Paralegal

Bank of Montreal•Irving, TX

4d•Onsite

About The Position

The Paralegal supports the General Counsel & Vice President and six attorneys in Transportation, Equipment and Vendor Finance matters and is responsible for the following: Corporate Secretary/Corporate Governance: Prepare and maintain Board resolutions, officer appointments, corporate records; Coordinate Board and committee meetings; Prepare Board agendas, meeting materials and Board packages; Maintain Board minutes, action items and governance records; Coordinate policy review and Board approvals; Maintain committee charters and Delegation of Authority; Coordinate reporting from independent advisors (e.g. compliance consultant, internal audit, legal); Maintain annual governance calendar; Maintain legal entity structure and organizational records; Coordinate annual corporate filings and registrations; Maintain Delegation of Authority signing authorities. Legal invoice processing: Supports attorneys with T360 matter management by reviewing and processing legal invoices, monitoring matter and vendor data, ensuring billing guideline compliance, and assisting with reporting and audit activities to support effective legal spend management. Regulatory Licensing : Maintain and manage state regulatory licensing for the business by preparing, submitting, renewing, and tracking required licenses and registrations. Monitor regulatory deadlines and licensing requirements, maintain accurate records, coordinate with state regulatory agencies, and supports compliance initiatives by ensuring all licensing activities meet applicable federal and state regulations and all renewals are filed timely and accurately Legal Team Support : Supports attorneys by conducting legal and regulatory research, preparing and reviewing legal documents, maintaining case and corporate records, and coordinating with business partners, external counsel and vendors to facilitate timely resolution of legal and regulatory issues. Support litigation attorney, including document review and production, legal research, discovery coordination, subpoena responses, records collection, maintenance of litigation files, and preparation of correspondence, reports, and court-related documents. Administrative support : Managing administrative operations for the legal department, including monitoring and maintaining compliance with document retention policy, preparing and submitting expense reports, coordinating travel arrangements, processing invoices, and maintaining records to support attorneys and department leadership. Defines and implements all aspects of the legal eDiscovery process including legal holds, custodian interviews, collection of electronically stored information (ESI) and associated metadata, chain of custody logs for each matter, processing of ESI, filtering of ESI with early case assessment software, artificial intelligence software, collections, reviews and production of records for regulatory investigations. Establishes guidelines, playbooks, and processes for implementing strategies to maintain appropriate litigation risk controls such as proportionality risk objectives to escalate cost concerns when external counsel fees may exceed amounts claimed in the litigation. Develops and manages comprehensive information management systems; designs and/or leads initiatives to improve processes, analysis and reporting. Maintains databases for legal review & internal investigations and manages document exports for secure transmission to external parties. Creates efficient, defensible, and traceable electronic process for legal holds and evidence management to reduce exposure to risk of spoliation of evidence. Manages the design, execution and support of information searches and analyses, and the collection and review of electronic records in accordance with industry best practices, legal and regulatory obligations, and BMO’s information policies. Ensures work is conducted in a legally defensible manner and aligned with legal and regulatory policies. Manages preservation, collection, searching for all investigations and litigation. Recommends set-up and delivery of databases in e-Discovery review platforms and provides technical support to legal counsel. Analyzes data and information to provide insights and recommendations. Defines, implements and oversees all aspects of the litigation discovery process including legal holds, custodian interviews, collection of electronically stored information (ESI) and associate meta-data, chain of custody logs, processing of ESI, filtering of ESI with early case assessment software, artificial intelligence software, review workflows and production protocols. Strategizes with external vendors and service providers on current and upcoming cases in line with the principle of proportionality to balance e-discovery costs against amount of claims. Represents BMO in court, at depositions, and/or regulator inquiries regarding steps taken to preserve, collect and produce evidentiary documents. Works with Corporate Records, LOB and T&O partners to decommission/dispose of records, systems, devices in a defensible manner. Lifts legal holds and associated closing processes to mitigate risks associated with over-preservation. Executes all processing activities and addresses exceptions. Identifies risks and implements appropriate actions to mitigate them. Collaborates with internal/ external stakeholders in order to deliver on BMO’s mandatory discovery obligations. Provides advice and guidance to assigned business/group on implementation of solutions. Helps determine business priorities and best sequence for execution of business/group strategy. Collaborates with internal/ external stakeholders to deliver business objectives. Breaks down strategic problems, and analyses data and information to provide insights and recommendations. Integrates information from multiple sources to enable more efficient processes, enhanced analysis and/or streamlined reporting. Identifies business needs, designs/ develops tools and training programs for legal counsel. Acts as the day to day contact for vendors. Focus is primarily on business/group within BMO; may have broader, enterprise-wide focus. Exercises judgment to identify, diagnose, and solve problems within given rules. Works independently on a range of complex tasks, which may include unique situations. Broader work or accountabilities may be assigned as needed.

