Paralegal 1/2

Job Description

Come join the State of Alaska!

This job class uses Competency Based minimum qualifications (MQs). Please read the Competency Based MQ instructions below to learn more.

The Department of Law, Civil Division is recruiting for a Child Protection Paralegal in Anchorage!

This position is open to Alaska Residents only. Please check our

residency definition

to determine if you qualify.

What You Will Be Doing:

A paralegal for the Child Protection Section will provide legal assistance to attorneys who represent the Department of Family and Community Services, Office of Children’s Services.  The paralegal will provide trial and hearing support to attorneys who handle child-in-need-of-aid cases.  The position will be assigned significant discovery review and redaction, routine legal research, document and motion drafting, witness interview and coordination, evidence gathering and production, preparation of pretrial notebooks, and production of exhibits.

Mission and Values/Culture:

The Department of Law upholds the rule of law, protects public safety, and provides high quality legal representation to executive branch agencies for the benefit of all Alaskans. The Department of Law is committed to excellence in our work. We will maintain the highest standards of ethics and professionalism to promote exceptional legal representation to the State through a valued and well-trained team of attorneys and administrative professionals dedicated to public service. Our team values integrity, success, positivity, creativity, collaboration, and empowerment. The applicant can expect to be relied on for their strengths as well as given opportunities for professional development as part of a focused team.

Benefits of Joining Our Team:

Our paralegals are the attorneys’ right hand, helping them from top to bottom and beginning to end over the course of their cases. Within that, we offer opportunities to learn about the legal system, engage with the court, prepare for hearings and trials, and help protect Alaska’s children to the benefit of all Alaskans.  People who succeed and thrive in our office are those who can be reliable and present each day to work alongside their assigned attorneys to tackle their various deadlines and legal puzzles.

You can expect a 37.5-hour work week; 12 paid holidays; personal leave accrual starting at 6 hours per pay period (about 21 days annually) and increasing with years of service. Our office also offers an optional hybrid telework schedule following completion of the probationary period. The general office hours are 8:00am to 4:30pm, but there is flexibility in establishing your regular hours around core business hours.

The Working Environment You Can Expect:

Our Anchorage office is in the Brady Building at 1031 W 4th Avenue. In the heart of downtown, you are close to cafes, lunch spots, the Coastal Trail, and parks.

Who We Are Looking For:

We are interested in candidates who possess some or all of the following position specific competencies:

Law: Knowledge of State and federal laws, including legal and court procedures, regulations, guidelines, precedents, admissibility of evidence, case preparation, and/or settlements for applicable areas of law practiced or supported.

Manages and Organizes Information: Identifies a need; gathers, organizes, and maintains information; determines its importance and accuracy, and communicates it by a variety of methods.

Planning and Evaluating: Organizes work, sets priorities, and determines resource requirements; determines short- or long-term goals and strategies to achieve them; coordinates with other organizations or parts of the organization to accomplish goals; monitors progress and evaluates outcomes

To view the general description and example of duties for the position please go to the following link:

https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/Alaska/classspecs

If you can imagine yourself in this role, we encourage you to apply!

Minimum Qualifications

Competency Based Minimum Qualifications

This job class uses competency based minimum qualifications. The competency description(s) listed below have been designed to promote a common understanding of the essential elements of the job class.  They highlight the more general and customary knowledge, skills, abilities (KSAs), tasks, and behaviors used to describe the competency.  They typically list expectations, as opposed to specific tasks, and are to be used only as parameters and guidelines.   A competency’s description is not intended to exclusively define every KSA, task, and behavior needed to successfully meet the competency, but rather to provide the manager/agency with a broad reference of options as to how an applicant can meet the job expectation.

Please ensure your application (through work history, training, education, licenses, certifications, etc.) supports/demonstrates you possess the minimum required competencies for the job class.

PI01B1 – Paralegal 1

Any combination of education and/or experience that provides the applicant with competencies in:

Attention to Detail: Is thorough when performing work and conscientious about attending to detail.

Interpersonal Skills: Shows understanding, friendliness, courtesy, tact, empathy, concern, and politeness to others; develops and maintains effective relationships with others; may include effectively dealing with individuals who are difficult, hostile, or distressed; relates well to people from varied backgrounds and different situations; is sensitive to cultural diversity, race, gender, disabilities, and other individual differences.

Reading: Understands and interprets written material, including technical material, rules, regulations, instructions, reports, charts, graphs, or tables; applies what is learned from written material to specific situations.

Written Communication: Writes in a clear, concise, organized, and convincing manner for the intended audience.

Equivalent to those typically gained by:

Post-secondary and/or vocational education in a legal or legal support area and/or experience preparing, reviewing, or processing legal documents such as affidavits, court reports, demand letters, discovery requests or responses, hearing transcripts, memoranda of advice/instruction/understanding, letters of agreement, motions, legal opinions, subpoenas, and/or writs.

PI01B2 – Paralegal 2

Successful completion of training under a formally established Paralegal 1-2 flexible staffing training plan with the State of Alaska;

OR

Any combination of education and/or experience that provides the applicant with competencies in:

Adaptability: adjusts planned work by gathering relevant information and applying critical thinking to address multiple demands and competing priorities in a changing environment.

Administrative Law: Knowledge of State and federal administrative laws, including procedures, regulations, guidelines, and precedents related to case preparation and settlements.

Attention to Detail: Is thorough when performing work and conscientious about attending to detail.

Interpersonal Skills: Shows understanding, friendliness, courtesy, tact, empathy, concern, and politeness to others; develops and maintains effective relationships with others; may include effectively dealing with individuals who are difficult, hostile, or distressed; relates well to people from varied backgrounds and different situations; is sensitive to cultural diversity, race, gender, disabilities, and other individual differences.

Stress Tolerance: Deals calmly and effectively with high stress situations (for example, tight deadlines, hostile individuals, emergency situations, dangerous situations).

Equivalent to those typically gained by:

Post-secondary and/or vocational education in a legal, paralegal, criminal justice, or similar legal support area and/or experience performing paraprofessional legal investigation, discovery, and providing support in the preparation of legal cases, reports, documents, and exhibits.

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