Paralegal 3, Consumer Protection Division, WA State Office of the Attorney General

Description

Persons requiring reasonable accommodation in the application process or requiring information in an alternative format may contact the recruitment team at [email protected]. Those with a hearing impairment in need of accommodation are encouraged to contact the Washington Relay Service at 1-800-676-3777 or www.washingtonrelay.com.

Position and Salary

The Attorney General’s Office is recruiting for a permanent full time Paralegal 3 in the Consumer Protection Division. This position is located in Seattle, Washington, and is represented by the Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE).

Paralegal 3 Salary Range 59, $66,023 - $88,800 

The base pay offered will take into account internal equity and may vary depending on the preferred candidate’s job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.

The following stipends may apply based on position requirements:

• Incumbents assigned to our Seattle office location receive an additional 5% King County Location Pay stipend.
• Incumbents assigned to a position designated as requiring dual language skills will receive a 5% Dual Language Requirement Pay stipend. 

The AGO provides a workplace that is understanding of work-life balance and promotes advancement by offering a wide variety of professional development and growth opportunities.

Excellent benefits

Washington State offers one of the most competitive benefits packages in the nation, including Medical/Dental/Vision for employees & dependent(s); Vacation, Sick, and Other Leave; 11 Paid Holidays per year; Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) plans; and Life Insurance.  Beyond these traditional benefits, we offer Dependent Care Assistance, Flexible Spending Accounts, Public Service Loan Forgiveness, Tuition Waiver, Deferred Compensation, Employee Recognition Leave, and more. With the goal of employee health and wellness, we also offer:

• Flexible schedules and part-time/hybrid telework options;
• A Wellness Program, an Infants in the Workplace Program, and the Employee Assistance Program, which provides counseling, webinar, and other cost-free support resources;
• Numerous employee-driven affinity groups to foster community and connection, including Bereavement, Elder Care, Parenting, POC, LGBTQ+, Veterans and more. The AGO is a place to belong and make a difference!

About the Consumer Protection Division:

The Consumer Protection Division (CP) is composed of attorneys and professional staff. The division enforces the Consumer Protection Act (RCW 19.86) and other statutes to help keep the Washington marketplace free of unfair and deceptive practices. The division investigates and files legal actions to stop unfair and deceptive practices, recovers refunds for consumers, seeks penalties against offending entities, and recovers costs and fees to ensure that wrongdoers pay for their actions. Division staff participate in the many legislative initiatives that affect consumer protection each year.  The Consumer Protection Division also includes public service programs including the Consumer Resource Center and administers the Washington State Lemon Law Program and the Manufactured Housing Dispute Resolution Program. 

Professional staff can expect to participate in high-profile consumer protection litigation such as the State v. Navient (student lending), State v. Providence (charity care violations), State v. Google (unlawful privacy practices), State v. Chuck’s Towing (failure to comply with Servicemembers’ Civil Relief Act), State v. CA Certificate Services (government imposter), State v. Federal Way Discount Guns (unlawful sale of large capacity magazines), State v.Puppyland (predatory lending), State v. CLA Estate Services, Inc., et al. (financial exploitation of seniors), and State v.LuLaRoe (misrepresentations regarding profitability).

Duties and Essential Functions of a Paralegal 3

In support of the Mission and Values of the Attorney General's Office, Consumer Protection Division, the primary purpose of this position is to supervise legal professional staff and to perform expert level legal support to CP Division AAGs enforcing the Consumer Protection Act.

Professional staff in the Consumer Protection Division are valued members of litigation teams. Their input is critical to case management and strategy. The division is a collaborative environment where individuals’ contributions are equally valued. If you are offered this position, you can expect to be an active participant in case planning and provide valuable input when big decisions are being made. 

The Division’s management strives to find engaging, interesting, and fulfilling work that is well suited to the experience level and interests of the individual staff members. The Division does a good job of balancing the staffing needs of the various investigations and cases with finding teams that work well together and foster a collaborative work environment. The Division’s management also makes professional growth a priority. Professional staff are encouraged to take on more responsibility as their careers progress, and training, leadership, and professional development are all opportunities this position will provide. If you enjoy helping people reach their full potential and career goals and being a part of a collaborative team environment, this position is for you! This position would lead a team of legal assistants and paralegals and would include supervising, training, and coaching legal professional staff in the performance of all assignments, projects and job duties. The division will tap into your experience and training to ensure quality, timeliness, and continuous process improvements of litigation support services by monitoring workload of direct reports. You will act as a resource to division staff for questions and concerns regarding legal support services, assignments, and litigation support systems used by the division or office. Your organizational skills will be necessary to resolving workload overflow and conflicts using your knowledge of legal support staff assignments by determining workload distribution of the team.

While this is a leadership position, paralegal duties will be a critical part of the work assigned. You will provide support to division attorneys, by overseeing the management of case deadlines; trial preparation; witnesses; documents, exhibits and courtroom aids. Managing discovery and the document control process. Serving as primary contact for witnesses. Drafting discovery requests to opposing party and responses to discovery requests made by opposing counsel. Participating in legal strategy meetings; identify and track case deadlines. 

