Legal Assistant – Tort Litigation

Job Description

Legal Assistant – Tort Litigation Unit | City of Philadelphia

The Tone:
This is a full-time role at the City of Philadelphia, located in Philadelphia, PA. The City is a large organization with over 30,000 employees that provides essential services and opportunities for significant impact. This role within the Law Department contributes directly to managing civil tort litigation, ensuring the City’s legal liabilities are reduced and operations run seamlessly. The work supports millions of residents by upholding public interest and protecting City agencies.

The TL;DR
• Role: Early Career
• Type: Full-time
• Location: In-person, Philadelphia, PA
• Pay: $44153–$60554 yearly
• Team: Works with approximately four trial attorneys in the Tort Litigation Unit, part of the Law Department’s Litigation Group.
• Mission: Investigate and manage tort claims, draft Discovery answers, and assist trial attorneys to reduce legal liability for the City.
• Tech Stack: MS Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, OneNote, Access), Google Drive (Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms), Spreadsheets (Excel, Google Sheets, OpenOffice Calc), Email (mail merge, filters, folders, rules), Presentations/Slideshows (PowerPoint, Google Slides, OpenOffice Impress, Tableu), Microsoft Teams, Zoom

What You’ll Actually Do
• Manage investigation requests and follow-ups to relevant City agencies to ensure timely responses to Discovery requests.
• Draft answers to Discovery requests and conduct interviews with City inspectors, police officers, and motor vehicle operators.
• Conduct investigations to determine property ownership, contractor or utility work details, and background information on claimants.
• Prepare for trial by assisting attorneys with case management logistics, document preparation, deposition digests, and subpoena requests.
• Process settlement agreements and judgments, ensuring compliance with mandated reporting requirements for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The Must-Haves
• Background: Minimum qualification of an Associate’s degree, paralegal certificate, or equivalent.
• Experience: No specific years required; however, the preferred candidate will possess executive assistant experience.
• Skills: Excellent organizational skills, effective and professional oral and written communication, ability to work independently, capacity to manage and prioritize numerous assignments, and strong computer proficiency.
• Bonus: Executive assistant experience, preferably in a legal setting; a commitment to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion; experience exercising discretion and confidentiality with sensitive information; City residency required within six months of employment.