Paralegal III

City of Bentonville•Bentonville, AR

40d

About The Position

This position serves the Legal Department in litigation preparation, City Council agenda preparation, case management, legal research, and legal drafting. This position is responsible for assisting the Staff Attorney in their deputy prosecuting attorney role for district court proceedings. In addition to other duties as assigned, this position is responsible for the coordination of court dockets, compilation of court files, victim and witness communication, assistance with motion and order preparation and filing, preparing subpoenas, discovery compilation and compliance, and obtaining criminal histories and crime lab results. The position requires critical thinking, effective communication, time management, self-motivation, strong organizational skills, and professionalism. This position requires efficient, clear, and cordial communication with the public, law enforcement agencies, defense attorneys, and court staff. Maintaining confidentiality of case files and Legal Department information is essential to the position. Incumbents must be comfortable with Lexis Nexis and Westlaw, electronic court filing programs, standard word processing programs, and have the ability to learn other software programs utilized by the City. This position accompanies the staff attorney to court and must remain professional in a courtroom setting. Candidates must pass a criminal background check before employment and must provide a writing sample with their resume and application. There is also a component of general office work where this position assists and relieves lawyers and other legal personnel of administrative and clerical work by performing the following duties.

Requirements

Associate's degree (A.A.) or equivalent from two-year college or technical school and five (5) years related legal experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
Ability to read, analyze, and interpret general business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures, or governmental regulations.
Ability to write reports, business correspondence, and procedure manuals.
Ability to effectively communicate information and respond to questions from groups of managers, clients, customers, and the general public.
Ability to read, analyze, and understand common scientific and technical journals, financial reports, and legal documents.
Ability to respond to complex or difficult inquiries or complaints from customers, regulatory agencies, or members of the legal community.
Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals.
Ability to prepare and interpret bar graphs.
Ability to apply concepts such as fractions, percentages, ratios, and proportions to practical situations.
Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of known variables in situations where only limited standardization exists.
Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or diagram form.
Possession of a valid Driver’s License.
5 years experience in the legal field.
Graduation from an ABA certified paralegal program or equivalent.
Computer training in Microsoft Office.
Intermediate: Database, Spreadsheet, Word Processing/Typing.
Intermediate: 10-key, Accounting, Contact Management, Presentation/PowerPoint, Spreadsheet/Excel.
Lexis Nexis and Westlaw legal research procedures.
Knowledge of general legal terminology and legal principles.
Ability to perform legal research using reference materials generally available within a law library and/or electronic resources.
Knowledge of the policies and procedures relating to municipal government.
Ability to interpret and apply local, county, state, and federal codes and laws.
Ability to analyze and review contracts and other legal documents to ensure necessary provisions are contained therein.
Ability to draft form pleadings and discovery.
Ability to establish and maintain effective working relations with others.
Exceptional ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing.
Ability to organize and prioritize workload.
Ability to understand and follow written and oral directions.
Ability to use and knowledge of modern office equipment, including MS Word software.
Ability to effectively operate photographic, video photographic, and sound recording equipment.

Nice To Haves

Notary Public.
ACIC Certification.
Bilingual.

Responsibilities

Responsible for preparing and maintaining case files for criminal court proceedings which includes, but is not limited to, making discovery requests for police reports, dash cam or body cam footage, crime lab results, and any other information relevant to the case and compiling criminal history reports; including accompanying staff attorney to court.
Responsible for preparing and maintaining case files for civil court proceedings which includes, but is not limited to, preparing and filing interrogatories and request for production of documents, calendar and track motions and response due dates, and scheduling depositions with appropriate parties and court reporter; including accompanying staff attorney to court or court related matters.
Prepare and issue subpoenas for court cases, distribute discovery and plea offers to opposing counsel, calendar court dates, prepare, file, and serve discovery motions for applicable cases.
Familiarizing yourself with each file in order to respond to questions and identify missing information; investigating facts and law of case to determine causes of action to prepare case accordingly.
Research and analyze law sources such as statutes, recorded judicial decisions, legal articles, treaties, constitutions, and legal codes, prepare memos for staff attorney when needed, and physically locate legal materials in the law library.
Prepares legal documents, final legal papers, and correspondence, occasionally from draft or dictated text, such as briefs, pleadings, appeals, summonses, complaints, motions, subpoenas, and contracts, for review, approval, and use by staff attorney.
Acts as law librarian, keeping and monitoring legal volumes and ensuring legal volumes are up to date.
Manages calendar, arranges complex and detailed travel plans and itineraries, compiles documents for travel-related meetings accompanying staff attorney when requested, assists in meeting deadlines, coordinates meetings, and performs other clerical duties such as scheduling appointments, screening incoming calls, providing information to callers, taking dictation, composing and typing routine correspondence, and reading and routing incoming mail.
Acts as custodian of corporate documents and records by maintaining and keeping track of department filing system, accurately filing correspondence and legal documents, and ensuring proper indexing and filing of original legal documents.
Use computer software programs for the Bentonville Police Department, Bentonville District Court, and for other City departments as needed.
Coordinate with Legal Administrative Assistant to schedule services such as computer and office equipment maintenance and repair, supplies, mail, and files.
Perform any other related duties as required or assigned.