PARALEGAL/ OFFICE MANAGER EXPERIENCE
DIMONTE & LIZAK, LLC, 216 West Higgins Road, Park Ridge, IL 60062 (847) March, 2013 to June, 2013 (Temporary assignment for Real Estate Closings)
LEVIN & GINSBURG, LLC, 180 North LaSalle Street, Suite 3200 Chicago, IL 60601 (312) 368-0100 Aug., 2012 to March, 2013 (Laid off due to upcoming firm merger)
• ESTATE PLANNING –Drafted Wills, Trusts, Powers of Attorney for Property and Health Care, as well as other customized estate plans and assisted with the transfer of assets into trust including properties located out of state. Also, assisted attorneys as acting Trustee and worked with various intuitions to manage client assets including tracking new tax codes and laws and informing clients of the implications. Assisted acting trustees’ with compiling and compensating client caregivers, vendors and general invoices.
• PROBATE – Managed and tracked decedents' estates, minors' estates, guardianships and disabled persons, drafted accounting of estates and worked with various banks acting as Trustees over estates. Preformed document discovery requests and complied with court orders regarding the management of estate assets in addition to assisting attorneys as acting Trustee for clients.
• REAL ESTATE – Experienced with representing condominium associations, cooperatives and real estate developers in acquiring, developing, selling or leasing properties through eviction, foreclosure, judicial sales, bankruptcy and short sale proceedings, in addition to drafting short sale, eviction and foreclosure initiation documents and all subsequent filings, ordering, reviewing and examining title commitments, as well as clearing defects of title, performing delinquent property tax searches and filing corrections. Also experienced with several counties, municipalities, and Federal litigation filing requirements as well as service of process via Sheriffs’ departments, special process servers and by publication. Drafted residential and commercial purchase and sale agreements, leases, landlord-tenant agreements, post-possession agreements, mortgages, releases, mortgage modification agreements, loans and other financing documents, all necessary commercial and residential real estate closing documents, recording deeds, condominium and cooperative declarations as well as other agreements and liens. Skilled in working with clients, real estate brokers, lenders, various title companies, opposing counsel and other interested parties toward a short and successful closing. Highly experienced with numerous municipalities, villages and city departments, recorder of deeds, condo associations, cooperatives and land trust companies in and around the Chicago area, as well as many out of state transfers of properties.
• CIVIL LITIGATION – Drafted pleadings, complaints, notices and motions, evictions, foreclosures, bankruptcies, interrogatories, answers, contracts, settlement agreements for business, intellectual property and contract disputes, family law, employment and other civil litigation as well as contested Probate cases and corporate defense. Experienced in filing in several counties and departments in Illinois including using the online Federal Court filing systems Case Management/Electronic Case Filing (CM/ECF) and Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER). Also, experienced with several counties, municipalities, and Federal litigation filing requirements as well as service of process via Sheriffs’ departments, special process servers and by publication in addition to contacting Judge’s clerks in numerous departments and keeping the court calendar and timeline for filing for several attorneys
• CORPORATIONS AND BUSINESS LAW – Incorporated businesses, organized partnerships and LLC's, drafted sale agreements, acquisitions, dissolutions, liquidations, financing and refinancing documents, drafted shareholder agreements including corporate buy-outs and termination agreements, employment contracts, assignments and other transfers of ownership, rent-rolls, corporate minutes and other maintenance documents, state and local filings including tax elections, UCC liens, and other forms of business ownership and control in addition to acting as registered agent, corporate and employment litigation representation.
FIRM OF PER K. HANSON ASSOC., P.C., 2222 Chestnut Ave., Ste. 304, Glenview, IL 60026 (847) 486-9960 – Nov. 2011 to Aug., 2012 (Laid off due to managing partner’s Illness)
• REAL ESTATE – Drafted residential and commercial purchase and sale agreements, leases, landlord-tenant agreements, post-possession agreements and financing documents, title commitments, real estate closing documents including short sale and mortgage modification agreements, performed delinquent property tax searches and filed corrections.
• CIVIL LITIGATION – Drafted pleadings, complaints, motions, interrogatories, answers, contracts, settlement agreements for business and contract disputes as well as contested Probate cases and corporate defense.
