Legal - Paralegal

Description

The Paralegal position performs a wide variety of diverse paralegal duties, projects, and functions for the Litigation Section of the AOPC/Legal Department. With offices in Harrisburg, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, the Legal Department provides advice and counsel to the PA Supreme Court, the state court administrator, state court judges and UJS personnel on legal, administrative and policy matters. AOPC/Legal - comprised of 12 attorneys and 5 paralegals/legal secretaries - includes three primary units. First, the Litigation Unit represents Pennsylvania court entities, judges and state-paid court personnel in litigation matters, predominately in federal court, often testing state court sovereignty under the federal constitution. They provide advice to prevent litigation whenever possible, but do not provide representation in criminal or disciplinary actions. Second, the Transactional Unit negotiates contracts and prepares and reviews documents respecting competitive procurements. They are also responsible for managing AOPC’s leasing portfolio. Third, the Information Technology Unit participates in planning and implementing the statewide case management systems and related programs, ensuring that the systems comply with all applicable laws and legal procedural requirements. They also serve as the primary point of contact with other agencies, organizations and departments that work with AOPC to obtain information and data from AOPC’s various case management systems. In addition, they review legislation affecting Pennsylvania’s judiciary as well as provide guidance on issues related to public access to court case records.

Primary Duties

• Maintains Supreme Court Miscellaneous Docket: initially screens all incoming petitions for significant issues, directing all counseled petitions and unusual pro se filings to litigation counsel.
• Drafts proposed response to Miscellaneous Docket Petitions for review by litigation counsel.
• Communicates with Supreme Court Miscellaneous Docket clients, advises client of proposed response and requests approval and comment, referring inquiries to litigation counsel, as necessary.
• Serves as proxy for filing all Supreme Court Miscellaneous Docket responses on the Supreme Court electronic filing system, and submits the original document, as required by the Court.
• Resolves procedural issues with Supreme Court Prothonotary and other filing office personnel.
• Serves as legal technology specialist in assisting IT and attorneys in formulating evolving database and works with IT on continuing updates, changes to fields for collecting statistical data, etc.
• Assists Assistant Chief Counsel in assignment of cases to litigation attorneys.
• Maintains litigation database to insure timely filings and retention of complete record of litigation activities.
• Checks citations and proofreads legal briefs and documents; supports litigation lawyers by securing dockets and providing background information from database.
• Assists in document production and other discovery or pre-trial matters as necessary and directed; organizes discovery notebooks, trial notebooks, and exhibits.
• Handles special projects as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Three years of experience as a paralegal, OR
• Bachelor’s degree and completion of a nine-month paralegal program, PLUS one year of experience as a paralegal, OR
• Graduation from a two-year paralegal program, PLUS two years of experience as a paralegal; OR
• Any equivalent combination of experience and training.

Additional Requirements/Preferences

• Knowledge of PACFile and CM/ECF preferred.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills required.
• Satisfactory criminal background check required.

Additional Information

Unified Judicial System Hiring Policy

The Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania recruits, employs, and promotes the most qualified applicants without regard to their political affiliation, race, color, age, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, disability, or other non-merit facts or considerations. Reasonable accommodations will be provided to applicants with disabilities as may be necessary to ensure that all applicants are given a fair and equal opportunity to compete for all employment positions. Applicants who need accommodation for an interview should request so in advance. UJS hiring and employment policies and procedures are intended to conform to all applicable state and federal laws governing fair and non-discriminatory hiring and employment practices and are subject to change as necessary to remain in compliance with such laws.

Applicants requiring accommodation, for any part of the application and/or interview process, should contact Human Resources at (717) 231-3309 or human.resources@pacourts.us.