TONJA ARNOLD BROOKS
BIRMINGHAM,AL
Summary
To obtain a rewarding and a challenging position that will allow me to utilize my years of experience in with workforce and to further develop my potential for continued growth.
Overview
5
5
years of professional experience
Work History
Paralegal
City Of Birmingham
12.2022 - Current
- Municipal Court Division)
- Provide high level secretarial and administrative support to ten senior partners
- Draft and manage correspondence
- Process range of standard legal documents including contracts, appeals, warrants and subpoenas
- Take and transcribe notes, minutes, and dictation
- Maintain schedules and calendars
- Prepare legal forms including accident reports, applications, and courtroom requests
- Proofread and revise legal documents
- Maintain files in accordance with state and federal documentation laws
- Conduct legal research and collect information for partners
- Collect records
- File motions
- Follow up on court cases
- Maintain law libraries
- Interact extensively with clients from point of referral
- Researches and analyzes legal sources using resources such as legal databases to maintain a current, comprehensive knowledge of applicable laws and legal procedures
- Investigates claims and complaints by or against the City by interviewing witnesses, processing incident sites, gathering evidence, and preparing statements in order to prepare for litigation and eliminate and/or minimize liability and loss
- Organizes legal paperwork by serving, filing, producing and maintaining documentation for all relevant parties (e.g., court, clients, attorneys) in order to prepare court cases for trial
- Drafts and prepares legal contracts (e.g., real estate contracts, vendor contracts, promissory notes) for attorney use
- Assists in the preparation of jury instructions for trials so that jurors are aware of relevant laws that should guide their deliberations
- Coordinates with various persons and entities such as attorneys, representatives of opposing parties, witnesses, city departments, city council and the general public regarding case development and trial proceedings
- Attends trials, hearings and depositions with attorneys as necessary.
- Conducted detailed client intakes and entered information into company database.
- Conferred with clients and other involved parties to gather and track case information.
- Assisted counsel in preparing answers, providing documentation and information for discovery request.
- Prepared legal briefs, motions and pleadings.
- Researched state statutes, decisions, legal articles, codes and documents.
- Coordinated trial exhibits by organizing materials, writing documentation and preparing digital materials and displays.
- Maintained ongoing communication with opposing parties from discovery to trial phase to facilitate expeditious litigation.
- Contacted key witnesses to testify at court hearings.
- Directed and coordinated service of subpoenas and scheduling of depositions for several legal professionals.
- Adhered to privacy laws to avert possible information breaches and protect client data.
- Drafted, signed and certified key legal documents for judicial review.
- Created highly researched and articulate legal paperwork such as pleadings, contracts and briefs.
- Surpassed specific company objectives by cooperating with staff to implement project initiatives.
- Developed project management processes to improve cost-effective service to clients.
- Established knowledge-sharing culture through focused communications to publicize benefits.
Legal Secretary
City of Birmingham – Office of the City Attorney
09.2019 - 12.2022
- Transaction Division and Municipal Court Division)
- Organized files for court proceedings.
- Prepared legal correspondence and wrote professional letters for legal assistants and attorneys.
- Received and placed telephone calls to clients and prospective clients.
- Diligently edited legal correspondence for grammar and spelling.
- Screened telephone calls and forwarded to appropriate departments.
- Obtained signatures from attorneys for legal documents.
- Organized envelopes, postage and mail correspondence for staff and management, maintaining postage meter and coordinating with delivery and courier services.
- Arranged for delivery of legal correspondence to clients, witnesses and court officials.
- Entered new cases into company database.
- Filed documents with courts on behalf of attorney.
- Developed and maintained filing and retrieval systems.
- Scheduled all appointments, appearances and briefings.
- Answered and directed calls using multi-line switchboard.
- Maintained calendar and tickler system for managing partner, associate attorney and senior paralegal.
- Completed accident reports, trial and courtroom requests and applications for clients.
