Paralegal 3 PCN 021417

What You Will Be Doing

This position provides paralegal support to attorneys in the Agencys Civil section of the Anchorage office and supervises the support staff two paralegals and one law office assistant. Our attorneys in this section represent individuals in all phases of litigation in child in need of aid and commitment cases; this section also handles other case types with significant mental health issues. This position is responsible for assisting attorneys in organizing and managing cases providing direct client assistance and utilizing the internal case management system to draft letters and pleadings among other duties.

Our Organization Mission and Culture

The Sixth Amendment guarantees the right to counsel in many types of cases and the Public Defender Agency is appointed by the Court to represent people who are unable to afford counsel on their own. Paralegals are an integral part of providing that representation and protecting our clients rights. They work closely with attorneys and other Agency staff to complete conflict of interest analysis to ensure that Agency representation of individual clients is and remains conflict-free. They will make recommendations to withdraw from representation where they determine a conflict of interest exists. This position is essential to the success of the division by providing advanced legal analysis and managing the success of the team.

The Benefits of Joining Our Team

Support staff at the Public Defender Agency have the opportunity to learn about the legal system and hone their administrative skills to further their career development in the legal field. Most importantly they get to do this while working as a team to provide meaningful contributions to Alaska as the work we do impacts peoples lives and protects the constitutional rights of all Alaskans. This important work helps improve case outcomes for individuals charged with crimes helps re-unify families and provides the foundation for successful re-entry into communities. Many paralegals use the skills and experience they gain to transition to investigative and administrative management positions within the Agency the State of Alaska or the private sector.

The Working Environment You Can Expect

Competency-Based Minimum Qualifications InstructionsThis job class uses competency-based minimum qualifications.Please ensure your application(through work history volunteer experience (duties summary) training education licenses certifications etc.) supports how you have gained the knowledge skills abilities and behaviors (competencies) and that you possess the minimum required competencies for the job class.

Competency Description
The competency description(s) listed below have been designed to promote a common understanding of the essential elements of the job class. They highlight the more general and customary knowledge skills abilities (KSAs) tasks and behaviors used to describe the competency. They typically list expectations instead of specific tasks and are to be used only as parameters and guidelines. A competencys description is not intended to exclusively define every KSA task and behavior needed to meet the competency successfully but rather to provide the manager/agency with a broad reference of options as to how an applicant can meet the job expectation.

Please ensure your application (through work history training education licenses certifications etc.) supports/demonstrates that you possess the minimum required competencies for the job class.

Any combination of education and/or experience that provides the applicant with competencies in:

• Law: Knowledge of State and federal laws including legal and court procedures regulations guidelines precedents admissibility of evidence case preparation and/or settlements for applicable areas of law practiced or supported.
• Leadership: Influences motivates and challenges others; adapts leadership styles to a variety of situations.
• Legal Government and Jurisprudence: Knowledge of laws legal codes court procedures precedents legal practices and documents Government regulations Executive orders agency rules Government organization and functions and the democratic political process.
• Reasoning: Identifies rules principles or relationships that explain facts data or other information; analyzes information and makes correct inferences or draws accurate conclusions.
• Technical Competence:Uses knowledge that is acquired through formal training or extensive on-the-job experience to perform ones job; works with understands and evaluates technical information related to the job; advises others on technical issues.

Equivalent to those typically gained by:

Post-secondary and/or vocational education in a legal paralegal criminal justice or similar legal support area and/or progressively responsible experience providing a variety of paraprofessional legal support in either the legal law enforcement or social service field.

Special Note (All Levels):

Positions may require incumbents to be able to obtain a Notary Public upon hire and to be able to pass a criminal background check to meet security requirements for using criminal record networks such as Alaska Public Safety Information Network (APSIN) and National Crime Enforcement Information Center/National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (NCIC/NLETS). If this requirement is present it will be stated in the vacancy announcement.