This position will be well suited to candidates who prefer diversity in their daily work. There is a long list of ways that you will contribute to the Division in addition to litigation related tasks. Your leadership skills will be particularly important to your success in this position. You will develop and monitor staff performance to prepare for promotional opportunities, improve their performance, and help them gain knowledge and skill in their individual roles. You will provide ongoing training to new and existing staff and provide new staff with orientation. You will also participate in agency performance management program by conducting quarterly check-ins and annual performance evaluations of direct report staff. Additionally, you will oversee administrative tasks, like approving leave and work schedules in alignment with agency and division policies and procedures for employees under direct supervision.

Your years of experience will be an essential resource for the division as you assist in developing policies and procedures and review and update office manuals to maximize the efficiency and operations of Division legal professional staff services. In conjunction with Division professional staff supervisors, attorney team leads and management, you will also develop and implement policies and procedures for the division. 

Your interpersonal skills will be important as you participate in, lead and facilitate meetings, committees and working groups. You will consult and coordinate with the Litigation Support Manager (LSM) to plan, lead, organize, and regulate the work performed by legal professional staff as well as the development of training plans, continued compliance with AGO and Division policies and procedures and make recommendations to develop or improve systems and procedures to ensure effective and efficient workload management and methods.

This recruitment announcement may be used to fill multiple open positions for the same classification, in addition to the position(s) listed in this announcement.

Qualifications

Combination of five years of experience* through:

• Paralegal certification
• Two-year paralegal degree
• Paralegal plus (or nine-month paralegal, post BA) certification,

and/or

• Paraprofessional experience in support of an attorney

OR

• Three years’ experience as a Paralegal 2 in Washington State Service.

Examples of paraprofessional experience in support of an attorney:

• Preparing legal pleadings and legal correspondence
• Ensuring and verifying timely and proper service of legal documents
• Calculating, verifying, and calendaring critical events and other dates
• Managing case documents, files and exhibits
• Tracking and organizing discovery documents
• Researching legal issues and verifying legal citations and references for accuracy

About the Washington State Office of the Attorney General   

Join an agency whose work impacts the lives of every resident of Washington State.  The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) touches the lives of every resident in this state.  We serve more than 230 state agencies, boards, commissions, colleges and universities, as well as the Legislature and the Governor.  The Office is comprised of nearly 700 attorneys and 800 professional staff, all working together to deliver the highest quality professional legal services to Washington state officials, agencies, and entities.  This includes: 

• Economic justice and consumer protections (safeguarding consumers, protecting youth, seniors, and other vulnerable populations)
• Social justice and civil rights (addressing discrimination, environmental protection, and veteran and military resources)
• Criminal justice and public safety (investigative and prosecutorial support, financial crimes)
• And much more!

Our agency also has national reach, representing the State of Washington before the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals and trial courts in all cases that involve the state’s interest.  If you want to make a difference, we may be the perfect fit for you!   Learn more about the AGO here.  

Commitment to Diversity 

Diversity is critical to the success of the mission of the AGO. This means recognizing, respecting, and appreciating all cultures and backgrounds-- and fostering the inclusion of differences between people.  Appreciating, valuing and implementing principles of diversity permits AGO employees to achieve their fullest potential in an inclusive, respectful environment. One recent measure of the AGO's commitment to diversity can be found in its nomination for Rainbow Alliance and Inclusion Network's "Outstanding Agency Award" in 2019.  Our commitment to employee wellness is reflected in earning the 2021 Zo8 Washington Wellness Award.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS:

In addition to completing the online application, applicants must attach the following documents to their profile in order to be considered for this position:

• A letter of interest, describing your specific qualifications for the position;
• A current resume detailing experience and education.

 READ THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION COMPLETELY:

• Carefully review your application for accuracy, spelling and grammar before submitting.
• You may not reapply to this posting for 30 days.
• The initial screening of applications will be solely based on the contents and completeness of the “work experience” and “education” sections of your application in www.careers.wa.gov, completeness of the application material submitted, and responses to the supplemental questionnaire.
• A resume will not substitute for completing the “work experience” section of the application.
• All information may be verified and documentation may be required.

Equal Employment Opportunity and Accommodations Requests

Honoring diversity, equity and inclusion means that as an agency, and as individuals, we are committed to ensuring that all employees and volunteers enjoy a respectful, safe and supportive working environment. Only by fostering the inclusion of people from all backgrounds, cultures and attributes, can AGO employees and volunteers achieve their fullest potential and best advance the goals and mission of the AGO.

The AGO is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, national origin, sex, marital status, sexual orientation/gender identity, age, disability, honorably discharged veteran or military status, retaliation or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal by a person with a disability. Persons requiring reasonable accommodation in the application process or requiring information in an alternative format may contact the recruitment team at [email protected]. Those with a hearing impairment in need of accommodation are encouraged to contact the Washington Relay Service at 1-800-676-3777 or www.washingtonrelay.com.

For questions regarding this recruitment or assistance with the application process, please contact Jenny Wilding @ (360) 753-6216 or [email protected].

If you are having technical difficulties creating, accessing or completing your application, please call NEOGOV toll-free at (855) 524-5627 or [email protected].