Paralegal

About the role

New Era Cap, LLC is an international lifestyle brand headquartered in Buffalo, NY with an authentic sports heritage that dates back over 100 years. The role of the paralegal is to support New Era’s legal department on all legal matters affecting New Era Cap, LLC and its related entities. The goal of this position is to help increase the organization and maintenance of all workflow moving through the legal department. The paralegal reports to the Sr. Manager of IP & Contracts/Sr. Paralegal.

The Legal team at New Era Cap provides strategic legal guidance and support across all areas of the business, including licensing, finance, operations, logistics, technology, marketing, human resources, and corporate transactions. They oversee contracts, litigation, intellectual property, brand protection, compliance, risk management, and corporate governance while partnering with stakeholders to develop and execute legal strategies that support the company’s goals and growth.

This role is 100% on-site at New Era Cap’s Headquarters (HQ) building located in downtown Buffalo, NY, encouraging employees to collaborate and connect in person five days a week. HQ offers an inviting atmosphere, complete with an on-site café, fitness center, and Flagship store.

Responsibilities

• Trademark maintenance, clearance and administration:
  • Conduct preliminary knock-out searches for cap names and cap designs using domestic and international online search engines including online trademark office databases and Corsearch
  • Assess risk on trademark clearance issues
  • Assign and review trademark searches from Law Clerks
  • Assist with trademark prosecution and maintenance
  • Gather specimens for filing use affidavits and renewals
  • Correspond with outside counsel and international foreign associates
  • Assist in maintaining detailed trademark search records
  • Review and process Powers of Attorney
  • Review trademark watch notices for potential infringements and liaise with outside counsel to assess potential enforcement options
• Patent administration:
  • Assist with processing potential patentable matters and clearance for new product designs to outside counsel for review
• Contract maintenance and administration:
  • Conduct initial review of contracts, including general business contracts, license agreements, real estate leases, confidentiality agreements, manufacturing agreements, vendor agreements, services agreements, and other business contracts domestically and internationally to support divisions in Canada, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Brazil, Australia, Mexico, Korea, China, and Japan
  • Assist in preparing various types of agreements, on a global basis with attorney oversight, including trademark consent agreements, non-disclosure agreements, collaboration agreements, statements of work, production services agreements, insertion orders, data protection addendums, and waiver letters for vendor compliance
  • Interact with and update General Counsel and all department attorneys, as well as internal business clients (including upper management as needed) on legal and business matters including contract status, legal risks, and business terms of various deals
  • Assist in ensuring consistency of business and legal objectives in all contracts
  • Assist in research and review of unique legal issues impacting the organization by identifying applicable statutes, judicial decisions, and codes
  • Process contracts for signature
  • Implement and maintain contract database
• Counterfeit and infringement administration:
  • Gather evidence to support and coordinate with brand protection team concerning ongoing counterfeit actions and entering third-party marketplaces
  • Initiate the take-down of counterfeit auctions and monitor other staff responsible for taking down counterfeit auctions
  • Draft cease and desist letters for counterfeiters and imitators of New Era Intellectual Property
• Litigation support:
  • Compile information and respond to discovery demands
  • Gather evidence to support/defend enforcement actions
• Immigration assistance:
  • Gather documents to process immigration applications
• Corporate/Administration:
  • Assist in the maintenance of the corporate database system
  • Assist with the filing of annual qualifications and registrations
  • Assist with drafting and processing of corporate governance documents, including board minutes, resolutions, corporate registers, powers of attorney, etc. (knowledge of public company rules and regulations a plus)
  • Help to supervise and train law clerks on various tasks
  • Collaborate with cross-functional and international teams, including finance, design, marketing, merchandising, HR, and various senior leaders
  • Keep all sensitive matters confidential
• Other duties as assigned

Requirements

• Associates degree required, Bachelor’s degree preferred; additional experience in lieu of degree considered
• One (1) to three (3) years of experience in a corporate or law firm setting; experience in a corporate environment is a plus
• Paralegal Degree or Certification preferred
• New York Notary Public is a plus
• 0% to 5% travel; domestic and/or global

Skills

• Knowledge or ability to learn the areas of general corporate law and intellectual property
• Strong time management skills, organizational skills, and multi-tasking skills
• Strong attention to detail
• Strong analytical skills
• Comfortable and adept at balancing risk and opportunity and thinking creatively to enable the business to make smart decisions
• Strong writing and oral communication skills
• Ability to work proactively and independently on assigned tasks
• Computer savvy with knowledge of MS Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook), the Internet, and Internet search engines
• Knowledge of online database query searching, intellectual property trademark databases, and IP Docketing Systems is a plus
• Through experience, demonstrate achievement over time in:
  • Dealing with complexity and fast-paced environments
  • Building and maintaining relationships
  • Self-starting, focused, confident, resilient, and resourceful
  • Strong sense of confidentiality

Benefits

New Era Cap, LLC’s casual work environment celebrates individuality and encourages employees to showcase their personal style. We pride ourselves on offering competitive compensation, a generous PTO policy, along with world-class benefits designed to promote health, financial stability, and personal growth. As an employee, you'll enjoy:

• Paid parking
• Exclusive discounts on apparel and headwear
• Professional development opportunities on-site

Pay

The salary range for this position is $60,000 - $70,000 (plus bonus & benefits) and pertains to candidates located in Western New York. Actual compensation will fall within this range and is determined by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, education, essential job duties and requirements, and necessary experience.

Schedule

This role is 100% on-site in Buffalo, NY, requiring in-person collaboration five days a week.