paralegal (Irvine, CA)

Paralegal

Families in crisis need more than a filing deadline. They need a practice that treats protection, parenting, and financial stability as one case—and gets the record right the first time. This role keeps that work moving: precise documents, steady client contact, and a courtroom calendar that does not slip. If you want your drafting and judgment to change outcomes for people leaving violence, this is the seat.

Performance Objectives

• Build complete restraining-order, dissolution, and custody packages—pleadings, declarations, and exhibits—that are filing-ready and aligned to the attorney’s theory of the case.
• Run intake and follow-up so clients leave with a clear next step, safety-sensitive facts are captured accurately, and the file supports urgent relief when time matters.
• Assemble financial disclosures, discovery responses, and support calculations that hold up under opposing counsel and judicial scrutiny.
• Prepare hearing binders, witness outlines, and exhibit lists so the attorney walks into court with a clean, indexed record.
• Own calendaring, e-filing, and service so statutory deadlines and local rules are met without last-minute rescue.
• Track case status and flag risks—missing facts, conflicting dates, incomplete service—before they become continuances or adverse orders.

Environment & Resources

You will sit beside the attorney on a small caseload of family-law matters centered on domestic violence, custody, and support. Expect direct client contact, Orange County court practice, and standard legal-research and practice-management tools. You report to the managing attorney. There is no large paralegal bench—you are the operational core of the file.

Essential Qualifications

• Demonstrated family-law or civil litigation support: drafting declarations, organizing exhibits, and managing court deadlines.
• Working knowledge of California family-law procedure, including temporary restraining orders, service, and disclosure practice—or the ability to get current fast.
• Clear, precise writing under pressure; you can turn a client’s account into a coherent, factual declaration.
• Trauma-aware client communication: steady, discreet, and bound by confidentiality.
• Proficiency with e-filing, document assembly, and case calendaring systems.
• Paralegal certificate, ABA-approved program, or equivalent law-office experience.

Role Selling Points

• Work visibly tied to safety and family stability, not volume for its own sake.
• End-to-end ownership of files in a small practice—your standard is the quality of the record.
• Close collaboration with the attorney, with room to deepen California family-law judgment.
• A practice that treats legal outcomes and the human cost of family violence as the same problem.