Paralegal 1/2

Job Description

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

residency definition

to determine if you qualify.

The Office of Public Advocacy (OPA) is recruiting for a flex Paralegal 1/2 position in its Administration unit located in Anchorage.

What You Will Be Doing

Responsibilities of this position include, but are not limited to:

Managing conflict check process for all cases;

Reviewing court appointment orders for eligibility;

Requesting supplemental information from the court system;

Drafting pleadings as needed;

Assigning cases to agency sections and attorneys;

Coordinating with other paralegals to ensure new case appointments are reviewed and assigned in a prompt manner.

Our Organization, Mission, and Culture

The Office of Public Advocacy (OPA) provides legal advocacy and guardianship services to indigent and vulnerable Alaskans. OPA is a fast-paced work environment comprising individuals who care deeply about their responsibilities to our clients to whom the Agency is appointed.

The Benefits of Joining Our Team

This flexibly staffed paralegal position allows for career advancement within the position. The position is eligible for generous health and retirement benefits.

The Working Environment You Can Expect

The office is located in beautiful downtown Anchorage, Alaska. We offer free parking and are in walking distance from many great restaurants and coffee shops. The flex Paralegal 1/2 position is part of a team of paralegals responsible for assigning new case appointments within the agency.

Minimum Qualifications

Competency Based Minimum Qualifications Instructions

This job class uses competency based minimum qualifications.

Please ensure your application

(through work history, volunteer experience (duties summary), training, education, licenses, certifications, etc.) supports how you have gained the knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors (competencies) and that you possess the minimum required competencies for the job class.

Competency Description

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.

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.

Special Note (All Levels):

Positions may require incumbents to be able to obtain a Notary Public upon hire, and to be able to pass a criminal background check to meet security requirements for using criminal record networks such as Alaska Public Safety Information Network (APSIN) and National Crime Enforcement Information Center/National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (NCIC/NLETS). If this requirement is present, it will be stated in the vacancy announcement.

Some positions are required to work regular overtime during the standard workweek, on weekends, and/or holidays to provide support to the assigned duty attorney. If this requirement is present, it will be stated in the vacancy announcement.

“Competencies” means a combination of interrelated knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors that enable a person to act effectively in a job or situation.

“Paraprofessional” work is typically associated with and supportive of a professional field. It involves extensive practical knowledge gained through experience and/or specific formal or on-the-job training. Work in these occupations may involve substantial elements of the work of the professional or administrative field, but requires less than full knowledge of the field involved.

“Progressively responsible” means indicating growth and/or advancement in complexity, difficulty, or level of responsibility.

“Technical” means performing tasks, methods, procedures, and computations that are covered by established precedents or guidelines and often require a high degree of skill, care, and precision.

“Training” and “education” in this guidance are synonyms for the process of acquiring knowledge and skills through instruction. It includes instruction through formal and informal methods (such as classroom, on-line, self-study, and on-the-job), from accredited and unaccredited sources, and long-duration (such as a post-secondary degree) and short-duration (such as a seminar) programs.

“Typically gained by” means the prevalent, usual method of gaining the competencies expected for entry into the job.

Additional Required Information

Please read the below information carefully. This applies to your application submission.

THIS RECRUITMENT IS FOR ALASKA RESIDENTS ONLY

Please be sure t