Senior Paralegal

Title: Senior Paralegal

Employment Type: Contract to Hire

Location: San Diego, CA

Client: Federal Government

Job Requirements

• Provide witness management assistance prior to, during, and after trial. Typical assignments include working directly with fact witnesses, providing assistance and support to ensure appearance for court, pre-trial conferences, and grand jury.

• Receive visitors, field phone calls, questions and other inquiries from fact witnesses seeking information pertaining to court, pre-trial conferences, grand jury appearances and expense reimbursement. Obtain pertinent information for files and documents necessary to arrange witness travel and reimbursements.

• Initiate contact/notify fact witnesses concerning travel arrangements, appearance date/time, and determine any special circumstances or needs of the fact witness. Use judgment to determine when Assistant U.S. Attorney should be notified of special circumstances or needs of fact witnesses.

• Confer with AUSA concerning fact witness appearance and special circumstances regarding witnesses (special authorizations, international witnesses, military/federal employee witnesses, or hostile witnesses).

• Complete and submit proper documentation for special authorizations and obtain prior approval before proceeding with travel arrangements.

• Prior to fact witness' appearance, ensure all travel documents and appearance date and time have been provided to witness.

• Make necessary arrangements for fact witness travel and lodging according to Department of Justice and USAO policies and procedures.

• Prepare and submit documentation for fact witness reimbursement, i.e. witness vouchers and other required documentation for fact witnesses. Furnish requested information concerning pending and completed fact witness vouchers. Gather required documentation and reconcile Government Travel Accounts.

• Obtain information, confer, and coordinate with the Court, Probation, Pretrial, U.S. Marshals Service, investigative agencies, and other counterparts, when necessary.

• Complete variable aspects of recurring documents in conformance with the rules governing their style and format. Compose letters from templates that do not require legal interpretations but require a good working knowledge of legal procedures and specialized terminology relevant to fact witness laws and regulations.

• Perform general office procedures pertaining to fact witness management, including, but not limited to: establish and maintain a variety of fact witness files, documents and databases; assemble documents and other information for fact witness file material and retention in accordance with established procedures and Department of Justice regulations; if requested, establish and maintain calendar and/or database of active and pending fact witness appearances; track hearings, trial dates, and grand jury.

Basic Qualifications

• Requires paralegal certificate, JD, or currently attending an ABA-accredited law school, having completed at least one year of study.

• One year of legal training or legal experience or at least two years of college education may be substituted for the paralegal certificate. Additionally, at least one year of litigation paralegal experience or project experience (as related to the task order) is required; trial experience very helpful.

• Automated litigation support experience valued.

• Must have basic legal knowledge, including knowledge of standard legal citation to cite check legal motions and memorandum and must have sufficient experience with legal research tools such as LEXIS and Westlaw to perform basic legal research.

• Requires excellent written and oral communication skills, thorough knowledge and hands-on familiarity with a variety of computer applications, including word processing, databases (such as document review and file management systems), spreadsheets, imaging, and hardware systems.

• Role also requires basic familiarity with ESI tools and knowledge of eDiscovery procedures and resources.

• Ability to consistently deliver highest quality work under extreme pressure will be very important.