Legal Assistant

This is a primarily virtual position, requiring to be in person four times a month on scheduled days.

Position Description
The Appellate Services Administration (ASA) provides an administrative hearing and review process for approximately 45 programs administered by the client. Subject matter generally falls into three main categories: benefit eligibility and overpayment, licensing and certification of service providers, and claimant fraud.

This position functions as a Legal Assistant to provide support to the Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) at the Appellate Services Administration (ASA). This function is mission critical, as ASA requires this position to review requests for an appeal, select exhibits for hearings, and distinguish between the different programs and issues of appeals to create packets that will be sent to all parties and used as exhibits in scheduled hearings with multiple parties.

Primary duties for this position include verifying incoming appeals, retrieving accurate exhibits for a hearing, entering case documentation into appropriate repositories, assisting Administrative Law Judges with case research, interpreting necessary procedures for research and analysis of case files for hearings, and uploading legal decisions and dispositions for the client to take action on a case. This also includes scheduling the hearings for the ALJs and assisting customers with elevated docket calls.

Skills Required
Organization and maintenance of confidential paper and electronic files; client law, practices, and procedures; Customer service techniques and office security procedures; identification of complex legal issues with appeals in a timely manner. Analyzes jurisdiction, issues, etc. by reviewing images and paper documents per case. Create hearing packets for ALJs to use as exhibits during the procedural hearing. Determine the timeliness of the request for hearing and register additional issues as needed. Ensure incoming appeals meet noticing deadlines mandated by client laws.

Research-related issues are elevated by legal support staff or referred by ALJs, ASA management or other client departments. Identify and correct errors and virtually print missing documents.

Elevate appeals to the Board for Appeals as necessary. Enter notes into the case documentation repository. Timely and accurately process requests for postponements, withdrawals, and other requests by parties and ALJs.

Adapt to prescribed procedures within the Administration, knowledge of the Administrative Procedures Act; Perform repetitive detailed work with a very high level of accuracy and speed; Concentrate and focus on complex and sometimes conflicting information from a variety of sources; Analyze and research complex case information observing confidentiality policies and making command decisions on assigning workload to meet legally mandated deadlines; Ability to work with customers and staff of various backgrounds, nationalities, and needs.

Experience Required
English; speaking, writing, reading; Multi-task capabilities; Manage conflicting priorities and demands, knowledge of Google Apps (Gmail, Docs, Sheets), Adobe Acrobat; Operating various office equipment; Use of computer with multiple programs running simultaneously; Customer service techniques; Interpersonal skills to handle internal and external customer complaints and concerns. Effectively communicate (e.g. verbal, written, and reading) with internal and external customers, ALJs, coworkers, client personnel, supervisors, and managers.

Work with minimal supervision; Use critical thinking to analyze complex appeals requests, resolve conflicts between competing information, and extract and capture pertinent legal information.

Case management systems (e.g. APS, Clear2There, Guide mainframe, HEAplus, client's Technical Eligibility Computer System, CACTUS); Office policies and procedures and handling sensitive data. Managing multiple computer programs at one time; Identifying appropriate legal documents in an imaging system to create and send out notices for hearings and create case files.

Required Skills
Computer Skills

Preferred Skills
Legal Experience

Notes:
Hybrid
This is a primarily virtual position, requiring to be in person four times a month on scheduled days.
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

VIVA is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants have an equal opportunity for placement, and all employees have an equal opportunity to develop on the job. This means that VIVA will not discriminate against any employee or qualified applicant on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status