• CORPORATIONS AND BUSINESS LAW – Incorporated businesses, organized partnerships and LLC's, drafted sale agreements, acquisitions, dissolutions, liquidations, financing and refinancing documents, drafted shareholder agreements including corporate buy-outs and termination agreements, employment contracts, rent-rolls, corporate minutes, state and local filings including tax elections, UCC liens, and other forms of business ownership and control in addition to acting as registered agent and corporate defense litigation.
• PROBATE – Managed and tracked decedents' estates, minors' estates, guardianships and disabled persons, drafted accounting of estates and worked with various banks acting as Trustees over estates. Preformed document discovery requests and complied with court orders regarding the management of estate assets in addition to assisting attorneys as acting Trustee for clients.
HARRY E. BARTOSIAK, LTD. & DOUGLAS WORRELL, P.C., 1625 West Colonial Parkway, Inverness, IL 60067 ((847-241-2077) and 847) 836-6700 – Jan. 2010 to October 2011 (Laid off from firm when partner closed private practice and joined Levin & Ginsburg)
• CORPORATIONS AND BUSINESS LAW – Incorporated businesses, organized partnerships and LLC's, drafted sale agreements, acquisitions, dissolutions, liquidations, financing and refinancing documents, drafted shareholder agreements, employment contracts, rent-rolls, corporate minutes, state and local filings including tax elections, UCC liens, and other forms of business ownership and control.
• CIVIL LITIGATION – Drafted pleadings, complaints, motions, interrogatories, answers, contracts, settlement agreements for business and contract disputes.
• EMPLOYMENT LAW – Drafted employment contracts, restrictive covenants, initial employment offerings including terms and benefits, non-compete agreements, termination agreements and severance packages.
• BANKRUPTCY – Developed client database for tracking and management of bankruptcy documents, monitored deadlines, responded to Trustee requests and client follow-up.
• REAL ESTATE – Drafted residential and commercial purchase and sale agreements, leases, landlord-tenant agreements and financing documents, title commitments, real estate closing documents, performed delinquent property tax searches and filed corrections.
• ESTATE PLANNING –Drafted Wills, Trusts, Powers of Attorney for Property and Health Care, Living Wills and other customized plans.
EDUCATION
Associates of Applied Science-Paralegal Studies May, 2011
Certificate Program Paralegal Studies
William Rainey Harper College, Palatine, Illinois Magna *** Laude GPA: 3.84
AWARDS CONFERRED: Lambda Epsilon Chi (LEX) Honors Society, Inductee May, 2011
RELEVANT COURSEWORK: Contract Law, Probate/Estate Planning, Community Law, Intellectual Property Law, Computer Assisted Legal Research, Law Office Management, Corporate and Securities Law, Family Law, Real Property Law, Litigation, Criminal Procedure, Microsoft Office 2007
RELEVANT SKILLS
• Proficient in organizing and managing a law firm with multiple attorneys each with their own case load.
• Experienced in coordinating multiple schedules and prioritizing work to meet deadlines.
• Proficient in Westlaw and LexisNexis legal research, finding and analyzing case law, statutory law and case briefing.
• Proficient in frequently used legal and productivity software including Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Access, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint), AIM, Quicken, Paperport, Adobe Photoshop, TimeSlips, Time Matters, Amicus Brief and BestCase Bankruptcy Software.
• Extensive experience with websites including Federal Court filing systems Case Management/Electronic Case Filing (CM/ECF) and Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER), EZDec Illinois.com and Track Your Closing.com (Real Estate Closing Document Assembly), the Recorders of Deeds for several counties and states, County Clerks, Secretaries of States including Illinois, Wisconsin, Florida, Pennsylvania and Indiana, Clerk of the Court’s websites for various counties.
• Proficient in drafting including pleadings, complaints, motions, interrogatories, answers, agreements, leases, title commitments, real estate closing documents, pro se documents and other court filings.
• Experienced with client billing tracking accounts receivable and payable and management of payment plans.
• Experienced with secondary sources including legal encyclopedias and digests.