Paralegal - Trial Division (Salem)

The Oregon Department of Justice is expanding its Trial Division and is seeking a Paralegal for its Salem Legal Office. The role involves assisting lawyers in trial preparation, conducting factual investigations, managing pleadings, and drafting discovery requests.

Responsibilities

• Assist in trial and trial preparation, including organizing exhibits, preparing factual portions of pretrial order, consulting with attorneys regarding witnesses' ability to effectively testify at trial, preparing trial notebooks and witness notebooks, tracking trial exhibits, taking notes during trial, coordinating trial witnesses, and suggesting questions or additional documents to be used in examination of witnesses
• Conduct factual investigation of assigned cases, including arranging, preparing for, and assisting with, subpoenas and document collections from clients and third parties, and conducting interviews of witnesses
• Independently manage proposed pleadings and correspondence relating to cases
• Draft discovery requests and responses for your attorneys' review, including requests for production, interrogatories, and requests for admissions, and responses and objections to each of those forms
• Read, organize, and analyze document production from our client agencies, third parties, and opposing parties
• Assist in the process of preparing for depositions, including identifying potential exhibits, organizing, and preparing the exhibit sets, and assisting in depositions
• Work with expert witnesses or consultants on cases and assist them by supplying information and documents necessary for their testimony and reports

Skills

• Two-year Associate degree in Paralegal or Legal Assistant Studies
• Eighteen months of Paralegal experience
• Any combination of training and experience that demonstrates experience in legal work, independent judgment, legal terminology principles, concepts, systems, and processes. Experience must include discovery and trial methods and procedures, legal ethics, and skill in preparing legal documents, interviewing witnesses, and explaining legal issues
• Experience working independently as a paralegal with a trial caseload
• Experience reviewing, analyzing, and organizing large volumes of discovery documents, on paper and in databases such as Relativity, EDT, Summation, or Everlaw
• Experience in trial
• Experience in working independently to prepare a busy team of lawyers for trial
• Experience in working with clients in either written or oral communication
• Preference may be given to those with professional experience as a paralegal versus those qualifying by education alone

Benefits

• Vacation, sick leave, paid holidays, and special days off.
• Excellent medical, vision, and dental.
• Pension and retirement programs.
• Endless peer and management support, and representation by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
• Opportunity to expand your professional skills.

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