Requirements

Typically less than 5 years of e-discovery process experience working with litigation lawyers
Post-secondary law education e.g. Paralegal, Law Clerk certificate, legal assistant, law clerk program or in-house training from a law firm/organization
Clear understanding of discovery process for disputes, regulatory, compliance and investigation cases
Strong understanding of the laws, rules on electronically stored information (ESI), on discovery process, e-Discovery tools, workflows and legal procedures
Technical proficiency gained through education and/or business experience
In-depth Verbal & written communication skills
In-depth Collaboration & team skills
In-depth Analytical and problem solving skills
In-depth Influence skills
In-depth Data driven decision making

Responsibilities

Prepare and maintain Board resolutions, officer appointments, corporate records
Coordinate Board and committee meetings
Prepare Board agendas, meeting materials and Board packages
Maintain Board minutes, action items and governance records
Coordinate policy review and Board approvals
Maintain committee charters and Delegation of Authority
Coordinate reporting from independent advisors
Maintain annual governance calendar
Maintain legal entity structure and organizational records
Coordinate annual corporate filings and registrations
Maintain Delegation of Authority signing authorities
Review and process legal invoices
Monitor matter and vendor data
Ensure billing guideline compliance
Assist with reporting and audit activities for legal spend management
Prepare, submit, renew, and track required licenses and registrations
Monitor regulatory deadlines and licensing requirements
Maintain accurate records
Coordinate with state regulatory agencies
Ensure all licensing activities meet applicable federal and state regulations
Conduct legal and regulatory research
Prepare and review legal documents
Maintain case and corporate records
Coordinate with business partners, external counsel and vendors
Support litigation attorney with document review and production
Support litigation attorney with legal research
Support litigation attorney with discovery coordination
Support litigation attorney with subpoena responses
Support litigation attorney with records collection
Support litigation attorney with maintenance of litigation files
Support litigation attorney with preparation of correspondence, reports, and court-related documents
Manage administrative operations for the legal department
Monitor and maintain compliance with document retention policy
Prepare and submit expense reports
Coordinate travel arrangements
Process invoices
Maintain records to support attorneys and department leadership
Define and implement all aspects of the legal eDiscovery process
Manage legal holds
Conduct custodian interviews
Collect electronically stored information (ESI) and associated metadata
Maintain chain of custody logs for each matter
Process ESI
Filter ESI with early case assessment software
Filter ESI with artificial intelligence software
Manage collections, reviews and production of records for regulatory investigations
Establish guidelines, playbooks, and processes for implementing strategies to maintain appropriate litigation risk controls
Develop and manage comprehensive information management systems
Design and/or lead initiatives to improve processes, analysis and reporting
Maintain databases for legal review & internal investigations
Manage document exports for secure transmission to external parties
Create efficient, defensible, and traceable electronic process for legal holds and evidence management
Manage the design, execution and support of information searches and analyses
Manage the collection and review of electronic records
Ensure work is conducted in a legally defensible manner and aligned with legal and regulatory policies
Manage preservation, collection, searching for all investigations and litigation
Recommend set-up and delivery of databases in e-Discovery review platforms
Provide technical support to legal counsel
Analyze data and information to provide insights and recommendations
Define, implement and oversee all aspects of the litigation discovery process
Strategize with external vendors and service providers on current and upcoming cases
Represent BMO in court, at depositions, and/or regulator inquiries regarding steps taken to preserve, collect and produce evidentiary documents
Work with Corporate Records, LOB and T&O partners to decommission/dispose of records, systems, devices in a defensible manner
Lift legal holds and associated closing processes
Execute all processing activities and address exceptions
Identify risks and implement appropriate actions to mitigate them
Collaborate with internal/ external stakeholders to deliver on BMO’s mandatory discovery obligations
Provide advice and guidance to assigned business/group on implementation of solutions
Help determine business priorities and best sequence for execution of business/group strategy
Collaborate with internal/ external stakeholders to deliver business objectives
Break down strategic problems
Analyze data and information to provide insights and recommendations
Integrate information from multiple sources to enable more efficient processes, enhanced analysis and/or streamlined reporting
Identify business needs
Design/ develop tools and training programs for legal counsel
Act as the day to day contact for vendors