Bilingual Paralegal

PATRICIA PARTEN

Rockwall, Texas ***** 972-***-**** *********@***.***

I am a Bilingual Legal Secretary who enjoys working with people, brainstorming ideas, multi-tasking, doing research and word processing. New software is exciting and challenging to me. I love dealing with clients, and enjoy transcription very much. Because I am very observant and detailed, I have become useful, make good choices, save time, and work with little or no supervision. Once I learn my way around the office, policies, procedures, our clients, how things work around me, I feel comfortable making decisions. I am not shy if I need help either.

Born and raised in South America, I came to the U.S. in 1982 to attend college thus both my English and Spanish are excellent. Married in 2002, I decided to stay home to raise my family while remaining connected with the field I so loved, and advances in technology by forming PARTEN INTERNATIONAL. My bilingual, organizational, people, marketing, and management skills among others, allowed me to build a translation agency doing word processing, voice over work, transcription, desk top publishing, and using my legal secretarial skills. I worked with different firms both U.S. and international.

RESUME

The Fulton School. August 2016 – Present. Heath, Texas. Spanish Instructor: Spanish I, II, and III.

Curriculum development. Currently teach kindergarteners through highschoolers. Implemented innovative and creative ways to make sure children learn the Spanish language, not just to speak it but to read and write it correctly. Have to communicate with parents, other teachers, and administration. Part-time.

Parten International. 2001 – Present. Dallas, Texas. Translator. Project Manager.

Translate business, commercial, legal, and medical documents (material). Communicates with Spanish speaking clients. Managed group of 2+ translators depending on the projected volume. Desktop publishing. Used Medical Terminology skills to translate medical documents, information sheets, patient instructions, brochures, manuals, etc. Used my legal terminology skills to translate legal material. Performed internet research of diverse fields for the proper translation of material.

Jackson Walker, L.L.C. January 2002 – August 2002. Dallas, Texas. Bilingual Legal Secretary.

Performed accurate word processing. Heavy computer work (contracts, letters, legal documents, etc.) to ensure communication with external and internal clients remained easy, clear and efficient. Maintained a professional relationship with clients, customers, my peers and the attorneys I served. By communicating with our international clients in their own language our professional relationship was strengthened. I efficiently organized, designated priorities, and successfully assisted two Shareholders and an Associate in the International Corporate Section of this large law firm. Facilitated business transactions by serving as a liaison between Attorneys and Spanish speaking clients in South and Central America. Organized attorney's time effectively by managing the immense amount of documentation that arrived at our office. I saved time for my superiors by getting involved and organizing the information necessary to process each new case (this is a firm-wide lengthy and involved activity to avoid any conflicts of interest). One of the constant duties of a Legal Secretary is that of a transcriptionist: that is one of my favorite activities. I shortened the time spent in corrections and revisions. Successfully processed and created legal documents, legal contracts, letters, and general correspondence, travel arrangements both in the US and abroad. Managed to expedite the processing of expense reports by keeping organized records and maintaining good rapport with other departments within the firm, which resulted in a shorter processing time for the attorneys I served to secure accurate and prompt payments. Organized and submitted invoices and receipts to accounting department so that attorneys would be compensated for their different expenses. I facilitated communication between our office and different law firms and/or clients abroad: Translated material from English into Spanish and vice versa. Kept accurate account of my attorney’s hours through the use of special software so we could bill our clients correctly and without delays. Successfully coordinated different services like scheduling of meetings, conference room reservation and preparation, catering, audio visual equipment that would assist client's cases, etc. Anticipated and used resources wisely to ensure expense reports were handled promptly and accurately before sending to Accounting Department so every necessary back-up document was clearly available thus securing payment in a timely manner. Kept Shareholders organized and time efficient. Executed and organized all the documentation for two Shareholders. Saved valuable time by composing routine documentation, memoranda, and prepared reports using firm's guidelines. Organized paperwork and documentation that arrived in our office: distributed incoming mail to staff; attached incoming correspondence to case files and related materials needed for action, put together related items in their proper client file to save attorneys valuable time. Handled various projects myself, therefore saving attorney's precious time. Maintained enough office items, equipment, repair and sent maintenance services requests through the firm channels. I became a Notary Public to save time for negotiations and to facilitate conducting business right in our office. Good use of my time and resources allowed me time to assist other secretaries during times of overload.

