Paralegal Specialist 1 (02-1379)

About the Department

This position is open to Alaska Residents only. Please check our residency definition to determine if you qualify.

What You Will Be Doing

This position focuses on providing litigation support to the Anchorage leadership team and supervises several teams of paralegals and LOAs in the Agency.   Litigation support duties for this position include trial preparation, expert witness coordination, and holistic client support among others. As a supervisor, this position provides coaching, develops training and performance metrics, evaluates performance, and manages workflow and workloads. The position works with Agency leadership, administrative staff, attorneys, and support staff across the state.

Our Organization, Mission, and Culture

The Sixth Amendment guarantees the right to counsel in many types of cases and the Public Defender Agency is appointed by the Court to represent people who are unable to afford counsel on their own. Paralegals and Paralegal Specialists are an integral part of providing that representation and protecting our clients' rights. They work closely with attorneys and other Agency staff to complete conflict of interest analysis to ensure that Agency representation of individual clients is and remains conflict-free. They will make recommendations to withdraw from representation where they determine a conflict of interest exists. This position is essential to the success of the division by providing advanced legal analysis and managing the success of the team.

 

The Benefits of Joining Our Team

Support staff at the Public Defender Agency have the opportunity to learn about the legal system and hone their administrative skills to further their career development in the legal field.  Most importantly, they get to do this while working as a team to provide meaningful contributions to Alaska, as the work we do impacts people’s lives and protects the constitutional rights of all Alaskans.  This important work helps improve case outcomes for individuals charged with crimes, helps re-unify families, and provides the foundation for successful re-entry into communities. Many paralegals use the skills and experience they gain to transition to investigative and administrative management positions within the Agency, the State of Alaska, or the private sector.

Your first 12 months in the Agency are probationary and considered a training period, with formal and on-the-job training with your supervisor and your colleagues.

 

The Working Environment You Can Expect 

The office is located in downtown Anchorage near the Nesbett and Boney courthouses, with parking provided. The hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM with an hour lunch at noon.  The position interacts closely with attorneys, investigators, paralegals, and law office assistants across the state, and court system staff. 

Position Duties

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.

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

• 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.
• Compliance: Knowledge of procedures for assessing, evaluating, and monitoring programs or projects for compliance with State and federal laws, regulations, and guidance.
• Leadership: Influences, motivates, and challenges others; adapts leadership styles to a variety of situations.
• Legal, Government, and Jurisprudence: Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, legal practices and documents, Government regulations, Executive orders, agency rules, Government organization and functions, and the democratic political process.
• Technical Credibility: Understands and appropriately applies principles, procedures, requirements, regulations, and policies related to specialized expertise.

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 progressively responsible experience providing a variety of legal support in either the legal, law enforcement, legislative, or social service field; or practice in social service field with experience in either the legal, law enforcement or legislative field.

Special Note:

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.

“Professional experience” means work that is creative, analytical, evaluative, and interpretive; requires a range and depth of specialized knowledge of the profession's principles, concepts, theories, and practices; and is performed with the power or right to decide or act according to one's own judgment.

“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.

Minimum Qualifications

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

THIS RECRUITMENT IS FOR ALASKA RESIDENTS ONLY

Please be sure to check our residency definition to determine if you qualify.

At time of interview, please be prepared to provide:

• College transcripts (if using education to meet the minimum qualifications)
• Three professional references, two who have had supervisory experience over you, including current email and/or daytime phone number

ACOMS Clearance
Due to the nature of the work of the Public Defender Agency and access to ACOMS at the workplace, the individual who is selected for this position will be required to pass a background investigation and may be re-fingerprinted. Full disclosure of ALL past criminal convictions (both misdemeanor and felony including suspended impositions of sentence) at the time of application is required. Convictions may lead to disqualification due to the requirements necessary to access these systems.

EDUCATION
 If post-secondary education is required to meet the minimum qualifications, you must fill in the Education section of the application. If you have not obtained a degree, please indicate the number of units completed. Copies of transcripts are required to verify educational credentials if used to meet the minimum qualifications for a position. Transcripts can be attached at the time of application or within 48 hours of the close of this recruitment to the contact person listed below.

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR FOREIGN EDUCATION
 Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the above requirements, if applicable. If utilizing this education you must show that the education credentials have been submitted to a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign educational credentials and that such education has been deemed to be at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. education programs; or an accredited U.S. state university reports the other institution as one whose transcript is given full value, or full value is given in subject areas applicable to the curricula at the state university. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence when applying.

