Paralegal

DISTINGUISHING FEATURES OF THE CLASS: This is a Para-professional support position involving technical legal work requiring specific knowledge of State and County law and legal procedures, but not a license to practice law. The employee provides assistance with legal research and documentation, requiring a high degree of accuracy and confidentiality, to the professional legal staff within an assigned Ulster County Department. The work may involve technical and legal assistance in all phases of contract research, preparation, review, negotiations, implementation and monitoring. The position’s responsibilities may include monitoring capital project contracts for compliance with terms of the contract and appropriate Federal, State and County regulations. The work may also involves primary research, compiling and analyzing a variety of information, as well as preparation and assistance in preparing the details involved with presenting a case in a court or administrative hearing. The work is performed under the general supervision of the agency attorneys and the administrative direction of the department head with considerable leeway allowed for the exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the details of the work. Supervision may be exercised over other Para-professional and clerical staff. Does related work as required. TYPICAL WORK ACTIVITIES The typical work activities listed below, while providing representative examples of the variety of work assignments in the title, do not describe any individual position. Incumbents in this title may perform some or all of the following, as well as other related activities not described. Provides assistance to the professional staff within an assigned Ulster County Department in the development, implementation and review of standardized contracts for the County of Ulster; Provides assistance to various Ulster County department administrators in negotiation and compliance issues with standardized contracts, specifically in regard to interactions with outside agencies or vendors; Provides general legal support services for attorneys and other staff members for use and presentation in a court of law or an administrative hearing; Performs a range of legal research into statutory and case law, administrative rules, regulations, and policies to assist legal counsel in preparing for potential or on-going legal actions; Provides technical, legal assistance in the research and complementary risk assessment and evaluation associated with contract negotiations between Ulster County and other parties; Reviews contracts to ensure the use of standardized language on best terms, most timely development process, appropriate implementation procedure, and compliance to agreed terms and conditions; Assists in the preparation and proofing of legal briefs, claims, liens, memorandum and other legal documents; Assists in the interpretation of court and administrative decisions to ensure that such decisions are implemented by initiating appropriate legal documentation and/or alerting staff members of such decision and action; Prepares and reviews a variety of contracts and other legal documents for completeness, accuracy, and proper legal format and ensures that such documents are completed in accordance with department standards; Analyzes terms of current and proposed capital procurement contracts to ensure that they meet the bid specifications; Conducts extensive legal research on highly complex construction matters for capital projects, specifically in connection with preparation for legal briefs or memoranda of law; Conducts contract compliance audits to disclose deviations and recommend action; Prepares various standardized legal documents such as subpoenas, affidavits, briefs, memos and opinions in support of legal actions and court hearings; Updates and maintains legal files in hard copy or electronic format as appropriate for research and retrievability; May coordinate with Courts, county departments and outside agencies in support of legal research efforts and other related activities of the professional legal staff; May respond to outside requests for routine information in accordance with established departmental procedures; May review contracts and related documents and records to obtain background and evidentiary information in preparation for legal actions and court hearings; May assist in the preparation and maintenance of reports required by Federal, State and County agencies, and ensure that such reports are filed in an appropriately timely manner and otherwise relieve attorneys of routine administrative tasks. FULL PERFORMANCE KNOWLEDGES, SKILLS, ABILITIES AND PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS : Good knowledge of procedures, principles and techniques of legal issues involved in contract management; good knowledge of legal research procedures and resources; good knowledge of legal instruments and documents; good knowledge of legal terminology, especially as it relates to contract management; working knowledge of court and administrative hearing procedures; working knowledge of computerized legal research; working knowledge of current windows-based and web-based office word processing applications such as Microsoft Word or Word Perfect; ability to analyze legal language and terms of contracts; ability to prepare legal correspondence and documentation; ability to set forth legal positions clearly and concisely in oral and written forms; ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with Federal, State and local officials, private agencies, clients and the public; integrity; tact; initiative; good judgment; courtesy. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS Either: A. Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered college or university with a Bachelor’s Degree and two (2) years of progressively responsible work experience which involved the interpretation and application of rules and regulations to specific situations; B. Six (6) years of progressively responsible work experience as a Legal Secretary or Legal Assistant; C. Five (5) years of progressively responsible work experience as a Paralegal; D. Possession of a Paralegal certificate, as approved by the American Bar Association, and two (2) years of work experience as a Paralegal; E. An equivalent combination of training and experience as indicated in A, B, C and D above. ULSTER COUNTY Adopted: February 22, 2006 4615 PARALEGAL Revised: March 17, 2006 Classification: Competitive Revised: November 22, 2006 #J-18808-Ljbffr