Paralegal

The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) helps people overcome workplace injuries and illnesses and helps business owners make their workplaces safe and healthy. Our people are at the heart of what we do. Bring your enthusiasm and expertise to the WSIB, and we'll help you achieve your personal and professional goals through meaningful work, development opportunities and a culture of compassion, integrity and teamwork.

We are the WSIB. And we're here to help.
This is a temporary opportunity for up to 18 months.
Job Summary :
Under the direction of a lawyer, perform certain legal services in a timely and responsive manner while maintaining confidentiality of privileged and/or sensitive information. Practice areas include, but are not limited to, contracts (corporate/commercial), litigation, collections, bankruptcy and insolvency, insurance, provincial offences and administrative law.

What can I expect to do in this role?

Major Duties & Responsibilities
1. Engage in contract services by:
• Reviewing, drafting and amending a variety of contracts to accurately reflect business requirements, including recommending alternatives, additions or changes, when necessary, to conform with WSIB policy, minimize risk, and achieve proper framing of the business needs;
• Gathering appropriate information necessary to the preparation of contract documents, through the analysis of preliminary information provided by lines of business to determine the nature of the request, validate the urgency, and potential risk to the organization; discussing with the lines of business his/her requirements and identifying possible contracting options appropriate in the circumstances; gathering additional information often found in sources such as proposals, business cases, budget approval documents, and correspondence;
• Assist with record keeping and contract management activities associated with contracts.
2. Engage in advisory services by:
• Reviewing requests for legal advice that are received by Legal Services; discussing requests with requesting area and/or Legal Counsel; gathering information from requestor, claim or account files, and elsewhere;
• Conducting legal research via libraries, online databases, legal publications, and other sources;
• Drafting documents for review by Legal Counsel;
• Providing advice within areas of practice permitted by license; and
• Reviewing power of attorney documents and responding to inquiries, under the supervision of Legal Counsel.
3. Act for the WSIB on civil litigation matters, including debt collection, subrogated personal injury and defence matters in the Small Claims Court, and matters in other courts and tribunals before which paralegals may appear, by:
• Meeting with lines of business; analyzing information provided by them as well as pertinent information in claim or account files and elsewhere to evaluate the merits of the legal action; exercising discretion when disclosing confidential information being mindful of privacy concerns;
• Conducting legal research via libraries, online databases, legal publications, and other sources to evaluate the merits of the legal action;
• Providing the lines of business with legal opinions on merits of the legal action and possible strategies to pursue;
• Drafting and sending documents including demand letters and other correspondence, pleadings, motion materials, and materials for settlement conferences;
• Negotiating settlements to legal actions, pursuant to instructions given;
• Preparing for court or tribunal hearings, including by meeting with witnesses, drafting submissions, and communicating with opposing parties and lines of business;
• Attending court or tribunal hearings, including trials, motions, assessment hearings and settlement conferences, and engaging in activities related to appearances, including making submissions to present the WSIB's position, calling evidence, conducting direct examinations and cross-examinations of witnesses, and engaging in settlement discussions;
• Engaging in any necessary post-hearing and/or file closure activities, including enforcing judgments in favour of the WSIB, filing or obtaining court or tribunal records, and reporting to the lines of business.
4. Act in prosecutions of offences under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 by:
• Reviewing disclosure packages and other materials from the WSIB's investigations area; meeting with the investigations area to review evidence and proposed charges; providing opinions and recommendations;
• Conducting legal research via libraries, online databases, legal publications, and other sources;
• Preparing for court attendances, including meeting with witnesses, drafting submissions, and communicating with opposing parties and investigations team;
• Attending court hearings, including first appearances, to-be-set dates, to-be-spoken-to dates, pre-trial conferences and trials, and engaging in activities related to appearances, including making submissions, presenting evidence, conducting direct examinations and cross-examinations of witnesses;
• Engaging in any necessary post-trial and/or file closure activities.
5. Support Legal Counsel in various areas of practice, and Senior Prosecutions in prosecutions, by:
• In subrogated matters, reviewing and providing assistance on issues relating to worker elections under section 30 of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997; conducting comprehensive investigations of accident-related matters by gathering all relevant information through documents, interviews and visual inspection; analyzing and evaluating the information to determine the degree of success for a claim for damages; securing definitive documentation to support claim for damages; and negotiating settlement or preparing detailed report for Legal Counsel to proceed with lawsuit outside the paralegal's scope of permitted practice;
• In prosecutions, attending in court on behalf of Senior Prosecutors, and assisting them at trials and other appearances;
• In all matters, conducting legal research via libraries, online databases, legal publications, and other sources; drafting documents; and attending meetings.
6. Act in the capacity of Commissioner of Oaths for the WSIB,
7. Perform other related duties as required or assigned.

