The Archdiocese of Chicago, the third largest in the United States, serves more than 2.2 million Catholics in 216 parishes in Cook County and Lake County, a geographic area of 1,411 square miles. The Archdiocese, pastored by Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, has more than 13,000 employees in its systems and ministries, including Catholic Charities, the region's largest nonprofit social service agency. The Archdiocese also has one of the country's largest seminaries. The Archdiocese's 154 elementary and secondary schools comprise one of the largest U.S. private school systems. Its schools have received 96 U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon Awards.
Basic Function:
The Paralegal assists attorneys in the Office of Legal Services of the Archdiocese of Chicago in general corporate, real estate and transactional matters.
Responsibilities:
Under the direct supervision of an attorney, the Paralegal:
- Organizes, manages and expedites the work flow process and status tracking of Archdiocesan real estate transactions related to leasing, licensing, special use and sale/purchase of real property;
- Cross-trains and acts as secondary work flow processor for general operational agreements in the areas of professional services, software licenses, cloud-hosted services, educational services, technology services, intellectual property, construction services, facilities management, etc.;
- Under attorney direction and supervision, prepares initial drafts of agreements relating to real estate and general operations;
- Assists with corporate record-keeping, organization, and compliance matters generally;
- Assists with other matters (tax exempt status, wills and trusts, administrative filings) as needed;
- Performs document management relating to the collection, organization, catalog, database management, electronic storage and retrieval of legal files;
- Acts as frontline intake of inquiring relating to real estate and general operations matters from parishes, schools, and other agencies of the Archdiocese;
- Provides administrative support to attorneys (i.e. scheduling meetings, drafting transmittal letters and legal demands, performing other document preparation);
- Maintains confidentiality of client information; and
- Performs other duties in the area of legal services and general departmental operations as assigned.
Requirements:
- 2-5+ years’ experience in the areas of real estate, corporate and general operational transactions.
- Paralegal Certificate
- Superior verbal and written communication skills, including editing skills are required.
- Superior organizational skills and attention to detail required
- Experience and proficiency in reviewing and synthesizing contractual terms from term sheets and letters-of-intent into contractual templates with accuracy and completeness is required.
- Ability to work efficiently in a fast-paced environment with or without direct supervision is required.
- Good research/information gathering skills required
- Advanced knowledge of the Microsoft Office Suite is required.
- Knowledge of and interest in the Catholic Church is required.
- Collegial personality who is a team player with a “can-do” attitude is a plus.
- Familiarity with electronic matter management (i.e. Legal Files), document retention (i.e. HPE Records Manager/TRIM) and DocuSign systems is a plus.