Paralegal / Legal Assistant / Legal Secretary

Tiffany Smith

EXPERIENCE

Schiller, DuCanto and Fleck, LLP Chicago, IL 10/08-2/10

Litigation/Retirement Benefits Paralegal

• Prepared pleadings, contracts, client intake forms, client correspondence, documents for production

• Responded to subpoenas

• Conducted legal research utilizing Westlaw and Lexis

• Interacted and followed up with attorneys, clients and litigants

• Prepared information and documentation for arbitrations and trials

• Reviewed, analyzed and summarized case law, pension plans and other legal documents

• Prepared and produced documents to answer extensive discovery requests

• Organized, tracked and managed huge case files

• Assisted attorney in all aspects of discovery and litigation

• Implemented and maintained extensive Excel worksheets and tracking deadlines

• As a Retirement Benefits Paralegal - Assisted and prepared Qualified Domestic Relations Orders; Interpreted and analyzed provisions in Defined Benefit Plans and Defined Contribution Plans in order to draft a QDRO that best suited our client; Drafted letters to submit QDRO to Plan Administrators for qualification; Communicated with Plan Administrators and outside attorneys to obtain necessary documents to draft a QDRO; Researched and analyzed law sources such as statutes, decisions from the Department of Labor, case law and legal articles.

EBS Realty Management Inc. Chicago, IL 6/05-6/08

Corporate/Transactional Paralegal

• Established and maintained corporations in Illinois, worked with the Business Corporation Act of 1983 and its related corporate forms

• Conducted legal research

• Reviewed insurance policies periodically

• Drafted and reviewed articles of incorporation, corporate resolutions, real estate contracts, mortgage notes, purchase agreements, and mortgage deeds

• Took minutes of meetings between board of directors and shareholders

• Updated corporate minute books

• Drafted and reviewed by-laws

• Drafted and reviewed stock purchase agreements, shareholder voting agreements and stock certificates

• Issued appropriate shares to directors and shareholders

• Established and monitored numerous corporate bank accounts

• Acted as a liaison between EBS and clients

• Obtained certificates of good standing

• Negotiated contracts

• Worked to comply with strict contractual deadlines and worked to resolve contract compliance issues

Tiffany Smith Page Two

Household International Inc. Prospect Heights, IL 3/04-5/04

Corporate Paralegal (temporary assignment)

• Networked with the appropriate corporate offices to gather all of the proper information needed to answer subpoenas and interrogatories

• Communicated with outside attorneys to request extensions on the deadline to answer subpoenas

• Deciphered employment records in order to determine if a former employee was rightfully discharged and wrote detailed reports for the managing attorney that explained my finding

• Performed legal research

• Located the correct information that was needed in order to fully answer requests to produce

ABN-AMRO Asset Management Chicago, IL 6/00-6/03

Legal Compliance Specialist

• Prepared 401(k) plans, summary plan descriptions, and mutual fund agreements

• Prepared and reviewed trust agreements, contracts, and incorporation documents

• Tracked litigation and prepared pre-trial documentation

• Answered subpoenas

• Researched ERISA and corporate law issues

• Maintained extensive Excel worksheets and legal files

• Worked with retirement plans to make sure that they complied with the IRS rules and regulations

• Analyzed regulations and rules

• Identified plan design issues and plan design problems so they could be resolved

• Updated retirement plans for to comply with Department of Labor rules

Law Office of Tom Leahy Chicago, IL 5/99-6/00

Paralegal

• Prepared documents for pre-trial and trial litigation

• Prepared and answered discovery requests

• Prepared complaints, pleadings, motions and subpoenas

• Abstracted depositions and medical records

• Updated the court docket on a daily basis, maintained huge legal litigation files

• Prepared liens, fee agreements, medical records requests, examined all complaints, pleading and discovery documents to determine if they were in proper form for filing

EDUCATION

Loyola University School of Law Chicago, IL May 2003

Master of Jurisprudence

Concentration in business organizations, corporations and partnerships

Roosevelt University’s Lawyer’s Assistant Program Chicago, IL May 1999

ABA-approved Paralegal Certificate

Concentration in Civil Litigation; Honors in Ethics and Professionalism

University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL May 1998

Bachelors of Arts in English Literature

COMPUTER SKILLS

Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Excel), Lexis, Westlaw, QuickBooks, Concordance EX, CompaRite (used to compare legal documents) and People Soft.

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