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Built on a commitment to legal excellence and a personal commitment to each of our clients, Blethen Berens is proud to foster a culture of collaboration, healthy competition, and support.
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CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
Receptionist
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Blethen Berens, a full-service law firm, is currently hiring a Receptionist in our Mankato, MN office. The Receptionist is a key member of our team giving the first impression of our firm to all clients. The ideal candidate must maintain a high degree of professionalism, have excellent communication skills, be highly organized, reliable, punctual and have a commitment to providing a high level of customer service in a fast-paced environment.
As first point of contact the ideal candidate must be able to take initiative amongst our team to oversee a multi-line phone system and monitor coverage of client first impressions with our backup support staff as needed.
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Answer and route all incoming calls, following screening protocols.
Ensure all clients feel welcome to our firm by greeting and helping them upon arrival.
Schedule appointments for legal staff and attorneys.
Manage conference rooms including scheduling, stocking and cleaning as necessary.
Maintain a professional, clean, friendly and comfortable lobby.
Process conflict checks for potential new files.
Process client payments and prepare receipts.
Order office supplies as needed.
Assist Legal Assistants, Paralegals and Accountant with miscellaneous administrative work as needed.
Index Continuing Legal Education binders.
Respond to all incoming inquiries from the firm website.
Miscellaneous drafting, copying and scanning of documents.
Follow all office policies and procedures as defined in the firm handbook.
Other duties as assigned.
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Administrative experience preferred but not required.
Excellent computer skills, including proficiency in Microsoft products.
Excellent interpersonal skills.
Excellent oral and written communications.
Excellent problem-solving ability.
Effective and positive inter-personal communications with clients, attorneys and non-attorney staff.
Ability to work in a fast-paced environment.
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Blethen Berens offers a competitive compensation and benefits package that includes:
Hourly compensation ranging from $17 - $20/hour
Paid Time Off
Paid holidays
401(k) profit-sharing plan
Long term disability and life insurance
Health, vision and dental insurance
Health Savings Account
Interested applicants should email their resume and cover letter to our Director of Office
Administration, Lisa Jasperson, at ljasperson@blethenberens.com.
SUMMER ASSOCIATE PROGRAM
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The Summer Associate Program is 10-12 weeks in length and is designed to provide an encompassing look at what it means to be an attorney at Blethen Berens.
During the program, summer associates are given meaningful research and writing assignments, affording them the opportunity to work with many different lawyers in as many practice areas as possible. The program also incorporates many opportunities for summer associates to observe and participate in events such as trials, depositions, hearings, negotiations and closings.
While the summer associates gain a working knowledge of our law firm, our clients and our expectations for new attorneys, we get to know the summer associates, taking the opportunity to consider each for a position with our firm after they finish law school.
Our goal through this program is to find those individuals who have the potential for outstanding legal careers and that can deliver meaningful contributions to the firm, our clients and the community.
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Summer associates receive a variety of challenging assignments, ranging from client meetings and courtroom exposure, to revising agreements and composing memos. Each experience is designed to enhance reasoning, research, oral presentation and writing skills. Our experience is that varying the assignments enables both the summer associate and us to get a more complete picture upon which to comfortably base an employment decision.
The format for our program exposes our summer associates to a wide range of activities, including:
Contact with firm clients and occasional visits to client facilities;
Exposure to the court system;
Observation of closings, depositions, trials, arbitrations, mediations or oral arguments;
Opportunities to produce various legal documents that are reviewed and actually used for the benefit of clients;
Participation in a wide variety of research projects; and
Exposure to many of the practice areas within the firm.
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An integral part of our summer associate program is the support our participants receive from their Blethen Berens mentors.
Each associate is assigned two mentors – a partner from our litigation team and a partner from our transactional team – whose role it is to help guide the associate through the summer experience.
Each mentor takes a genuine interest in ensuring a well-rounded summer associate experience and helps ensure that our summer associates receive diverse, interesting and challenging assignments while at the firm.
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We believe that receiving feedback is an integral component of the growth process. Summer associates receive both informal and formal feedback from the attorneys in our office.
Informal feedback is delivered through direct, ongoing feedback to the summer associates as they work on current assignments.
When an assignment is completed, the assigning attorney submits a formal evaluation form. These are reviewed with the associate during formal monthly reviews with their mentors. Not only does this review process allow for a greater understanding of the expectations we have for our Blethen Berens associates but allows them the opportunity to get to know our attorneys better and experience each practice’s culture and day-to-day atmosphere.
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Beyond obtaining legal experience, training, mentoring, and building relationships with staff and the community, Blethen Berens Summer Associates earn a weekly salary that is competitive in the marketplace. The firm also provides Summer Associates with a housing stipend.
We also act as a resource assisting Summer Associates with securing housing in our community by utilizing our deep rooted connections and relationships we’ve built within the community.
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Our summer associate program includes many opportunities to meet and get to know our attorneys and staff in both professional and social settings. Networking opportunities are plentiful and include accompanying Blethen Berens attorneys to community group functions and meetings, and attending Chamber functions and other professional networking events.
While we expect the summer associates to work hard and demonstrate their abilities, there is also a social component to the program that provides further opportunities to interact with our attorneys and staff, and to see and experience what the Mankato and New Ulm communities have to offer.
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Blethen Berens participates in the On-Campus Interview process hosted by several law schools in our region. You can apply for our Summer Associate program through that process. If you do not see our posting at your law school, applicants can email their application package to our Director of Office Administration, Lisa Jasperson, at ljasperson@blethenberens.com.
Your application package should include a cover letter, resume, transcript, and writing sample.
Interviews are typically held the summer prior to the summer in which you will work.