Transactional Legal Secretary/Paralegal

Donahue Fitzgerald LLP is a full-service California law firm rooted in the Bay Area, with offices in Oakland and Walnut Creek. We pride ourselves on combining big-firm capabilities with a collaborative, community-focused culture. Our team of attorneys and professionals work together across diverse practice areas to deliver exceptional client service. We are looking for driven, detail-oriented professionals who share our core values of integrity, teamwork, and client dedication to join our growing firm.

Job Summary

We are seeking a highly skilled, detail-oriented, and proactive Transactional Legal Secretary / Paralegal to join our transactional practice group. In this dual-function role, you will play a critical part in supporting attorneys through the preparation, drafting, and management of complex legal and corporate documents, with a specialized emphasis on franchise-related matters.

The ideal candidate possesses exceptional word processing abilities, strong project management skills, and a proven track record of managing competing deadlines in a fast-paced legal environment. We value team members who take initiative, communicate effectively, and proactively ask clarifying questions to ensure accuracy and efficiency.

Key Responsibilities

Document Preparation & Advanced Formatting

• Format, proofread, and finalize complex, lengthy transactional documents, including mergers and acquisitions agreements, commercial contracts, corporate governance records, and disclosure documents.
• Complete, organize, and maintain franchise-related documentation, including Franchise Disclosure Documents (FDDs), franchise agreements, state registration filings, and annual updates.
• Apply expert-level word processing skills (using MS Word styles, table of contents/authorities tools, redlining/blacklining software, and document comparison utilities).

Project Management & Workflow Tracking

• Serve as the central point of project coordination for ongoing corporate and franchise transactions.
• Track critical milestones, closing checklists, regulatory filing timelines, and transaction status across multiple concurrent matters.
• Maintain organized physical and electronic matter files, closing binders, and document repositories.

Proactive Attorney & Deadline Support

• Demonstrate a proven track record of managing multiple assignments and strict deadlines with minimal supervision.
• Actively monitor case/transaction calendars and proactively remind attorneys and clients of upcoming critical deadlines, filings, and deliverable dates.
• Take a proactive approach to workload management—actively asking clarifying questions when instructions or legal terms are ambiguous to prevent errors and optimize workflow.

Communication & Client Interaction

• Exercise excellent written communication skills to draft clear correspondence, status updates, client emails, and formal legal documents.
• Utilize excellent verbal communication skills to interact professionally with attorneys, corporate clients, regulatory agencies, and co-counsel.
• Efficiently multi-task and prioritize daily responsibilities while remaining calm, composed, and adaptable under tight closing schedules.

Qualifications & Requirements

• Experience: Minimum 3–5+ years of experience as a legal secretary, paralegal, or transactional support specialist in a law firm or corporate legal department.
• Technical Skills:
  • Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook).
  • Advanced experience with document management systems (e.g., NetDocuments) and legal calendaring/tickler software (e.g., CompuLaw).
  • Familiarity with redlining tools (e.g., Litera Compare/Workshare Compare) and PDF manipulation tools (FoxIt Pro).
• Domain Knowledge: Prior experience handling franchise filings, FDD preparation, corporate maintenance, or transactional closing checklists is desired, but not necessary.
• Core Competencies:
  • Superior organization and multi-tasking abilities.
  • High level of initiative, self-motivation, and sound judgment.
  • High attention to detail and strong skillset for legal formatting and proofreading.

Working Conditions

• Primarily based in Oakland, Must be able to work 5 days in the office for the first 90 days of employment and then a hybrid schedule of 3 days in the office.
• Office environment requiring frequent computer use and the ability to move about the office to interact with attorneys and staff.

This is an exciting opportunity to join a well-established firm that offers interesting work, a collaborative working environment, opportunities to support pro bono activities and competitive benefits.

The salary range is $90,000 to $115,000 per year, with an annual base salary. The actual base salary offered will depend on a variety of factors, including, without limitation, the qualifications of the individual applicant for the position, years of relevant experience, level of education attained, certifications or other professional licenses held, and, if applicable, the location in which the applicant lives and/or from which they will be performing the job.

DF LLP is an Equal Opportunity Employer