Jenkens & Gilchrist, P.C. 1999 – Dec 2001. Dallas, Texas. Bilingual Legal Secretary.

Through both dedication and wise use of the time I managed to increase my typing speed to over 84 words per minute, so I could accomplish more tasks during my daily routine. Learned different Softwares specially geared to the Legal field in order to become more useful. Focused mainly in our field (International Corporate Section) so that I would be a useful translator and liaison between our internal and international clients. Managed to organize a Shareholder and an Associate so that their time was spent in an efficient manner. Organized all the information gathered from my attorneys from their travels and/or outings such as flights, car rentals, expenses and any kind of receipts so I could free them to do their work more effectively. Saved time by creating a library for my section facilitating the recall of pertinent data and earning the respect of my attorneys and peers. Saved considerable amounts of time when making travel arrangements by keeping accurate records, preferences, and needs of our clients and our attorneys. Successfully composed letters, some legal documents, contracts, memoranda, general correspondence, etc. which freed the attorneys I served. Entered our attorney's billing hours. I managed all the paperwork that came to our offices like sorting, opening, login and handling matters which I could handle without taking time from my attorneys. I became a Notary Public so we could speed up our operations. I had the opportunity to travel to Mexico to successfully deliver important documents in the hands of a valuable client. **I had been working with Mr. John Stephenson (Shareholder) since 1999. Mr. Stephenson and I met at Jenkens & Gilchrist law firm (International Corporate Section). When he switched law firms I was honored when asked to follow him.

Gardere & Wynne, P.C. 1997 – 1999. Dallas, Texas. Bilingual Legal Secretary.

I successfully carried out all the communication for several attorneys: Letters, memoranda, minutes, assisted with Due Diligence binders, etc. In order to save time and having to re-submit material, I gathered and organized documentation to secure refunds for my attorneys. Excellent communication with the other departments resulted in productive team work and cooperation to achieve common goals from different services such as the copy center, accounting, Human Resources, etc. Excellent people skills helped me establish cordial relationships with Associates from the other offices (Houston, Mexico, etc.). Successfully served as liaison between our Attorneys and Spanish speaking clients worldwide. Effectively translated documents from English into Spanish and vice versa, which positively resulted in better communication, and built trust since our clients were able to communicate directly and, at times, verbatim. An important accomplishment was the organization and coordination of my Attorney’s calendars and scheduling which saved everybody time for meetings or a better use of our time. Effective use of billing software to make sure clients were billed correctly therefore avoiding waste of time in errors and having to re-submit through the chain of command. Volunteered to create a library for our department, which was comprised not just of books but of notes, brochures, any kind of information which could come handy in the future. This resulted in very many accolades from different departments since we were the only ones with such information available. Maintained our department supplied office supplies, catering for meetings, requesting conference rooms and requesting service as needed. Maintained attorney informed of all letters and material relevant to our operation.

Education/LANGUAGES/skills:

-1984. Miami Dade Community College. Miami, FL. Associates in Arts (Medical Technology).

-Born and raised in South America. I speak, write and read fluent Spanish and English.

-MS Word, Excel, Carpe Diem, Different Softwares to enter time for each attorney (for billing purposes), Different programs to create, save and sort documents within each firm's established rules and procedures, Word Perfect, Outlook, Internet research, PowerPoint, Internet Explorer, Netscape, etc.

-Typing: 84 wpm.

§ References Available Upon Request §

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