Paralegal III

State of North Carolina • Wake County, NC

15h • Onsite

About The Position

The North Carolina Department of Justice, led by the Attorney General of North Carolina, represents the state, state agencies, and elected officials, and defends the rights of the people of North Carolina. The Department handles all state criminal appeals cases and assists district attorneys with complex criminal cases at their request. Additionally, the Department of Justice includes the North Carolina State Crime Lab, the North Carolina Justice Academy, and the Sheriffs’ and Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Divisions.

Recruitment Range: $63,367 - $63,448

IMPORTANT NOTE: This posting closes at 11:59:59 PM the night BEFORE the End Date listed.

The primary purpose of the Paralegal II position in the Appellate & Post-Conviction Section is to provide legal, administrative and clerical support to the Supervisor and Section staff attorneys to relieve them of routine matters and, while working under their guidance, to assist them in conducting complex tasks associated with active litigation. The secondary purpose of the Paralegal II Position is to provide legal, administrative, and clerical support, including word processing services, for the Section’s staff attorneys in their preparation of briefs, motions, petitions, answers, responses, correspondence and other legal documents, as well as independently formatting and composing a variety of letters and memoranda. Other office support functions provided by this position include file/information management, office equipment operation, and management of incoming and outgoing mail.

The primary purpose of the Appellate and Post-Conviction Section of the Criminal Division of the North Carolina Department of Justice is to represent the State in criminal matters after a defendant’s trial is completed. This includes: (1) handling direct appeals of criminal convictions in any of the judicial districts of the State before the North Carolina Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of North Carolina as well as state post-conviction petitions filed in the State appellate courts;(2) researching and preparing the State’s briefs and presenting oral argument in federal habeas corpus litigation in the federal district courts and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals; (3) the section handles the most difficult and complex criminal appeals and petitions, and therefore, because of its expertise, serving as a resource for all of the attorneys in the Department of Justice who handle occasional criminal appeals as part of their duties through the criminal brief rotation; (4) representing the State of North Carolina in capital (death penalty) litigation, particularly at the state and federal postconviction levels before the North Carolina Supreme Court, the Supreme Court of the United States, and the lower federal courts; (5) assisting District Attorneys in all aspects of such state capital litigation, both at trial and in post-conviction proceedings; (6) acting as liaison with Attorneys General and prosecutors on criminal law issues; (7) representing the State in non-capital state postconviction petitions filed upon the request of District Attorneys and approval of the Division Head; (8) the responsibility to defend against non-capital federal habeas corpus actions filed in federal courts by State prisoners seeking to overturn their North Carolina state court convictions, and thereby prevent expensive and time consuming retrials or the premature release of criminals who cannot be retried.

Requirements

• Paralegal Certification
• Graduation from an appropriately accredited institution for paralegal training and three years of experience as a paralegal; or Bachelor’s degree from an appropriately accredited institution and three years of substantive paralegal experience; or High school or General Education Development (GED) diploma and seven years of paralegal experience performing delegated, substantive legal work; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

Responsibilities

• Provide paralegal and clerical support to Appellate and Post-conviction attorneys preparing the State’s briefs, motions, petitions, responses and other legal documents.
• Proof, cite check, run tables of contents and authorities for filings and other duties for the section as needed.
• Prepare templates for documents, proofread and edit all documents, prepare the Tables of Authorities, Tables of Content and Appendixes for briefs and other appellate filings.
• Electronically file documents in the United States and North Carolina courts.
• Prepare service copies and exhibits for filings.
• Collect and prepare discovery documents for capital and non-capital criminal cases.
• Check citations to applicable legal authorities, make corrections as necessary and independently make review decisions with minimal review in making final edits.
• Organize attorney case information and manage document collection and/or storage.
• Track attorney cases.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed