LEGAL ASSISTANT - 82415

State of Tennessee; Nashville (TN); Hybrid; USD 49,000 - 62,000; Full time

Job summary

The Tennessee Department of Human Services (DHS) Office of General Counsel in Nashville seeks an experienced Legal Assistant to support in-house attorneys. Responsibilities include drafting contracts, managing case files, and handling public records and subpoenas while maintaining strong customer service to internal and external stakeholders.

The role requires knowledge of departmental policies, statutes, and regulations, with a focus on accuracy and confidentiality.

Qualifications

• Education equivalent to graduation with one of the listed paralegal/legal assistant qualifications.
• Graduate level law school (one year/28 semester hours) qualifies.
• High school diploma with two years of fulltime legal research or case-file support experience.

Responsibilities

• Draft routine contracts, organize documents, track and route materials for review.
• Assist with rulemaking scheduling and related duties.
• Support public records requests, subpoenas, and translation processing.
• Prepare and proofread legal documents including pleadings and regulations.
• Conduct legal research and summarize case law, statutes, and regulations.
• Maintain case and litigation files and provide litigation support.
• Handle general administrative tasks and DHS program knowledge.

Skills

Legal research

Drafting documents

Administrative support

Education

Associate's Degree in Paralegal or Legal Assistant studies

Bachelor's Degree in Paralegal or Legal Assistant studies

Paralegal Certificate

Graduate-level law studies (1 year/28 semester hours)

High school diploma + 2 years legal experience

Job description

Executive Service

Closing Date: 11/23/2026 This is a hybrid position

LEGAL ASSISTANT

Department of Human Services Office of General Counsel Nashville, TN Annual Salary: $49,176.00 - $61,548.00 Closing Date: 11/23/2026 This is a hybrid position

Who We Are And What We Do

DHS Mission

Strengthen Tennessee by Strengthening Tennesseans

DHS Vision

To revolutionize the customer experience by growing capacity to reduce dependency.

DHS Values

High Performance

• Collaboration
• Continuous Improvement
• A shared Vision
• Customer-Centered Solutions

Job Overview

The Tennessee Department of Human Services (DHS) is currently seeking experienced candidates for Legal Assistant in the DHS Office of General Counsel (OGC). The Office of General Counsel provides legal advice to DHS programs, legal representation in judicial and administrative litigation affecting the department, prepares departmental rules, and prepares legislation for and analysis of legislation affecting the Department. This Legal Assistant position will be responsible for supporting multiple in-house OGC Attorneys by providing general and administrative support, knowledge of departmental policies, statutes, and regulations, maintaining positive working relationships with internal and external OGC Partners, and providing excellent customer service to internal and external customers.

Key Responsibilities

Routine contract drafting, document organization, tracking, routing, and execution activities; coordinating stakeholder reviews; and completing procurement portal entries, as needed/assigned. Legislative analysis/tracking and assisting with scheduling and other duties related to rulemaking process, as needed/assigned. Assisting with the review and production of documents related to public records requests, media requests, response to subpoenas, processing translation requests, and issuing and tracking litigation holds, as needed/assigned. Drafting and proofreading various legal documents, including case pleadings, discovery documents, subpoenas, proposed legislation and DHS regulations. Conducting legal research and summarizing findings of case law, statutes, and regulations. Creating, maintaining, and updating case and litigation files and providing other litigation support. Completing administrative tasks, such as processing mail, answering and making telephone calls, notarizing documents, etc. Obtaining a working knowledge of all programs administered by DHS.

Minimum Qualifications

• Education equivalent to graduation from an accredited college, university, or professional school with one of the following:
• an Associate's Degree in Paralegal or Legal Assistant studies.
• a Bachelor's Degree in Paralegal or Legal Assistant studies.
• a Paralegal Certificate.

OR

• (4) one year (28 semester hours) of graduate level law school.

OR

• Education equivalent to graduation from a standard high school and two years of fulltime experience in researching legal issues and documenting findings to assist in building case files, settling legal disputes, and/or providing legal counsel to clients.

Pursuant to the State of Tennessee's Workplace Discrimination and Harassment policy, the State is firmly committed to the principle of fair and equal employment opportunities for its citizens and strives to protect the rights and opportunities of all people to seek, obtain, and hold employment without being subjected to illegal discrimination and harassment in the workplace. It is the State's policy to provide an environment free of discrimination and harassment of an individual because of that person's race, color, national origin, age (40 and over), sex, pregnancy, religion, creed, disability, veteran's status or any other category protected by state and/or federal civil rights laws.