Zandrhea de Guzman

I am a legal assistant with over 14 years of experience in litigation. 

• Knowledge in preparing, editing and formatting correspondence
• Experience with Elite, Acumin, CMS, ACL, PC Law Accounting
• Trained in Eclipse SE Desktop and Eclipse SE Administration
• Dedicated to paying attention to detail
• Understanding of the Court system
• Superior keyboarding skills at 90 WPM
• Ability to manage and prioritize stressful workload accordingly
• Possess strong written and verbal communication skills 
• Highly motivated with a positive and outgoing personality
• Provides excellent leadership skills and proven to work well in a team or independently
• Able to adapt to new work environments and different office procedures

Stikeman Elliott LLP                          

Legal Administrative Assistant                               

Present

• Provide administrative support to a team of five lawyers in the Bankruptcy and Insolvency/Litigation Department
• Prepared, drafted, and finalized correspondence and court documents for professionals
• Managed the professional's calendar for meetings, Questioning for Discovery, mediations, etc.
• Maintained filing and expense reports of the professionals
• Drafted and filed court documents, including Bankruptcy Applications, Affidavits, and Orders, in accordance with court rules and guidelines. 
• As part of the law firm's internal operations, coordinate the Attorney for Service system, ensuring that all documents served to our office were promptly handled and provided to the firm's clients as soon as they were received.

Whitelaw Twining LLP                        

Hybrid Paralegal/Assistant                      

March 2021 – April 2022

• Provided administrative and paralegal support to the Insurance Litigation Department 
• Achieved yearly billable targets according to firm standards
• Prepared, drafted, and finalized correspondence and court documents for professionals
• Managed the professional's calendar for meetings, Questioning for Discovery, mediations, etc.
• Prepared, drafted, and finalized court documents for filing in Court of Queen's Bench
• Established and maintained client files, loaded and coded documents in Eclipse
• Loaded and coded client materials to produce Affidavit of Records
• Ingested opposing counsel records and organized all filed pleadings
• Maintained electronic documentation on all firm platforms
• Reviewed and analyzed client materials, produced treatment chronologies, income chronologies, and document summaries
• Prepared instructional letters and indexes for experts in litigation.

Field Law                                 

Legal Assistant/Paralegal                              

October 2017 – March 2021

• Assisted lawyers in the Insurance Litigation Department and performed paralegal tasks
• Prepare drafted and finalized correspondence and court documents on behalf of professionals
• Maintain the professional’s calendar in regard to meetings, Questionings, mediations, etc.
• Maintain all filing and expense reports of the professionals
• Prepare, draft and finalize court documents primarily in Insurance Defence and General litigation (Statement of Claim, Statement of Defence, Third Party Claims, Civil Claims, Dispute Notes, Affidavit of Records, Applications, Orders, etc.)
• Create client files, loading and coding of documents in Eclipse
• Loading and coding of client materials to produce Affidavit of Records
• Ingestion of opposing counsel records and organization of all filed pleadings
• Review and analyze client materials, any and all production for the purposes of preparation of treatment chronologies, income chronologies and document summaries

McLennan Ross LLP               

Litigation Legal Assistant                           

October 2013 – October 2017

• Assisted a Partner and Associate who primarily practice insurance defence litigation
• Prepared, drafted and finalized correspondence and court documents on behalf of professionals
• Delegated requests and organize projects for paralegals
• Entered and finalized professional’s time into accounting system daily
• Maintained all filing and expense reports of the professionals
• Compiled quarterly accounts for each client; i.e, draft, edit and finalize invoices
• Responsible for opening/closing files, conflict checks and screening calls for new clients
• Assisted in scheduling meetings and maintaining the professional’s calendar
• Created itineraries for marketing trips, flights and accommodations

Provincial Court of Alberta                 

Judicial Assistant                              

March 2013 – September 2013

Alberta Justice

• Assisted three Judges of the Provincial Court, Criminal
• Rotate weekly into various duties as primary phones, secondary phones / mail retrieval & distribution, warrant duty, back-up warrant duty, pre-trial conferences, back-up pre-trial conferences, information search & photocopying
• Draft and finalize various documents such as judgments, voir dires and rulings
• Transcribe speeches, reports, presentations, and special projects i.e., the Bar Admission ceremonies and draft routine correspondence as well as, copying dockets, information and exhibits to enable the Judge to respond effectively
• Maintain and distribute filed court documents to Judges weekly for matters being heard in Court
• Reconcile medical claims, travel expenses and accommodations

Gowling WLG                                     

Legal Assistant                                           

April 2012 – March 2013

• Assisted a Partner and Associate in civil litigation direct focus in medical defence and personal injury
• Preparation of all correspondence, expert inquiries and accounts
• Organize and prepare materials for expert inquiries
• Maintain all filing and expense reports of the professionals
• Responsible for organization of CMPA files and milestones
• Conduct courthouse filing and searches
• Responsible for scheduling meetings and maintaining the professional’s calendar

Borden Ladner Gervais LLP               

Legal Assistant                                          

April 2011 – April 2012

• Assists two lawyers in the Construction, Engineering & Fidelity and Financial Services Department
• Organize professional’s workflow, calendar, appointments, diarized files and filing system.
• Preparation of routine correspondence and legal documents through digital dictation and precedents
• Responsible for filing of various legal documents in Land Titles and Court of Queen’s Bench
• Conduct Land Titles and Corporate searches along with preparation of writ renewals in PPR (Altafacts)
• Enter daily timesheets and produce monthly statements of accounts for clients
• Responsible for opening of files and drafting of retainer letters
• Maintenance of closing the settled or inactive files
• Support fellow assistants in the work group with expedited work or projects

Pollock & Company                           

Legal Assistant                                 

December 2009 – April 2011

Winnipeg, MB

• Assisted a lawyer who focused on Civil Litigation mainly Medical Malpractice, Personal Injury, Criminal Law and Labour Matters (Wrongful/Unjust Dismissals)
• Arranged meetings including discoveries, judicial dispute resolutions and appointments with clients, etc.
• Organized and expedited the flow of work through the professional’s practice, initiatin any follow-up action as appropriate and keep files up to date on a consistent basis
• Generated documents based on digital dictation and transcribe legal documents and correspondence.
• Produced statements of accounts/billing out and closing of files after settlement
• Supported front reception, including greeting people, answering phones and cash/debit/credit transactions.

Posner & Trachtenberg                       

Legal Assistant                         

June 2009 – December 2009

Winnipeg, MB

• Assisted a sole practitioner in areas of Real Estate both in Manitoba and Ontario, Wills & Estates and Corporate Law
• Responsible for opening and closing client files
• Prepared letters, memos, various legal documents, reporting letters and statements of accounts
• Responsible for keeping files organized and up to date for real estate closing dates

Herzing College                                   

Legal Assistant Program                                    

June 2009

Winnipeg Campus                   

• Educated in the different areas of Law in Manitoba
• Knowledge in preparing precedents
• Dean’s List Honour Roll and graduated with a 4.0 GPA