Under general supervision, and according to established policies and procedures, the Practice Assistant is responsible for the support of staff and attorneys within an assigned Practice Group or Office. They provide auxiliary support to the Firm’s other Practice Groups as needed. The Practice Assistant contributes to the success of the Firm by performing tasks accurately and in an efficient manner.
This position requires daily presence in the downtown Providence, RI office. Occasional travel to other PSH locations as needed.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities: 

“Essential functions” are primarily job duties that incumbents must be able to perform unassisted or with some reasonable accommodation made by the employer

· Performs critical support functions for legal practitioners working in a wide variety of practice specialties.

· Assists in the preparation of client documents, including formatting and proofreading documents. 

· May assist in opening new client files, manages the retention of client files and maintains the warehouse system for the Litigation Practice Group.

· May Conduct legal research for attorneys as needed.

· Updates and maintains databases such as mailing lists, contact lists and client information for the Litigation Practice Group.

· Performs a wide variety of general administrative and clerical office duties for the Litigation Practice Group, including but not limited to making photocopies, scanning documents, faxing documents, etc.

· Assists in providing back-up coverage for other team members, including Offices Services Coordinator. 

· Observes confidentiality in all client and firm matters.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

· Associate’s degree required or equivalent years of experience.

· Minimum of one to two years of administrative assistant experience or other relevant work experience required.

· Proficiency in current versions of Windows and the Microsoft Office Suite of products required; experience with document management systems (NetDocuments or other) highly preferred.

· Strong written and verbal communication and attention to detail.

· Ability to proofread and perform minor editing of typed material for grammatical, typographical, punctuation or spelling errors. 

· Interpersonal skills are necessary to communicate and follow the instruction effectively from a diverse group of clients, attorneys and staff.

· Ability to organize and prioritize numerous tasks and complete them under time constraints.

· Ability to operate, maintain and stock supplies for office equipment including photocopy machines.

· Occasionally requires a high level of mental effort and strain when performing a high volume of clerical tasks and performing other essential duties.

· Ability to retrieve and distribute files, mail, written documents and office supplies weighing up to 50 pounds; and the ability to retrieve and replace objects from shelves of up to 8 feet high.

· Work may require irregular hours, and occasionally require more than 40 hours per week to perform the essential duties of the position. Must be reliable and flexible.

Physical Demands:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position.

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee will be seated for the majority of the day, however, may require standing frequently throughout the day. There is the need to frequently walk including climbing stairs. There will be a moderate amount of standing, stooping, kneeling, bending, lifting and reaching for some of his/her job duties.
• Visual requirements include reading off a computer screen as well as printed materials. A high degree of dexterity is required due to frequent use of a telephone console.
• Verbal and auditory requirements include the ability to communicate clearly over the telephone as well as in person.
• There is a moderate level of grasping, lifting, pushing and/or pulling of objects of less than 50 lbs.

This Job Description is intended to describe the general content of and requirements for the performance of this position. The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them for the position if the work is similar, related or a reasonable requirement of the position. Additional duties may be assigned, and requirements may vary from time to time.

This Job Description does not constitute an employment agreement between the employer and the employee and is subject to change by the employer.