Some positions are required to work regular overtime during the standard workweek on weekends and/or holidays to provide support to the assigned duty attorney. If this requirement is present it will be stated in the vacancy announcement.

Competencies means a combination of interrelated knowledge skills abilities and behaviors that enable a person to act effectively in a job or situation.

Paraprofessional work is typically associated with and supportive of a professional field. It involves extensive practical knowledge gained through experience and/or specific formal or on-the-job training. Work in these occupations may involve substantial elements of the work of the professional or administrative field but requires less than full knowledge of the field involved.

Progressively responsible means indicating growth and/or advancement in complexity difficulty or level of responsibility.

Technical means performing tasks methods procedures and computations that are covered by established precedents or guidelines and often require a high degree of skill care and precision.

Training and education in this guidance are synonyms for the process of acquiring knowledge and skills through instruction. It includes instruction through formal and informal methods (such as classroom on-line self-study and on-the-job) from accredited and unaccredited sources and long-duration (such as a post-secondary degree) and short-duration (such as a seminar) programs.

Please read the below information carefully. This applies to your application submission.

At time of interview please be prepared to provide:

ACOMS CLERANCE

Due to the nature of the work of the Public Defender Agency and access to ACOMS at the workplace the individual who is selected for this position will be required to pass a background investigation and may be re-fingerprinted. Full disclosure of ALL past criminal convictions (both misdemeanor and felony including suspended impositions of sentence) at the time of application is required. Convictions may lead to disqualification due to the requirements necessary to access these systems.

EDUCATION
To verify education is being used to meet and/or support the required minimum qualifications/competencies you must fill in the Education section of the application If you have not obtained a degree please indicate the number of units completed Copies of transcripts are required to verify educational credentials used to meet or support the minimum qualifications/competencies for a position and are required with each application (Unofficial is okay; please ensure the institution/URL name is listed on the transcripts) Transcripts can be attached at the time of application or provided at the time of interview; if not transcripts will be required before employment.

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR FOREIGN EDUCATION
Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the above requirements if applicable. If utilizing this education you must show that the education credentials have been submitted to a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign educational credentials and that such education has been deemed to be at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. education programs; or an accredited U.S. state university reports the other institution as one whose transcript is given full value or full value is given in subject areas applicable to the curricula at the state university. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence when applying.

WORK EXPERIENCE
If using work experience not already documented in your application also provide the employers name your job title dates of employment and whether full-or part-time. Applications will be reviewed to determine if the responses are supported and minimum qualifications are clearly met. If they are not the applicant may not advance to the interview and selection phase of the recruitment.

NOTE: Attaching a resume or curriculum vitae is not an alternative to filling out the application in its entirety. Noting see resume or CV or any similar response on any portion of your application may lead to a determination your application is incomplete and removal from consideration for this job posting.

APPLICATION NOTICE
You can ONLY apply for this position through the Workplace Alaska website or via hardcopy application. If you accessed this recruitment bulletin through a job search portal such as AlaskaJobs or any other database you MUST use a Workplace Alaska online or hardcopy application to successfully apply. Instructions on how to apply with Workplace Alaska may be found on the Workplace Alaska How to Apply webpage found here: STATEMENT

The State of Alaska complies with Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Individuals with disabilities who require accommodation auxiliary aides or services or alternative communication formats please call 1- or in Juneau or TTY: Alaska Relay 711 or 1- or correspond with the Division of Personnel & Labor Relations at: P.O. Box 110201 Juneau AK 99811-0201. The State of Alaska is an equal opportunity employer.

NOTICE

If you choose to be contacted by email please ensure your email address is correct on your application and that the spam filter will permit email from the domains. For information on allowing emails from the domains visit the Lost Password Help page located at ALASKA APPLICATION QUESTIONS & ASSISTANCE

Questions regarding application submission or system operation errors should be directed to the Workplace Alaska hotline at 1- (toll free) or if you are located in the Juneau area. Requests for information may also be emailed to

For applicant password assistance please visit: Information

Shannon Tetlow
Program Manager