Legal Assistant, Life Sciences

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What We Do.
Smart Biggar is Canada's largest firm practicing exclusively in intellectual property (“IP”) and technology law, with offices in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, and the Waterloo Region. Our business covers all aspects of IP and technology law, including procuring IP protection for our clients, enforcing, and litigating IP rights, and providing world-class advice and counseling in the areas of IP licensing, IP regulation, and IP strategy. We are Canada’s leader in IP and technology law and have been for over 125 years. We are regularly recognized as Canada’s top IP and technology firm.

We are part of the IPH Group. IPH Limited is the holding company for IP and associated companies offering a wide range of IP services and products. IPH companies employ a highly skilled multidisciplinary team of over 1,200 people in Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong SAR, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and Thailand. IPH companies service a diverse client base of Fortune Global 500 companies, multinationals, public sector research organisations, SMEs and professional services firms worldwide.
We are passionate about what we do and what we can achieve. The IPH Group is committed to promoting and maintaining a workplace culture of shared respect across companies to enable us all to feel valued and be the best we can be.
The Opportunity.
We are currently looking for a Legal Assistant to join and support our national Life Sciences team in Toronto. In this role, you will be part of our administrative team providing operational support to our patent agents and lawyers.

Responsibilities.
Prepare and file patent applications
Analyze documents received from the patent offices and report to clients
Monitor, prioritize, and respond to deadlines, and other time sensitive matters
Perform general administrative duties including creation of outgoing correspondence, entering billable time, preparation of invoices and record management
Prepare correspondence to clients, foreign associates, CIPO, and other parties as required
Other duties may be assigned or amended as required
Qualifications, competencies and experience.
Legal or General Administrative Assistant Diploma
2+ years’ experience as a legal assistant. Previous experience with Intellectual Property would be considered an asset
Excellent interpersonal and communication skills including the ability to deal directly with clients and all levels of staff
Excellent attention to detail, highly organized and proactive
Highly proficient in MS Office and ability to learn new software and technology quickly
#LI-HYBRID

Smart Biggar offers a comprehensive total rewards package including:
A competitive compensation structure based on transparency, clarity and fairness;
A flexible benefits program;
Personal days to help balance personal and professional commitments;
Employee referral program.
Smart Biggar is a proud member of the Law Firm Diversity and Inclusion Network (LFDIN), working to promote diversity and encourage a culture of inclusion in our Firm and the broader legal profession.

We welcome applications from all qualified individuals. Accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process.

We thank all applicants in advance for their interest; however, only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted. Read more