Paralegal

Description

Key Responsibilities

• Draft, review, and analyze a wide range of commercial agreements, including customer contracts, service agreements, vendor agreements, NDAs, and lease agreements.
• Identify legal, financial, and operational risks in contracts and propose practical mitigation strategies.
• Support negotiations by advising on key terms, fallback positions, and risk exposure.
• Maintain contract lifecycle management systems and ensure proper documentation and execution

• Work with compliance department to ensure adherence to Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) regulations and other applicable shipping and trade laws.
• Support compliance with NVOCC tariff requirements, service contracts, and licensing obligations.
• Work closely with the compliance team to assess regulatory risk and implement compliant business practices.

• Conduct in-depth legal research across maritime, commercial, regulatory, OSHA and employment law topics.
• Prepare clear, actionable legal memoranda, summaries, and guidance for the general counsel and business stakeholders.
• Assist in evaluating legal exposure and advising on risk in day-to-day operations.
• Support internal audits, investigations and regulatory inquiries.

• Assist general counsel, finance, and collections team with managing collection processes, including drafting demand letters, filing bond claims, and other recovery strategies.
• Under supervision of general counsel, liaise with insurance & claims teams on claims reporting and insurance renewals, handling cargo claims, freight disputes, and related investigations.
• Liaise with external counsel on litigation and arbitration matters as needed.

• Act as a legal resource to compliance, claims, insurance, finance, HR, operational, and commercial teams.
• Provide practical, business-oriented legal guidance on operational and contractual matters.
• Collaborate with internal teams to proactively identify and mitigate legal risks.

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

• Bachelor’s degree required; Paralegal certificate strongly preferred.
• 5+ years of substantive paralegal experience, preferably in-house or in transportation, logistics, maritime, or commercial law.
• Demonstrated expertise in: 
  • Corporate law and governance 
  • Commercial contract drafting, review, and negotiation support 
  • Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) regulations
  • Legal research and issue analysis 
  • Collections and dispute (advisory support) 
  • Employment law (advisory support)
• Experience in the shipping, logistics, or transportation industry strongly preferred.
• Excellent contract review and drafting skills.
• Strong analytical and issue-spotting abilities with a focus on practical risk mitigation.
• Ability to work independently on substantive legal matters with minimal supervision.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to convey complex legal concepts clearly and effectively liaise with cross-functional teams, including compliance, claims and finance.
• High level of professionalism and discretion.
• Detail-oriented with the ability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced, global environment.
• Proficiency in legal research tools and contract management systems.
• Experience in a multinational, highly regulated industry.
• Familiarity with maritime law, bills of lading, tariffs, and freight forwarding operations.
• Experience working closely with compliance, claims, and insurance functions.

Benefits