Paralegal III

National Legal Aid & Defender Association; Seattle (WA); Hybrid; USD 58,000 - 71,000; Full time

Job summary

Washington State Bar Association seeks a Paralegal III in the Regulatory Services Department to support lawyers on character and fitness matters, conduct legal research, draft analyses, and assist with administration of regulatory boards. The role includes serving as clerk for LLLT and Limited Practice Boards and handling confidential information with care.

Primary duties include coordinating board meetings, drafting materials, updating public records, and providing training on Litify processes.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate board and subcommittee meeting and hearing schedules, and arrange facility, travel, court reporter and other meeting details.
• Prepare, organize, and distribute meeting materials, process expense reimbursements, and track expenses.
• Draft agendas and correspondence.
• Update webpages with meeting information and materials.
• Host and attend meetings and hearings, taking notes and drafting minutes.
• Respond to inquiries from the public and members including email in the LLLT, LPO, UPL, and Entity Regulation mailboxes.
• Assist in administering programs under the purview of the Practice of Law Board, including entity regulation pilot and complaints regarding unauthorized practice of law.
• Prepare and grade limited license examinations, coordinate with exam graders, and maintain statistics.

Skills

Legal research

Drafting documents

Meeting coordination

Public records

Clerk duties

Job description

Position Description

Paralegal III

Regulatory Services Department (RSD) – Washington State Bar Association (WSBA)

Salary Range: $64,464 to $64,464 + Washington State Employee Benefits and Retirement Plans

FLSA: Full-time, Non-Exempt

Work Location: Hybrid Commutable within Washington State

The WSBA's mission is to serve the public and the members of the Bar, to ensure the integrity of the legal profession, and to champion justice.

Purpose And Position Summary

The key functions of the RSD Paralegal III position are to provide support and assistance to the lawyers in the Regulatory Services Department including in matters before the Character & Fitness Board, to provide general and legal research, writing, and analysis assistance to lawyers and the RSD management team, to assist staff liaisons in the administration of regulatory and Supreme Court boards, and to provide support to the department director in administrative matters. They also serve as Clerk to the Limited License Legal Technician (LLLT) Board and the Limited Practice Board for LLLT and LPO disciplinary matters. This position assists in complex matters and has primary responsibility for certain administrative tasks for the department.

Primary Job Duties And Responsibilities

Support for administration of the LLLT Board, Limited Practice Board, and Practice of Law Board

• Coordinate board and subcommittee meeting and hearing schedules, and make facility, travel, court reporter and other meeting arrangements.
• Prepare, organize, and distribute meeting materials, process expense reimbursements, and conduct expense tracking.
• Draft agendas and correspondence.
• Update webpages with meeting information and materials.
• Host and attend meetings and hearings, taking notes and drafting minutes.
• Respond to inquiries from the public and members including email in the LLLT, LPO, UPL, and Entity Regulation mailboxes.
• Support staff liaison in the administration of programs under the purview of the Practice of Law Board, including the pilot project for entity regulation and complaints regarding the unauthorized practice of law.
• Assist in preparing and grading limited license examinations, coordinate with exam graders to complete grading exams, and maintain limited license exam statistics.
• Update and maintain information and public records for the LLLT Board, Limited Practice Board, and Practice of Law Board, including board rosters and information relating to the recruitment and appointment of board members.

Provide research, drafting, and analysis support and assistance to RSD lawyers and management team as assigned

• Review often voluminous application files to summarize relevant facts and potential issues for regulatory counsel and to identify especially important supporting documents, all of which assists regulatory counsel to resolve character and fitness matters in a timely and efficient manner.
• Perform legal research and analysis to support preparation of legal documents, reports, draft court rules, presentations, and other documents for review by RSD lawyers.
• Perform general research and analysis to support preparation of reports, projects, presentations, and other items as needed for RSD management, especially in support of innovative license programs.
• Based on research and analysis, make recommendations for assisting regulatory counsel and RSD management on strategic planning and decision making.
• Draft documents, including letters, reports, summaries of research results and conclusions, recommendations, legal memoranda, pleadings, presentations, materials for character and fitness investigations and hearings, and amendments to the WSBA Bylaws and court rules.

Serve as paralegal, clerk, and system administrator for the limited license discipline system

• Open, review, process, and analyze grievance files against Limited License Legal Technicians (LLLTs) and Limited Practice Officers (LPOs), ensuring accurate entry in the discipline database.

Communicate directly with grievant, respondent, and staff liaison/counsel to the board and, as directed, to corresponding board chair or discipline committee chair, to facilitate disposition of grievance files.

• Serve as Clerk to the LLLT Board and the Limited Practice Board, opening proceeding matters, receiving and processing filings, managing proceeding dockets, ensuring accurate data entry, and maintaining the public record of LPO and LLLT discipline in accordance with the applicable Rules for Enforcement of LLLT Conduct (ELLLTC) or Rules for Enforcement of LPO Conduct (ELPOC).
• Independently assess next steps to determine the necessary actions in process and safeguarding confidential information and personal identifiers.
• Prepare and distribute materials to the Discipline Committees, the LLLT Board, Limited License Board, and the Supreme Court. Coordinate with the Office of Disciplinary Counsel in preparing materials for the meetings, and draft and serve orders on the parties after Board and Discipline Committee meetings.
• Draft and publish limited license discipline notices for the Washington State Bar News and Discipline Notice Directory.
• Serve as the records custodian for all limited license discipline files, which includes issuing custodian declarations for public records requesters and internal WSBA departments, as well as responding to requests for limited license discipline information.
• Coordinate ongoing implementation, improvement, or management of discipline database and online filing system and submit and manage Litify tickets.
• Collaborate with internal departments, WSBA IT, and external vendors to ensure that discipline database and online filing system functions accurately and efficiently.
• Manage forms and reports, create and regularly update Litify forms and letter templates for grievances and proceedings, and work independently to resolve system issues in partnership with IT and other departments.

Provide comprehensive training to new WSBA RSD users on Litify processes and the online filing portal, while also supporting respondents and their counsel with registration and filing.

Is responsible for recommending improvements to system rules, reports, procedures, and processes, and for maintaining up-to-date procedure manuals that reflect current practices and essential job functions. Through these efforts, the person in this role ensures that all systems operate smoothly and meet the evolving needs of the limited license discipline system.

Assist in administration of departmental programs and responsibilities

• Monitor and distribute department scanned mail and e-faxes,
• Attend and assist at all licensing exams,
• Provide assistance and back-up to the Law Clerk Program Lead and other RSD staff as needed
• Assist in the administration of departmental programs and responsibilities as assigned by the Director, Associate Director, or Managing Regulatory Counsel, including, but not limited to, maintaining records in compliance with the records retention policy and updating and maintaining procedures manuals.