Paralegal

City Attorney's Office Paralegal

Compensation Range: $26.03 - $35.33

This job opening may close earlier than the stated date, due to high candidate volume. If interested, we encourage you to apply as soon as possible.

At the City of High Point, we celebrate the creator in everyone. Building on our rich cultural history steeped in industrialism and innovation, our employees seek not only to transform themselves, but the world around us. We are collaborators, we are makers, we are visionaries. We invite you to explore the many opportunities to serve our community, by sharing your talents, skills, and expertise. You'll join a diverse team of over 1300 individuals dedicated not just to making a career, but a difference; because what we create in High Point, changes the world!

Our Core Values:

• Stewardship: We manage the city's resources responsibly and make decisions that sustain High Point's future.
• Welcoming: We create a friendly, open environment where residents, partners, and visitors feel valued and embraced. We want everyone who connects with High Point to feel welcomed, like they belong here.
• Integrity: We act with honesty, transparency, and ethical responsibility in everything we do. That means doing what's right – even when no one's watching. This is how we earn our community's trust.
• Productivity: We stay focused on results, fostering creativity, innovation, and outside-the-box thinking. We don't just get things done – we find smarter, better ways to do them.

What We Offer: The City of High Point offers a competitive salary commensurate with education and experience. We also offer generous benefit package for full-time employees which include but are not limited to:

• A guaranteed life-long monthly pension, once vested after 5 years of service
• 401K and 457B Retirement Plans
• PTO earned within first year
• 13 Paid Holidays per year
• Tuition Reimbursement Plan
• Competitive medical, dental, and vision plans effective day one

What You'll Do:

The City Attorney's Office represents the City of High Point and performs highly complex legal work in a fast-paced environment for a wide variety of clients, including the Mayor, City Council, City management, and City staff across more than twenty departments. Similar to a general counsel's office in the public or private sector, the focus here is practicing law. The Paralegal is an important team member of the City Attorney's Office who is responsible for providing vital legal support. Work is performed under the general supervision of the City Attorney.

Essential Tasks & Responsibilities:

• Conduct legal research in a wide variety of practice areas including but not limited to real property and land use law, contracts and transactional law, and municipal law.
• Conduct real property research for various transactions, tax foreclosure cases, and enforcement cases.
• Ability to proficiently use the North Carolina Court System's eCourts computer system and County Registers of Deeds offices.
• Draft myriad legal documents, including but not limited to liens, lis pendens, pleadings, motions, briefs, memorandum, contracts, ordinances, and resolutions.
• Assist with document production for public records requests, subpoena compliance, and discovery.
• Draft correspondence and communicate regularly with client departments, outside counsel, opposing counsel, and courts.
• Ability to interact and work productively with a wide range of groups, including but not limited to Council members, appointed board members and commissioners, City management, City staff, and the general public.
• Professional communication skills, both oral and written.
• Manage client matters, organize and maintain physical and electronic files.
• Ability to effectively and efficiently handle multiple projects simultaneously.
• Assist with research and special projects, as directed.
• Performs other clerical and administrative tasks, as directed.

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite and Adobe Acrobat, and the ability to quickly learn new software.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree with at least three (3) years of paralegal experience; or associate's degree in paralegal studies or a related field with at least five (5) years of paralegal experience, or a high school diploma or equivalent with at least ten (10) years of paralegal experience.
• North Carolina State Bar Certified Paralegal or qualified to sit for the next available exam and become certified within six (6) months of start date.
• North Carolina notary public, or ability to become one within three (3) months of start date.
• Valid driver's license in North Carolina or another state.

Preferred Skills:

• Extensive real property experience, including title search and examination, as well as using public records and GIS mapping programs.
• A high degree of initiative, with the ability to work independently.
• Demonstrated experience meeting and exceeding goals in a fast-paced work environment.
• Dedication to professional learning and continuous improvement.

Physical Requirements:

Hearing/Speaking - Expressing and/or receiving information by means of spoken word are both necessary to converse with internal and external customers including co-workers, citizens, and applicants.

Visual Abilities – the ability to perceive via eyesight is required for this position:

• Acuity, far – clarity of vision at 20 feet or more. Must be able to see from a distance when administering and observing employment tests, operating a motor vehicle, or addressing an audience.
• Acuity, near – clarity of vision at 20 inches or less. Must be able to see work-related business documents close at hand.
• Depth perception – Three-dimensional vision and the ability to judge distance and space relationships.
• Field of Vision – the area that can be seen up and down or to the right or left while eyes are focused on one point. Must be able to see a wide span of area.
• Accommodation – Must be able to adjust the eye lens to glance quickly.

Physical Strength – degree of physical demands typically associated with this position include:

• Light Work
  • Exerting up to 50 pounds of force occasionally; and/or
  • Exerting up to 10 pounds of force frequently; and
  • A negligible amount of force constantly to handle or move materials related to the position.
• Type of Physical Demands
  • Reaching - Extending the hand(s) or arm(s) in any direction.
  • Handling - Seizing, holding, grasping, turning, or otherwise working with hand(s).
  • Fingering - Picking, pinching or otherwise working with fingers primarily rather than the entire hand or arm.

Mental Activity/Requirements:

Reasoning:

• Ability to apply principles of logical thinking combined with knowledge of principles and practices of public personnel and employment laws to work tasks and handle practical situations, comprehend, and respond to a variety of situations in a timely fashion and exercise good judgment.

Mathematics Ability:

• Using arithmetic and/or Statistics: Ability to direct and oversee the use of arithmetic and/or statistics in the preparation of a variety of tests and reports.

Language Ability:

• The ability to speak, read and write the English Language are required for this position.

Environmental Conditions:

Physical Surroundings:

• The Paralegal is subject to working inside or outdoors.

Hazards:

• There are no occupational hazards typically associated with this position.

Machinery/Tools/Work Aids/Other Equipment:

• Equipment regularly associated with office-based work.

The work location of this job will