Senior Litigation Paralegal

BMO is seeking an experienced Senior Litigation Paralegal to join its U.S. Litigation & Dispute Resolution team. This role partners closely with litigators and business stakeholders to manage a diverse portfolio of litigation, regulatory, investigative, and pre-litigation matters.

The successful candidate will play a key role in all phases of litigation, including discovery, document preservation, outside counsel management, legal operations, reporting, and trial preparation. This is a highly visible position that requires strong judgment, attention to detail, project management skills, and the ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Support attorneys on all phases of litigation, arbitration, regulatory, and investigative matters.
• Coordinate and manage document collections, discovery responses, and productions.
• Administer legal holds, preservation notices, and related tracking processes.
• Maintain matter information within legal matter management systems and ensure data integrity.
• Manage litigation budgets, outside counsel invoices, accruals, and legal spend reporting.
• Assist with subpoena, garnishment, levy, and records requests across multiple jurisdictions.
• Conduct legal and factual research using Westlaw, PACER, court dockets, and internal systems.
• Review and summarize pleadings, discovery, deposition transcripts, and other case materials.
• Prepare matter status reports, dashboards, presentations, and executive-level reporting.
• Support trial, hearing, mediation, and deposition preparation.
• Coordinate with internal business partners and outside counsel to gather information and meet litigation deadlines.
• Develop and maintain templates, procedures, and best practices to improve operational efficiency.
• Mentor junior paralegals and contribute to litigation operations initiatives.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and Paralegal Certificate, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• 7+ years of litigation paralegal experience in a law firm, financial institution, or sophisticated in-house legal department.
• Strong knowledge of civil litigation procedures, discovery processes, and court filings.
• Experience managing complex document collections and electronic discovery.
• Experience supporting outside counsel management, budgeting, and invoice review.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office, legal matter management systems, PACER, Westlaw, and eDiscovery tools.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong organizational, analytical, and project management abilities.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• High degree of professionalism and ability to handle confidential information.

Preferred Qualifications

• Financial services or banking litigation experience.
• Experience supporting complex commercial litigation, class actions, regulatory matters, or government investigations.
• Experience with legal operations, reporting, analytics, and process improvement initiatives.
• Familiarity with litigation hold platforms and eDiscovery applications.