Paralegal

Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited is an independent Nigerian energy firm that emerged as a major player in the oil and gas industry after acquiring Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC)

Paralegal

Job Type: Full Time

Qualifications

BA/BSc/HND

Experience

5 years

Location: Lagos

Job Field: Legal and Regulatory

Computer literacy and proficiency particularly in data analysis, Microsoft Excel, and PowerPoint applications.

Good command of written and spoken English.

Prior

as a Litigation clerk or Practice Administrator in a Law firm and/or a diploma in law would be an added advantage.

Good Well-developed drafting and negotiation skills.

Leadership skills, capacity to work independently and as part of a team

Ability to build and sustain relationships with business and external stakeholders.

Ability to work under pressure, prioritize multiple competing activities and remain positive in challenging circumstances.

High level of professional integrity

Result driven self-starter with good business partnering skills and customer focus.

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Method of Application

• Interested and qualified? Go to
• Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited on renaissanceafricacom.careers.flair.hr
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Job Purpose

The role is to provide support to the in-house Litigation team in the management of high risk and complex litigation and arbitration matters in the areas of legal research, litigation filing/document management, evidential defence materials collation, maintaining and updating Matter Management System, electronic management of litigation documentation, pre-trial witness preparation support, management of court administrative interface for witness deposition filings , external counsel interface management, and other litigation related support in the management of Litigation.

The Paralegal also provides secretariate support for litigation management & reduction focused projects, maintains accurate records, preparations of reports and presentations for internal and external stakeholders, thus contributing to the delivery of litigation outcomes that protect the Company’s interests, support cost control, and adds business value.

Responsibilities

• Under the direction and supervision of Legal Counsel:
• Coordinate and gather information from requisite Line departments to aid the preparation of pleadings, and other legal documents
• Locate the information source
• Liaise with the team responsible
• Obtain the relevant information/documents including videos and pictures
• Coordinate the gathering of information, materials, documents, reports and evidence necessary to respond to discovery, Interrogatories and pleadings
• Collect information/documents from relevant Line departments
• Collate evidence materials for companies’ defence
• Make necessary photocopies of identified materials for defence
• Review materials with in-house Legal Counsel
• Send copies of agreed materials to external counsel
• Index and store original copies of materials and make them available when necessary to be tendered in court.
• Locating the appropriate witnesses necessary to prosecute or defend a suit in court
• Locate appropriate witness to defend a suit in court (In-house/third party)
• Make contacts with the appropriate witnesses
• Provide witness with copies of pleadings filed to aid familiarization on issues in dispute in the suit
• Schedule pre-trial briefing with in-house & outside counsel
• Make logistic arrangements for the witness and where necessary accompany witnesses to file depositions and other relevant court processes.
• Support the Team Lead in the:
• Preparation of periodic reports on Litigations for diverse interna and external stakeholders
• Carry out extensive analysis of litigation data to identify patterns, trends, and underlying factors for decision making.
• Preparation of presentations for senior business management, CoVs and JV Partners briefings.
• Carry out Site visits/Locus checks and summarize findings relevant for prosecuting or defending a claim:
• Provide a report summarizing findings relevant to issues in dispute in a suit.
• Provide reasons why materials/data collated are useful or not useful for the purpose of the litigation.
• Maintain records of materials and data used in Litigation for ease of reference and precedent purposes.
• Coordinate the taking of still or video photographs or sound recordings necessary for evidence in court when needed
• Liaise with the media department to provide video & photographers where necessary
• Liaise with the media department to provide necessary equipment when needed
• Collate videos/audio tapes necessary for evidence in court
• Conduct first line due diligence, including document verification, statistical & documentary research and reviewing these as required.
• Draft correspondence as directed to line clients, external lawyers, witnesses etc. (provided such correspondence does not contain legal opinion or advice).
• Court interface:
• Management of court administrative interface
• Visit Court registries and court rooms to make enquiries, obtain hearing dates, submit letters and receive hearing notices.
• Certify and file documents, as required.
• Interface with Litigation Monitoring Contract Contracts/personnel for the purpose of obtaining information on ongoing matters.
• Interface with court bailiffs and other court officials
• Accept service of court processes
• Manage court processes on individual staff members
• Document management
• Matter Management System (MMS)
• Update entries in MMS
• Collate and upload relevant court processes, evidential materials and correspondences in MMS
• Litigation filing/document management
• Maintain and keep custody of physical case files
• Maintain secure custody of evidential materials
• Ensure compliance with filling

Requirements

• of the
• Electronic management of litigation records/document
• Manage electronic filing of litigation documents in the Legal Document management System (LDMS).
• Maintain the integrity of litigation documents in LDMS.
• Budget Management Support:
• Support the Legal Counsel in the review of External counsel, Experts and Contractor invoices for processing and payment. Interface with and respond to Vendor’s enquires and complaints in respect of their payments.
• Support the Team Lead and Legal counsel responsible for the annual Litigation budget in the preparation of budget estimates, quarterly performance reviews and assessment of Latest estimates to ensure full cost recovery.
• Provide data analysis, Presentation and Secretariat support: -
• Prepare quarterly and ad-hoc reports on Litigation matters to various Business departments, JV partners and external stakeholders
• Prepare the Teams’ presentation materials on litigation data and management for internal and external stakeholders; tracking of External counsel firm’s performance, Department’s briefing trends etc
• Provide secretariate support for diverse Legal and companywide collaborate projects; Litigation team projects for de-risking and reduction of the portfolio; the bi-monthly team meeting; Integrity Due Diligence Team for external vendors, and maintenance of sundry tracking Registers.
• provide sundry services incidental to the Team’s goals and to enhance team cohesion
• Main Challenges
• Part of a team of 3 paralegals working with 11 lawyers to support the management of circa 900 litigation matters with significant claim values, reputational and operational exposure. Interface with internal clients and external stakeholders, including external counsel, court officials, law enforcement agencies, and expert witnesses.
• Regular travels to court locations. Access to confidential documents and legally privileged communications.
• Role is specifically responsible for supporting Three In-house counsel in the management of circa 340 cases.
• This position requires excellent research, record keeping, observation, planning and analytical skills. Must be versatile in preparing Presentation packs, data review and analysis plus Report writing.
• Strong personal effectiveness skills with a pragmatic attitude are needed to ensure the most effective and efficient support is given to Legal Counsel in the management of litigation given tight court deadlines and competing demands from pending and new cases that come in weekly.
• Support litigation budget preparation and performance reviews internally and with Joint Venture partner to ensure no rejected cost. Part of team that oversees cost management through spend tracking, review for payment of invoices from external counsel, experts, and vendors in relation to litigation management and acts as Integrator to get evidence of tax remission from Finance/Vendor services team to the Law firms.
• Provide factual and procedural research support on litigation, arbitration, and contentious matters before Nigerian courts, international arbitral tribunals, and courts overseas.
• A Bachelor's degree from a reputable organization
• Minimum of
• 5
• years' work