Paralegal - Quality Assurance Specialist

Human Resources Division - Office of Tennessee Secretary of State•Nashville, TN

14d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Administrative Procedures Division (APD) within the Office of the Secretary of State aims to serve our clients, customers, and associates—government agencies, citizens of Tennessee, and judicial partners—by providing impartial, efficient, and sound contested case hearings and mediations. More than 70 state and local government agencies open an average of 7,000 cases with APD each year on issues that include, but are not limited to, professional licensure, civil forfeiture, medical benefits, special education, and property tax. APD offers an important platform for the enforcement of administrative laws and for citizens to contest administrative rulings from the government. The Quality Assurance Specialist is responsible for ensuring the accuracy, professionalism, clarity, and quality of all outgoing orders and related communications issued by APD. This position serves as the final quality review prior to issuance of orders, verifying grammar, spelling, punctuation, formatting, consistency, accessibility compliance, and overall clarity of written decisions. The scope of APD’s portfolio of cases makes working for APD unique and exciting. In the course of a week, the Quality Assurance Specialist may suggest edits on over 150 orders dealing with anything from a citizen’s appeal of the denial of medical benefits coverage to a business’s appeal of a fine for alleged environmental contamination. The Quality Assurance Paralegal’s careful and efficient review of each order is critical to APD’s ability to issue high-quality, accurate, professional, and easily understood orders. The ideal candidate is an experienced proofreader, editor, or quality assurance professional with exceptional language and document-review skills. Legal experience is preferred but not required. We are willing to train a highly skilled proofreader in the legal subject matter. Successful candidates will demonstrate outstanding attention to detail, strong editorial judgment, and the ability to ensure that all written decisions are accurate, clear, professional, and ready for issuance.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in English, Journalism, Communications, Technical Writing, Professional Writing, or a related field
Three years of professional proofreading, editing, quality assurance, document review, technical editing, or related experience
Advanced proofreading and copyediting skills, preferably with legal documents
Excellent command of written English, grammar, punctuation, and style
Exceptional attention to detail and accuracy of information; ability to identify errors, inconsistencies, and ambiguities in complex written materials
Ability to learn and apply legal terminology, concepts, and procedures
Ability to communicate recommendations diplomatically and professionally
Strong organizational and time-management skills
Ability to independently prioritize work, manage multiple deadlines, ensure timeliness in meeting those deadlines, and maintain accuracy in a high-volume environment
Excellent basic computer skills; comfortable and confident with quickly learning a new case management system
Ability to envision and articulate proposals for how the case management system can be enhanced to improve quality assurance processes
Ability to use and familiarity with MS Office: Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
Ability to use and familiarity with Adobe Pro
Ability to use and quickly learn virtual meeting platforms: Webex and MS Teams
Ability to quickly adapt to new processes when implemented
Service-oriented attitude, both to customers and to colleagues

Nice To Haves

Legal experience is preferred but not required.
proofreading or editing legal, judicial, governmental, regulatory, or administrative documents
experience in administrative law, government, a court, or legal environment
Understanding of legal documents and legal terminology, preferably associated with litigation, is preferred
Knowledge of administrative law is a plus
Or, graduation from an accredited college or university resulting in any one of the following: 1) An Associate Degree in paralegal studies from an ABA-approved program; 2) an Associate or Bachelor’s Degree in any field plus a Technical Certificate in Paralegal Studies from an ABA-approved program; 3) a Bachelor’s Degree in Legal/Paralegal studies; or 4) a Masters of Legal Studies

Responsibilities

Proofread outgoing orders and their accompanying documents for grammar, spelling, punctuation, syntax, formatting, consistency, and typographical errors
Review written orders for clarity, readability, organization, and professional presentation
Review outgoing orders for sound legal reasoning and logical consistency, providing feedback and recommendations to the authoring judge and/or Quality Assurance Committee
Make suggested edits and corrections for the authoring judge’s review using MS Word Track Changes and Adobe Pro
Ensure finalized documents comply with established APD standards, policies, and quality assurance protocols
Edit PDF documents as needed to ensure compliance with ADA accessibility requirements prior to issuance
Process outgoing orders and related correspondence issued through mail, email, and electronic portal systems
Reset hearings on the master APD docket schedule pursuant to continuance orders and orders setting hearing
Receive, review, and process returned mail
Monitor and address unsent email notifications and the “Do Not Reply” inbox
Staff the Quality Assurance Committee and assist with the review, development, implementation, and refinement of quality assurance procedures and standards
Provide input regarding process improvements designed to enhance the quality, consistency, and efficiency of APD’s operations and written orders
Crosstrain on the responsibilities of other support staff and provide backup assistance as needed to ensure continuity of operations
Demonstrate effective communication and collaboration with judges and staff
Independently perform all assigned duties with professionalism, accountability, and productivity in both in-office and remote work environments
Consistently meet established deadlines while maintaining a high degree of accuracy and attention to detail
Perform other duties as assigned