Paralegal

About us

HBA Legal is a team of award-winning solicitors offering a highly competitive suite of legal and technical claims services to meet the needs of today’s insurance marketplace. We have offices across Perth, Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne and Newcastle.

We are an evolved legal services business with a different approach to practice. Bureaucracy has been replaced with plain English, responsiveness and flexibility. We apply creative thinking to deliver expert solutions across legal challenges, claims, risk and business processes.

This opportunity sits within our Casualty and Commercial practice group, headed by Partner, Iona Sjahadi. While the role is based in our Sydney office, you will be part of a collaborative national team.

Learn more by visiting our website: https://www.hbalegal.com/

About the role and your team

Our team specialises in defendant insurance law, acting for top 20 ASX listed companies, underwriters, brokers, insurers, insureds, public and private companies, state and federal governments, as well as the London insurance market.

We’re looking for a motivated 2-3 year law student to join our Sydney office, with availability to work 2-3 days per week on a casual basis. Experience in property damage or small claims matters is desirable but certainly not a requirement! We welcome candidates looking to take their first step into the legal profession, particularly those who can bring strong transferable skills.

You’ll work closely with our legal and administrative teams to provide seamless support across the practice. Key responsibilities include:

• Preparing correspondence to other parties’ solicitors as required
• Drafting and preparing pleadings as required
• Preparing medical schedules including reviewing and summarising medical evidence
• Preparing liability schedules including reviewing and summarising liability evidence
• Preparing pre-court PIPA documentation as required, including list of documents, liability responses, section 16 contribution notices, section 22 requests, compliance responses, pre-compulsory documents
• Preparing briefs to counsel, medical experts and engineering experts
• Identifying and requesting relevant records including employment, statutory information, medical and liability details
• Organising service providers in relation to hearings including interpreter service; counsel’s availability
• Legal research i.e. Legislative case research; case summaries
• Assisting with preparation of client presentations including preparing PowerPoint slides
• Booking medical appointments and examinations
• Telephone calls to the courts, other parties’ solicitors, counsel as required
• LexisNexis property and ASIC searches
• Archiving and organising archive collection
• Collecting and dropping off items to the DX
• Attending court to file documents/collect filed documents
• Taking minutes and preparing team meeting agenda’s
• Organising functions when required including team and client events
• Processing, organising and checking invoices and general accounting items on matters including cheques and receipting
• Updating and managing precedent documents and template documents
• General Actionstep database management, when required, including but not limited to organising, filing, scanning and closing matters in Actionstep.
• General administration when required, including but not limited to, photocopying and archiving, mail collection and management, courier bookings, solicitor diary and database management

What we’re looking for

• Sound level skills in MS Word, Outlook, PowerPoint and Excel, Adobe Acrobat, Nitro Pro 
• Excellent oral and written communication skills 
• Ability to work autonomously 
• Strong attention to detail 
• Strong time management and organisational skills 
• Excellent interpersonal skills 

Desirable attributes: 

• Previous experience in similar role in a law firm or professional services environment. 
• Previous experience supporting matters across property liability, public liability, or personal injury.
• Experience with Actionstep or equivalent Practice Management systems 
• Experience in the Insurance sector  

What we can offer you 

• Relaxed office environment where you can “Dress for your Day”. 
• Up to 12 weeks Paid Parental Leaving depending on years of service. 
• Structured mentoring and career development opportunities through internal and external training.  
• Health and Wellbeing: Employee Assistance Program with 24/7 complimentary confidential counselling, nutrition, legal, and financial advice. Corporate headspace membership, and annual flu vaccinations. 
• Enjoy your birthday off with friends and family with an extra day of birthday leave per year. 
• Access to everyday discounts through our corporate discount schemes.  

Why HBA?

We strive to create an environment where people can and do perform at their very best. They understand what we are creating, and they want to be a part of it, because they understand the difference that we make to our clients’ lives. And where we succeed, we share the rewards and recognise people in ways that celebrate our achievements.

HBA is all about doing things differently. We challenge the stereotypes associated with traditional law firms in terms of our structure, management style and way of life. Creativity and innovation are at the heart of everything we do.

Next steps

If you’re interested in a career with HBA, then please apply to this vacancy via Seek or reach out to us directly at careers@hbalegal.com

Please know that as much as we would like to, we can’t always get back to everyone. At this stage, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

We encourage people of all genders, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people with disabilities and people with culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds to apply for this role.

Please note in order to comply with our regulatory obligations, all successful candidates must consent to HBA Legal conducting background checks.