Accounting Assistant
Med South, Inc
11.2017 - 09.2019
- Processed AP and/or requests for payments
- Processes AR for vendors and other departments
- Maintains banking records to ensure online information is accurate
- Prepares, monitors, and administers departmental or organizational budget by reviewing spending trends, expenditure reports, analyzing financial data, and ensuring expenditures are within annual budgetary limits
- Performs the financial closing process at the end of an accounting period (i.e., monthly, quarterly, yearly)
- Maintains the GL by preparing and posting journal entries and reconciling the general ledger to other financial records
- Oversees grant funds, including maintaining communication with subcontractors, maintaining grant financial records, and producing grant reports
- Procures and/or manages inventory (i.e., supplies and equipment) to ensure the products and services are available to meet the operational needs of each department
- Generates invoices and/or processes payments
- Facilitates the new contract approval process and enters contract parameters into accounting software once approved
- Processes payroll by maintaining a database of employees and/or retirees, reconciling payroll information, processing payments to vendors or government entities, and maintaining and filing applicable taxes
- Engages in activities designed to ensure professional development, awareness of developments in the field, and knowledge of relevant practices, rules, laws, policies, and/or guidelines
- Maintains and creates reports of confidential governmental financial records, ensuring compliance to federal, state, and local guidelines and laws
- Review and reconcile invoice discrepancies
- Audit and process credit card bills
- Address and respond to vendor inquiries
- Maintained clean and organized files by keeping accounts payable records up-to-date.
- Processed payments and documents such as invoices, journal vouchers, employee reimbursements and statements.
- Communicated with suppliers to reconcile invoice payments.
- Applied proper codes to invoices, files and receipts to keep records organized and easily searchable.
- Used accounting software to prepare weekly and monthly financial reports.
- Monitored status of accounts receivable and payable to facilitate prompt processing.
- Prepared itemized statements, bills or invoices and recorded amounts due for items purchased or services rendered.
- Reviewed figures, postings and documents for correct entry, completeness and accuracy.
- Completed weekly check runs and maintained accounting ledgers by verifying and posting account transactions into accounting system.
- Directed clients to appropriate accountants, answered phone calls and replied to office emails for excellent customer service.
- Reviewed general ledger entries and assessed accuracy.
- Reconciled company accounts for credit cards, employee expenses and commissions.
- Transferred data and documents for smooth system migrations and software updates.
- Maintained accurate and complete documentation for financial department procedures to facilitate new employee training.
Education
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Miles Law School
Bachelor of Science - Business Administration, Business Marketing
Alabama A&M University
Huntsville, AL05.1992
Skills
- Technical Skills
- MS Word
- Excel
- PowerPoint
- Hummingbird Document Management
- In-depth working knowledge of legal procedures and terminology
- Knowledge of local, state, and federal filing rules
- Transcription and typing skills (55wpm)
- Excellent spelling and grammar skills
- Core Competencies
- Communication skills
- Organization and planning skills
- Information collection and management
- Attention to detail
- Decision-making and judgment
- Initiative
- Confidentiality
- Teamwork
- C level administrative support
- Advanced Microsoft applications
- Professional accounting software
- General ledger reconciliations
- Preparing journal entries
- Preparing financial statements
- Filing System Organization
- Online Databases
- Evidence Gathering
- Expertise in Legal Proceedings
- Litigation Support
- Trial Preparation Assistance
- Trial Proceedings
- Court Transcription
- Subpoena Service
- Legal Terminology
- Proficiency in MS Office
- Legal Correspondence
- Correspondence and Legal Forms Drafting
- Legal Research
- Confidentiality Understanding
- Team Goals
- Microsoft Applications
- Customer Relationship Management
- Federal Guidelines
- Tax Expertise
- Motion Preparation
- Work Assignments
- Marketing Strategies
- Product Knowledge
- Customer Satisfaction
- Client Correspondence
- Postage Meter
- Administrative Duties
- Confidentiality and Discretion
- Assisting Lawyers
- LexisNexis
Timeline
Paralegal
City Of Birmingham
12.2022 - Current
Legal Secretary
City of Birmingham – Office of the City Attorney
09.2019 - 12.2022
Accounting Assistant
Med South, Inc
11.2017 - 09.2019
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Miles Law School
Bachelor of Science - Business Administration, Business Marketing
Alabama A&M University
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