How do I qualify?

JOB REQUIREMENTS:

1) Education (Level and Specialty / Discipline):
• Post secondary diploma program of over two years and up to three years in Paralegal program and a P1 Paralegal L licence and membership in good standing with the Law Society of Upper Canada.
2) Experience (Years of Related Experience and Type of Experience):
• Total of seven years and three months experience.
o Fours years prior experience in a legal environment.
o Three years and three months experience on the job to reach full working level.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS:

To apply for this position, please submit your application by the closing date noted above on our Job Opportunities page: https://www.wsib.ca/en/careers
• We appreciate the interest of all candidates. Due to the volumes of applications we receive, we are only able to contact candidates that are selected to move forward in the recruitment process. The WSIB is an equal opportunity employer.
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• The WSIB is an equal opportunity employer and provides accommodation for job applicants in accordance with the Human Rights Code and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. If you are an individual with a disability and you need accommodation in order to apply for this position, please contact talentacquisitioncentre@wsib.on.ca. If you are invited to participate in the assessment process, please provide your accommodation needs at that time. Please be advised that you may be required to provide medical documentation to the WSIB's Corporate Health Department so that appropriate accommodation can be provided to you throughout the recruitment process.
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• Employees of the WSIB have important ethical responsibilities, including the obligation to place the public interest above personal interests. Job applicants are therefore required to disclose any circumstance that could result in a real, potential or perceived conflict of interest. These may include: political activity, directorship or other outside employment and certain personal relationships (e.g. with existing WSIB employees, clients and/or stakeholders). Please contact TAC if you have any questions about conflict of interest obligations and/ or how to make a disclosure.
• Privacy Statement

Personal information will be collected from your resume, application, cover letter and references under the authority of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 and will be used by the Talent Acquisition Centre and WSIB hiring parties to assess/validate your qualifications and/or determine if you meet the requirements of vacant positions and/or gather information relevant for recruitment purposes. If you have questions or concerns regarding the collection and use of your personal information, contact the WSIB Privacy Office, 200 Front Street West, Toronto, ON, M5V 3J1 or 416-344-5323 or 1-800-387-0750 extension 5323. Be advised that information related to application status will not be provided.

Collection of Information

Your personal information is being collected and will be used to determine your qualifications for employment with the Ontario Public Service, and for recruitment modernization initiatives. OPS Careers is an authorized common service in accordance with s. 6 of the Ministry of Government Services Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. M.25 and this collection of personal information is necessary to the proper administration of OPS Careers.

Please do not provide more personal information than what is asked of you. For example, do not include your social insurance number, photograph, or banking information, etc. with your application. We strongly encourage you not to provide us with information beyond that which is requested in the job posting.

If you have any questions about the collection, use, disclosure, or retention of your personal information, please contact us.

All external applicants (including former employees of the Ontario Public Service) applying to a competition in a ministry or Commission public body must disclose (either in the cover letter or resume) previous employment with the Ontario Public Service. Disclosure must include positions held, dates of employment and any active restrictions as applicable from being rehired by the Ontario Public Service. Active restrictions can include time and/or ministry-specific restrictions currently in force, and may preclude a former employee from being offered a position with the Ontario Public Service for a specific time period (e.g. one year), or from being offered a position with a specific ministry (either for a pre-determined time period or indefinitely). The circumstances around an employee's exit will be considered prior to an offer of employment.

Remember: The deadline to apply is Thursday, October 24, 2019 11:59 pm EDT. Late applications will not be accepted.

We thank you for your interest. Only those selected for further screening or an interview will be contacted.