Paralegal, Legal Services

Full-time,  permanent

Position summary

Reporting to legal counsel, the paralegal has direct responsibility for assisting with the case management of complex files involving serious matters with a particular focus on the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia’s (CPSBC) remediation and discipline processes under the Health Professions Act (HPA) and the Health Professions Review Board (HPRB) files under section 50 of the HPA.

For complaints matters, the paralegal will assist legal counsel with preparation and review of matters for the Inquiry Committee, ensuring completeness and compliance with legal requirements, and will support and prioritize requests for legal input from the complaints department.

For HPRB matters, the paralegal will assist in the preparation of records, ensuring compliance with legal requirements, will provide coverage for general paralegal duties during absences and will support reconsideration files.

This role includes liaising directly with CPSBC’s registrar, deputy registrar, president, and various staff. Responsibilities also include legal drafting of reasons, decision letters, citations, settlement agreements, public notifications and other formal legal documents, along with coordinating and summarizing investigative information.

Duties and responsibilities

Duties include but are not limited to the following:

• draft and manage legal correspondence, identify issues for legal counsel to review
• provide administrative support to legal counsel in preparation for Inquiry Committee meetings, including printing materials, reviewing materials for legal issues, preparing past action summaries, preparing referral memoranda between panels (including failure to respond issues) and coordinating with complaints staff
• manage correspondence and scheduling, maintain templates and precedents
• conduct legal research
• ensure completeness of digital files and database
• support legal counsel by preparing reprimands and undertakings
• support the HPRB team; assist with primary record review, provide coverage during absences
• provide administrative and legal support for reconsideration files and referrals to legal; identify legal issues and manage deadlines, maintain a master list of all outstanding requests/actions referrals
• support legal counsel with managing serious complaint files, breach of practice condition files, and the triage of incoming HPRB files, including a detailed analysis and initiation of appropriate action steps
• ongoing review, analysis and management of assigned files including sorting, indexing, categorizing, ordering, and organizing documents and data
• draft correspondence, submissions, legal memorandums and other documents ranging from simple to complex in accordance with CPSBC templates and procedures
• attend Inquiry Committee meetings, review minutes and draft decision letters
• research legal precedent and rules of procedure and analyze case facts and properly cite legal authority
• involvement in the preparation, processing and exchanging of information on highly sensitive, privileged and confidential matters and interaction with third parties
• assist with the development and implementation of policies, procedures and work standards to achieve and enhance consistency/efficiency
• assist with general legal department overflow work as required
• attend and participate in monthly legal meetings and other internal meetings
• other duties and responsibilities as assigned by the chief legal counsel and legal counsel

Skills and qualifications

Required skills and qualifications include:

• paralegal certificate or diploma preferred, with a minimum of five years’ work experience in a
• legal environment at a paralegal level
• solid working knowledge of administrative law principles and procedural fairness
• excellent written and oral communication skills, including legal drafting, editing and proofreading
• ability to dicta-type and record minutes of meetings
• proficient at internet research and legal research databases such as Westlaw®, LexisNexis®, and Quicklaw®
• advanced technology skills including the mastery of word processing, spreadsheet, telecommunications, database, and legal research software
• ability to work with discretion in preparing and handling information of privileged information, with attention to detail
• critical thinking, analytical and problem-solving abilities
• ability to take direction, work both independently and as a team member
• ability to multi-task and prioritize a large workload effectively in a fast-paced environment and simultaneously balance competing priorities
• professional demeanour while communicating with internal and external parties
• ability to demonstrate strong work ethic and initiative in a team environment
• experience or interest in working on files involving medical and health related issues 

The compensation range for this position is $71,120 to $88,900 per year.

The College is committed to our ongoing journey to be a diverse, equitable and inclusive place to work. All interested applicants, regardless of age, family or marital status, physical or mental disability, race, colour, religion, place of origin, and ancestry, Indigenous identity, gender identity or expression, sex, sexual orientation political belief, socio-economic background, criminal conviction or any other characteristic protected by applicable law, are strongly encouraged to apply. Accommodations are available upon request for candidates taking part in the recruitment and selection process.

The College values the strength diversity brings to our workplace, so if you’re excited about a career at the College but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with the current job postings or you are not ready to apply yet, we encourage you to create an employee profile in the careers portal and our HR team will be able to see your skills and proactively match you with other roles more closely aligned to your experience and skillset.

We thank all applicants for their interest; however, only those selected for interview will be contacted. 

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC is located on the unceded and traditional territory of the Coast Salish peoples, including the territories of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ speaking peoples―the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) and sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, and the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh-ulh Sníchim speaking peoples―the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) Nation.

We acknowledge the rights and title of BC First Nations whose territories span across the province. These territories recognize that laws, governance, and health systems tied to lands and waters have existed here since time immemorial.