Sandra Mcdowell Email & Phone Number

Athens, Georgia, United States

Covington, Georgia

Created need analysis and proposed process presentations for C-level executives to explore risk/cost/benefit of centralizing collection litigation for national consumer finance company. Developed processes and procedures to centralize, beginning with company branches in California. Demonstrated success allowed California model to be proposed for expansion into other states as well. Initiated and maintained relationships with outside counsel and with internal managers including corporate legal, risk management, credit reporting, and IT departments, as well as with branch operations, to ensure a successful and cohesive approach to centralized litigation.

Covington, Ga

Hired to fill a newly created paralegal position for the Office of the General Counsel. Primary focus during employment was the friendly acquisition of competitor’s consumer lending branch locations; and, the securitization of consumer loans. • Research – Utilized electronic databases for state and federal consumer lending laws. Created state specific law summaries addressing requirements and restrictions for licensing, finance charges, disclosures, credit insurance, collections and repossessions, etc. in the states for the newly acquired branch locations, as well as updating law summaries for current state locations. • Assisted with collecting, organizing and presenting documents and information for due diligence projects associated with securitization of consumer loans.Day-to-day responsibilities, outside of the main objectives described above, included:• Litigation – Received service of process, conducted initial review of complaints and gathered information and documents to defend claims. Interfaced with internal vendor risk department to refine the vetting process for law firms and then retained appropriate outside counsel. Assisted with witness identification, interviews and affidavits and gathered information and documents for discovery responses. Created and maintained a database for litigation cases and prepared a quarterly litigation status report for board meetings.• Subpoenas - Created process for responding to criminal and civil subpoenas concerning company’s customers. Gathered, organized and numbered documents and prepared written response identifying documents produced and certifying same as business records. • Annual Reports - Created system for tracking and filing annual reports with Secretary of State offices to obtain and maintain authorizations to conduct business.• Audit and Compliance – assisted with resolution of issues concerning regulatory matters (Fair Lending, Fair Credit Reporting, Suspicious Activity Reports,

Atlanta, Ga

Sr. Litigation Paralegal for Plaintiffs’ practice law firm. Case assignments focused on medical malpractice and personal injuries caused by product liability. Responsible for traditional paralegal duties, including managing the discovery process; preparing medical record summaries; electronic and manual court filings in Federal Courts and State Courts; client contact; calendaring deadlines, court appearances, depositions, etc. Provided assistance with designing and revising internal case management software, pdf fillable forms, and other processes and procedures to streamline litigation practice.

Atlanta, Ga

Case Manager and Senior Paralegal for relatively new, very busy plaintiffs’ firm. Created internal policies and procedures to establish guidelines for paralegal functions. Recruited paralegals and senior associate attorney to create a highly efficient, super-achieving support team for partners’ practice. Focused on day-to-day management of staff assignments to move a yearly average of 50+active cases, from inception to closing. Acted as firm liaison with IT vendor, accountant, health benefits coordinator, professional negligence insurer, State Bar of Georgia, website administrator, and appointed Plan Administrator for the firm’s new 401K plan, while remaining responsible for performance of traditional senior paralegal duties, including research and drafting briefs, medical record summaries, managing all phases of pretrial discovery with emphasis on written discovery requests and responses, deposition outlines, document review, control and analysis. Created calendaring system for critical dates with reminders; also created and kept current a contact database for clients, expert witnesses and other litigation support services. Responsible for drafting and editing text, gathering exhibits and photographs to create and publish settlement demand booklets. Assisted and participated at mediations and trials. May 2012 provided pretrial and trial support resulting in $5M verdict for client in a high profile, medical malpractice, wrongful death case.

Cincinnati, Ohio Area

Litigation paralegal for oldest full service law firm located in Cincinnati. Focused on litigation, including employment law (EEO, ADA, worker’s compensation, and unemployment) commercial litigation, and insurance defense (primarily premises liability for large local amusement park). Conducted detail oriented investigations/interviews and legal research. Prepared internal case summary memos, legal briefs, dispositive motions, settlement offers/counteroffers, and correspondence. Managed all phases of pretrial discovery with emphasis on record review, document control, and analysis. Assisted at trials, mediations, and depositions. Supported firm’s commitment to community service by participating in firm’s mentoring and tutoring program for at-risk inner city students. Committee member for annual United Way fundraising campaigns and Christmas giving programs.

Litigation paralegal for Ashland Petroleum Company, formerly a division of Ashland Inc. Assisted in the resolution of a large-scale, multi plaintiff toxic tort litigation. Supervised 6 employees assigned to operate discovery center for the lawsuit. Extensive contact with outside counsel and in-house personnel regarding case management issues. Assisted in house counsel to prepare other litigation cases for trial. Relied heavily on communication skills to conduct employee witness interviews and preparations for deposition or trial testimony, and for correspondence with general liability insurers, outside counsel, opposing counsel, and the courts. Offered promotion to Oil Pollution Act Emergency Response Team Coordinator.

Cape Canaveral, Fl

Support for VP, General Counsel with assistance to two in house attorneys. Reviewed predecessor company’s contracts for conversion to current corporate entity. Assisted with federal contract disputes and labor arbitrations. Qualified and maintained corporate status as authorized foreign corporation in approximately 45 states/territories. Researched requirements and obtained out of-state professional licenses to provide contract facility management services. Researched EEO and ADA complaints, and prepared and filed position statements in response to those claims.