ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT, UNIVERSITY COUNSEL

Occupational Summary

Provide a full range of legal administrative support to the Office of Counsel attorneys, including monitoring workflow and prioritizing multiple competing priorities.  Must have ability to independently exercise sound judgment, maintain confidentially, manage a complex workload, take initiative, and be flexible and professional at all times.

Work Performed

Assist attorneys in the timely and accurate management of communications, both written and via telephone.  Maintain liaison with all levels of administration and faculty, including the offices of the President, Provost, and Chancellor. 

Manage electronic filing of all legal documents for attorneys, ensuring they are filed in the office’s document management system, and are clearly labeled for easy access.  Assistant must use independent judgement to organize and manage files and identify documents that must be preserved for future reference.

Maintain complex calendars for up to three attorneys.  Arrange for and schedule appointments, meetings, and speaking engagements for attorneys; supervise the preparation of materials for meetings when appropriate; coordinate travel arrangements for attorneys and prepare expense reports.

Screen telephone calls and visitors.   Respond independently to general inquiries when appropriate, maintain strict confidentiality regarding sensitive matters, and make swift and accurate judgments in forwarding inquiries and requests to attorney or other offices in the university or health system.

Plan and coordinate outside counsel meetings, arbitrations, mediations, and meetings with clients within the organization and by outside counsel, ensuring appropriate individuals are notified of dates/times/locations; independently plan and coordinate related events as necessary.

Control and maintain budget expenditures and keep attorneys apprised of the financial status of various matters.

Create engagement letters for outside counsel and obtain fund codes from client departments prior to work being performed by outside counsel. 

Prepare and file litigation documents online in the North Carolina Courts.  Manage tracking of litigation pleadings, employment charges, and others as requested.

Prepare, review, redact, and revise drafts of legal documents, contracts, and correspondence, including letters, PowerPoint presentations, memos, agendas and spreadsheets. 

Other administrative duties as requested. 

Departmental Preferences:

Strong organizational and time management skills.

Exceptional proofreading skills as well as excellent written and verbal communication skills. 

Experience with document management software, Adobe Acrobat, and Microsoft Office Suite. 

Work requires a general educational background normally equivalent to a full high school education plus two years post-secondary education in a business-related field.

Work requires 4 years related business or administrative experience to become familiar with general personnel practices, accounting and budgeting principles and coordination of major office activities.  OR ANY OTHER EQUIVALENT COMBINATION OF RELEVANT EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE.

Duke is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer committed to providing employment opportunity without regard to an individual's age, color, disability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status.

Duke aspires to create a community built on collaboration, innovation, creativity, and belonging. Our collective success depends on the robust exchange of ideas—an exchange that is best when the rich diversity of our perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences flourishes. To achieve this exchange, it is essential that all members of the community feel secure and welcome, that the contributions of all individuals are respected, and that all voices are heard. All members of our community have a responsibility to uphold these values.

Essential Physical Job Functions: Certain jobs at Duke University and Duke University Health System may include essentialjob functions that require specific physical and/or mental abilities. Additional information and provision for requests for reasonable accommodation will be provided by each hiring department.