What are the responsibilities and job description for the Estate Planning Legal Assistant position at Cline Donaldson PLLC?
We are looking for an Estate Planning Legal Assistant to join our estate planning team.
We have built our estate planning practice around a simple idea: every client should have someone who knows their file, knows what needs to happen next, and makes sure the matter keeps moving from the initial consultation through the signing of their estate plan.
That is what this role is about.
You will work closely with an estate planning attorney, but you will also have real ownership of the clients and files assigned to you. The attorney will handle legal advice, estate plan design, and substantive legal decisions. You will help turn that plan into a finished product and guide the client through the process.
What You'll Do
You will manage estate planning files from the beginning of the process through completion. That includes:
- Reviewing client intake information and following up to obtain anything that is missing.
- Making sure files are organized and ready before the attorney meets with the client.
- Working from the attorney's estate plan design to prepare wills, trusts, powers of attorney, health care documents, deeds, and other estate planning documents.
- Using our document automation and AI-assisted drafting tools to help prepare documents efficiently and consistently.
- Carefully reviewing documents for names, dates, beneficiaries, fiduciaries, formatting, consistency, and other details before they go to the attorney.
- Coordinating attorney review and making requested revisions.
- Communicating with clients throughout the process and making sure files do not stall because we are waiting on information or a response.
- Sending drafts to clients, answering process-related questions, and getting legal questions to the attorney.
- Coordinating signing appointments and making sure everything is completely prepared before the client arrives.
- Assisting with document execution and making sure signed documents, deeds, funding instructions, and other follow-up items are completed afterward.
- Keeping the status of every assigned file current so the team always knows where each matter stands.
Who We're Looking For
Estate planning experience is helpful, but the right personality for this position matters just as much.
We are looking for someone who is extremely organized, detail-oriented, comfortable with technology, and good with people. Most importantly, we want someone who follows through.
If you send a client an email and do not hear back, your natural reaction should be to follow up.
If something is missing from a file, you should want to track it down.
If a matter has been sitting in the same stage for too long, you should notice it.
We want someone who enjoys having responsibility for their own group of clients and takes pride in getting matters across the finish line.
You should also be comfortable working with clients who may be discussing sensitive family and financial issues. Estate planning requires patience, professionalism, good judgment, and the ability to communicate clearly with people who may not deal with lawyers very often.
How Our Team Works
Our attorneys focus on the parts of estate planning that require an attorney: meeting with clients, providing advice, designing the estate plan, resolving legal issues, and reviewing the final work.
Our legal assistants manage the process around that work.
When a file is assigned to you, you become the person responsible for knowing where it stands and what needs to happen next. You will have administrative support and technology to help you, but you will be the primary person making sure the matter moves forward.
We are investing heavily in technology, document automation, and AI-assisted drafting because we want our team spending less time on repetitive work and more time taking care of clients and moving files efficiently.
This is a good fit for someone who likes systems, likes being busy, enjoys working independently, and gets satisfaction from taking a matter from "new client" to "finished."
We are not looking for someone who simply waits for the next assignment.
We are looking for someone who owns the file.
Pay: $48,000.00 - $55,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Health insurance
- Paid time off
- Retirement plan
- Travel reimbursement
Work Location: In person
Salary : $48,000 - $55,000