WORK EXPERIENCE
 If using work experience not already documented in your application, also provide the employer’s name, your job title, dates of employment, and whether full-or part-time. Applications will be reviewed to determine if the responses are supported and minimum qualifications are clearly met. If they are not, the applicant may not advance to the interview and selection phase of the recruitment.

NOTE: Attaching a resume or curriculum vitae is not an alternative to filling out the application in its entirety. Noting "see resume or CV" or any similar response on any portion of your application may lead to a determination your application is incomplete and removal from consideration for this job posting.

APPLICATION NOTICE
 You can ONLY apply for this position through the Workplace Alaska website or via hardcopy application. If you accessed this recruitment bulletin through a job search portal such as AlaskaJobs or any other database, you MUST use a Workplace Alaska online or hardcopy application to successfully apply. Instructions on how to apply with Workplace Alaska may be found on the Workplace Alaska "How to Apply" webpage, found here: http://doa.alaska.gov/dop/workplace/help/

EEO STATEMENT

The State of Alaska complies with Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Individuals with disabilities, who require accommodation, auxiliary aides or services, or alternative communication formats, please call 1-800-587-0430 or (907) 465-4095 in Juneau or TTY: Alaska Relay 711 or 1-800-770-8973 or correspond with the Division of Personnel & Labor Relations at: P.O. Box 110201, Juneau, AK 99811-0201. The State of Alaska is an equal opportunity employer.

NOTICE

If you choose to be contacted by email, please ensure your email address is correct on your application and that the spam filter will permit email from the ‘govermentjobs.com’ domains. For information on allowing emails from the ‘governmentjobs.com’ domains, visit the Lost Password Help page located at https://www.governmentjobs.com/OnlineApplication/User/ResetPassword.

 

WORKPLACE ALASKA APPLICATION QUESTIONS & ASSISTANCE

Questions regarding application submission or system operation errors should be directed to the Workplace Alaska hotline at 1-800-587-0430 (toll free) or (907) 465-4095 if you are located in the Juneau area. Requests for information may also be emailed to [email protected].
For applicant password assistance please visit: https://www.governmentjobs.com/OnlineApplication/User/ResetPassword 

Other Qualifications

Shannon Tetlow

Program Manager

[email protected] 

Benefits

The following information describes typical benefits available to employees of the State of Alaska. Actual benefits received may differ by bargaining unit or branch of government, position type, or be prorated for other than full time work.

For a quick breakdown of the insurance, health, and retirement benefits available for State Employees you can view an orientation video from Division of Retirement and Benefits. (Please note this video is specifically designed for new State Employees.)

Insurance Benefits

• Health insurance, which includes employer contributions toward medical/vision/dental
  • The following employee groups are under AlaskaCare Benefits administered by the State:   See https://drb.alaska.gov/help/plans.html for additional information.
    • AVTEC
    • Confidential
    • Correctional Officers
    • Marine Engineers
    • Mt. Edgecumbe Teachers
    • Supervisory
    • Unlicensed Vessel Personnel/Inland Boatman's Union
    • Exempt employees (not covered by collective bargaining)
  • The following employee groups are covered by Union health trusts.  Contact the appropriate Union for additional information.
    • General Government
    • Labor, Trades and Crafts
    • Public Safety Employees Association
    • Masters, Mates & Pilots
• Employer paid Basic Life insurance with additional coverage available (amount depends on Bargaining Unit)

• Group-based insurance premiums for
  • Term life (employee, spouse or qualified same sex partner, and dependents)
  • Long-term and short-term disability
  • Accidental Death and Dismemberment
  • Long-term care (self and eligible family members)
  • Supplemental Survivor Benefits
• Employee-funded flexible spending accounts for tax savings on eligible health care or dependent care expenses

Retirement Benefits

• Membership in the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS)/Teachers' Retirement System (TRS)
• Matching employer contribution into a defined contribution program (new employees)
• Employer contribution into a defined benefit or defined contribution program (current employees)
• Contributions to the Alaska Supplemental Annuity Plan in lieu of contributions to Social Security
• Option to enroll in the Alaska Deferred Compensation Program
• Note:  The Defined Contribution Plan, Supplemental Annuity Plan and Deferred Compensation Program offer a variety of investment options

Paid Leave & Other Benefits

• Personal leave with an accrual rate increase based on time served
• Twelve (12) paid holidays a year

Agency Information

EmployerState of AlaskaAddress PO Box 110201

Juneau, Alaska, 99811 Phone(800) 587-0430 (Statewide toll-free number)
(907) 465-4095 (Juneau and out-of-state callers)Website http://workplace.alaska.gov/