Legal Secretary - Patent Prosecution

We are seeking an experienced Patent Prosecution Legal Secretary to provide administrative and secretarial support for attorneys in our Intellectual Property Practice Group.

Our Electrical, Mechanical & Computer Science Patent Prosecution department has an excellent opportunity for a Legal Secretary in the Seattle office.

This is a non-exempt position that reports to the Office Administrator.

The successful candidate will be self-motivated, proactive, and possess strong communication skills. A commitment to client service with strong attention to detail is essential.

This position will provide legal support to a legal team consisting of five () attorneys (all with varying workloads). The Legal Secretary will undertake a variety of administrative and clerical tasks.

This position works under the supervision of an attorney and has an in-person presence of four () days a week with the ability to work from home one () day a week.

Responsibilities :

• Schedule telephone interviews between attorneys and USPTO Examiners.
• If requested by an attorney, answer telephone and gives information to callers and routes call to appropriate individual, takes messages and places outgoing calls.
• Electronically file correspondence, including emails, and other documents and records into NetDocs.
• Maintain attorneys' client contact information.
• Assist with opening and closing of client matters and prepare engagement letters.
• Review and edit billing proformas. This includes working with the assigned billing specialist to prepare client invoices, create cover letters, and send client invoices.
• Maintain and create spreadsheets to track client annual invoice totals.
• Enter attorney time into time entry system, Intapp Time.
• Draft, revise, edit and proofread documents.
• Set-up and maintain hard copy files for client matters, if requested.
• Schedule various events and meetings to include coordinating travel arrangements, reserving internal conference rooms, and reserving guest offices (across all offices).
• If requested by an attorney, maintain attorney calendar to include informal docketing and scheduling.
• Enroll attorneys in CLE courses and assist with CLE questions and recording.
• Complete annual bar dues and professional membership renewals.
• Process timely expense reimbursements through ChromeRiver.
• Back up other secretaries during planned and unplanned secretary absences.
• Other duties as requested and assigned.

Requirements :

• Associate’s degree is preferred. A high school diploma or general education degree (GED) is required.
• A minimum of four () years’ experience working as a Patent Prosecution Legal Secretary and four () years in a professional services environment.
• A strong knowledge of steps involved in patent prosecution from application filing to issuance of patents is essential.
• Demonstrated proficiency in Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Office Suite including Word, Outlook and Excel as well as document management systems such as NetDocs.
• Prior experience with Intapp Time, Proforma Tracker, and ChromeRiver is a plus.
• Washington State notary is a plus.

The expected annual salary for this position ranges from $, - $, The salary offered will be determined by a wide range of factors including but not limited to experience level, education / training, and relevant skills.

BakerHostetler offers a comprehensive and competitive benefit program including group health, dental and vision insurance, PTO ( days) prorated in the year of hire, paid holidays ( days), (k) plan, parental leave ( weeks, not including disability, where applicable, and accrued PTO), family care program, wellness program, life and accident insurance, and short and long-term disability.