organization of client files, filing, and maintaining index of client records and files
- Perform daily authorization duties (certify documents and administer oaths and affirmations) as a certified Notary Public of Nevada.
Intern
Technology Aid
Department of Workforce Service
06.2010 - 09.2010
- Responsible for greeting patrons entering the facility, analyzing individual needs and directing them to the correct personnel
- Provided assistance with the use of computer application software, creating electronic Utah ID and email accounts, completion of online public assistance and unemployment applications and the process of job searching
- Created and maintained records of the facility counselor
- Daily proficient use of office equipment (facsimile, copier, scanner, printer etc.)
Education
AAS - Legal Administrative Support
Snow College
Richfield, Utah05.2008
One-Year Computer Application Specialist Certificate -
Snow College
Richfield, Utah05.2007
Skills
- Certified proficiency in Microsoft Software Applications
- Green Filing
- Simplifile E-recordings
- Exchange
- Utah Notary Public
- Office Administration
- File and Records Management
- Financial and Estate Planning
- Legal drafting and drafting
- 75 wpm typing speed
- Utah, Nevada, Alaska and Delaware entity formation
- Document Control Support
- Excellent verbal communication skills and written correspondence skills
Timeline
Paralegal
City of St. George
08.2018 - 04.2021
Legal Assistant
Durham Jones & Pinegar
03.2016 - 08.2018
New Client Manager/Front Office Manager
Long Okura, P.C
10.2014 - 12.2015
Legal Assistant
Wilson Barrows Salyer Jones
05.2013 - 10.2014
Intern
Technology Aid
Department of Workforce Service
06.2010 - 09.2010
AAS - Legal Administrative Support
Snow College
One-Year Computer Application Specialist Certificate -
Snow College
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