The Melonakos Law Firm is seeking a caring, compassionate team player to join us as an Associate Attorney. Our firm is small and has two attorneys and eight staff members. Since we are a small office, keeping a happy working environment is important. Any candidate we hire must be a positive person and pleasant to be around. We treat people with respect. Any lawyer who joins our firm should treat our clients, staff, potential clients, and witnesses with respect and courtesy.
Job Description:
The lawyer we hire will have primary responsibility for most of the cases that he or she works on. The lawyer will work mostly independently but of course will be able to consult with other lawyers in the office. There will be some oversight, but once trained will have little day-to-day supervision.
Primary duties will be (1) Handling cases for which he or she is the primary attorney, (2) Moving cases forward effectively and working with a sense of urgency and compassion, and (3) Creating happy clients who will speak well of the firm. As you can see from our Google Reviews, we actively work on making sure our clients are thrilled not just with the result, but with their experience working with our firm. Duties will also include some generalized work for the firm, and may also include collaborating with other attorneys at the firm on larger cases.
This position will handle a mix of pre-litigation and litigated cases. Our goal is to try at at least three cases a year.
Primary Responsibilities:
- Initiate a positive introduction with potential and existing clients.
- Speak with clients on a regular basis.
- Perform intake and case management duties (along with staff) willfully and with consistent attention to detail and care for the clients.
- Meet with clients via Zoom and in person when needed.
- Monitor client's treatment progress and client relationship with various medical and service providers.
- Draft and review settlement demands and all pre-litigation documentation.
- Negotiate cases to settlement.
- Manage a good-sized caseload proactively using our case management system by working the assigned task list to move cases forward.
- Draft and file lawsuits.
- Work closely with our litigation paralegal and clients to draft excellent discovery responses and requests.
- Prepare for and attend mediation.
- Prepare for and try cases to a jury.
- Handle litigation from start to finish.
- Attend minor settlement and wrongful death hearings.
- Interact with expert witnesses and opposing counsel and insurance companies.
- Work closely with Case Managers on the cases.
- Assist on any matters the owner or other attorneys as needed or requested.
Who We are Looking For:
We want to hire the best candidate we can find. Since we are a small firm, making sure that this hire is the correct hire is of the utmost importance. Here are some of our guidelines:
- Two years legal experience minimum.
- Experience in reading and understanding medical records.
- Strong people and telephone skills.
- Pleasant to be around.
- High personal standards for written work.
- Disciplined.
- Licensed to practice in South Carolina.
- Able to work with minimal supervision.
- Desire to help people.
- 30 minute commute to our office or less. This is not a WFH position.
- Must be able to use Microsoft Excel.
Other bonuses but not required:
- Experience handling motor vehicle collision cases (Plaintiff or Defense).
- Bar admission in North Carolina or willingness to be admitted to practice in North Carolina.
- Spanish fluency;
- Bar admissions in other states.
Compensation:
The lawyer who fills this position will at first be compensated on a salary basis. After two succesful years with the firm we will offer an opportunity for compensation to be a mix of salary and bonus on resolved cases. The firm also pays for bar dues, SCAJ membership, and malpractice insurance.
How to apply:
Send a resume and cover letter to . If you have writing samples, those are welcome as well. We understand that if you are currently employed that sending a resume to another law firm can be scary. Any submissions will be strictly confidential and only go the office manager and managing attorney. We will not reach out to anyone in the community asking about you until you give us permission to do so. Please do not reply directly on LinkedIn because the interface is wonky.