Paralegal

About the Role

The Paralegal supports the General Counsel & Vice President and six attorneys in Transportation, Equipment and Vendor Finance matters.

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

• Support 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
• Support compliance initiatives by ensuring all licensing activities meet applicable federal and state regulations and all renewals are filed timely and accurately

Legal Team Support

• Support 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

• Manage 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

eDiscovery & Litigation Discovery

• Define and implement 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
• Establish 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
• 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 and manage document exports for secure transmission to external parties
• Create efficient, defensible, and traceable electronic process for legal holds and evidence management to reduce exposure to risk of spoliation of evidence
• Manage 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
• 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 and 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 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
• Strategize 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
• 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 to mitigate risks associated with over-preservation
• Execute all processing activities and address exceptions
• Identify risks and implement appropriate actions to mitigate them
• Collaborate with internal/external stakeholders in order 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, and 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
• Exercise judgment to identify, diagnose, and solve problems within given rules
• Work independently on a range of complex tasks, which may include unique situations
• Broader work or accountabilities may be assigned as needed

Qualifications

• 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
• 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 – In-depth

Pay

Salary: $55,000.00 – $120,000.00. Pay Type: Salaried.

The above represents BMO Financial Group's pay range and type. Salaries will vary based on factors such as location, skills, experience, education, and qualifications for the role, and may include a commission structure. Salaries for part-time roles will be pro-rated based on number of hours regularly worked. For commission roles, the salary listed above represents BMO Financial Group's expected target for the first year in this position.

Benefits

BMO Financial Group's total compensation package will vary based on the pay type of the position and may include performance-based incentives, discretionary bonuses, as well as other perks and rewards. BMO also offers health insurance, tuition reimbursement, accident and life insurance, and retirement savings plans.