Paralegal Specialist (Hybrid)
State of Connecticut - Department of Correction
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Benefits offered by this job
Job summary
State of Connecticut, Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) is recruiting a full-time Paralegal Specialist to support the Commissioner and legal team within the Environmental Conservation Branch, including the Wildlife, Fisheries, Forestry, Parks, and EnCon units.
The role involves complex paralegal duties, FOIA processing, discovery, regulatory tracking, and hearings preparation, with a hybrid work arrangement.
Qualifications
- Paralegal experience providing paraprofessional legal assistance.
- Familiar with FOIA processes and disclosure requirements.
- Strong legal research and writing skills; ability to draft legal documents.
Responsibilities
- Assist FOIA liaisons and legal team with FOIA requests including reviewing and redacting records.
- Support compliance with Police Accountability Act and related litigation preparation tasks.
- Track regulatory dockets and assist with hearings and administrative proceedings.
- Maintain case records, draft documents, and support discovery and testimony preparation.
Skills
Education
Tools
Job description
The State of Connecticut, Department of Energy & Environmental Protection's (DEEP), Office of Legal Counsel is currently recruiting for a full time Paralegal Specialist to support the Commissioner and her legal team, and more specifically, to serve the Environmental Conservation Branch, which is comprised of the Bureaus of Natural Resources (Wildlife, Fisheries and Forestry) and Outdoor Recreation (Parks, Environmental Conservation Police and Boating).
DEEP's Office of Legal Counsel advises the Commissioner, and the Department as a whole, on a wide variety of legal issues faced by the three branches of the agency: Environmental Quality (EQ), Environmental Conservation (EC) and Energy and Technology Policy (Energy). A Transactional and Regulatory Affairs (TMRA) unit within the legal office supports all three branches of DEEP, as well as the Bureau of Central Services and programs within the Commissioner's Office such as the Office of Equity and Environmental Justice and the Office of Climate Planning.
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Professional growth and development opportunities.
A healthy work/life balance to all employees.
Monday through Friday, 40 hours.
Hybrid.
- Working with Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) liaisons and members of the legal team to address FOIA requests for the EC branch – of particular note, the Environmental Conservation Police Division (EnCon) requires support with reviewing and redacting incident reports and body‑worn and vehicle dash camera footage, and this may involve review of graphic or disturbing images and material;
- Supporting EnCon in terms of complying with the Police Accountability Act and its many statutory requirements – this may entail providing assistance with drafting policies and general orders, managing records, and engaging in discovery activity associated with litigation matters before the Office of the Claims Commissioner or Judicial Branch;
- Tracking Public Utility Regulatory Authority (PURA), Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and Siting Council dockets that may have forestry, fisheries or wildlife implications;
- Assisting with licensure and enforcement hearing preparation before DEEP’s Office of Adjudications;
- Advancing regulations in the e-Regs system; and
- Assisting with other administrative work as needed to support the EC branch programs and the Office of the Commissioner.
For an inside look at what it's like to work as an employee for the State of Connecticut, please watch the video below!
In a state agency this class is accountable for providing advanced paralegal support in a highly complex legal unit. This class provides advanced technical leadership, research and consultation in the areas of preparing draft legal documents and draft decisions of highly complex cases, and is a resource regarding issues, procedures, process and timeframe as related to cases and presenting legal matters as needed.
Performs highly complex paralegal duties as defined in one or both of the following areas:
- Interprets complex state statutes and federal regulations governing legal records and documents;
- Determines and applies applicable state statute and/or regulation in preparing documentation;
- Interprets court rules and agency policies and regulations;
- Keeps abreast of the latest court rules, calendar changes and pending legislation;
- Monitors and adheres to court deadlines;
- Reviews legal documents and prepares legal documents such as briefs, writs and pleadings for court filings;
- Responds to relevant case information requests from courts;
- Performs legal research and analysis of law sources such as statutes, legal articles, legal decisions, opinions, rulings, memoranda and other legal material;
- Prepares draft legal documents;
- Provides assistance in the discovery process;
- Provides paralegal assistance by interpreting applicable legal provisions, regulations, precedents and policies;
- Responds to requests and obtains information of sensitive nature;
- Acts as liaison between agency, court system, relevant attorney’s offices and general public;
- Serves as agency liaison regarding relevant policies and procedures;
- Prepares legal and administrative reports;
- Updates and maintains case records, pleadings, policy manuals and filing systems;
- Assists in the drafting of proposed legislation and advisory opinions; provides training and assistance to staff;
- May perform business mathematical computations;
- Performs related duties as required.
- Analyzes highly complex cases;
- Develops positions and strategies to settle or litigate cases at formal or informal hearings;
- Prepares for and represents the state’s interest at hearings or through case presentation;
- Researches and gathers relevant evidence and documentation;
- Interviews witnesses and clients;
- Drafts legal documents, complaints, stipulations, detailed memoranda, letters and proposed findings and awards reviews substantiation appeals and provides recommendation to management regarding the legal sufficiency of substantiation findings;
- Performs related duties as required.
Considerable knowledge of legal processes and procedures;
legal terminology and legal forms;
legal research techniques;
Knowledge of relevant agency policies and procedures; and the ability to interpret and apply relevant state and federal laws, statutes, regulations and legislation;
Considerable interpersonal skills; oral and written communication skills;
skill in fact finding techniques including interviewing clients and compiling evidence;
Considerable ability to evaluate pertinent facts, cases and evidence and compile and assemble such legal data; compose correspondence and draft legal documents;
Ability to understand complex laws and related reports; utilize computer software.
The General Experience is defined as one of the following:
- A Bachelor’s degree in legal studies and one (1) year of experience providing paraprofessional legal assistance to an attorney; OR
- An Associate’s degree in legal studies and three (3) years of experience providing paraprofessional legal assistance to an attorney; OR
- Completion of a Paralegal or Legal Assistance Certificate Program approved by the American Bar Association and three (3) years of experience providing paraprofessional legal assistance to an attorney; OR
- Completion of a Paralegal or Legal Assistance Certificate Program consisting of a minimum of twenty-four (24) semester hours from an accredited college or university and four (4) years of experience providing paraprofessional legal assistance to an attorney; OR
- Completion of a Paralegal or Legal Assistance Certificate Program from a business school approved by the State of Connecticut, Office of Higher Education and four (4) years of experience providing paraprofessional legal assistance to an attorney; OR
- A Law degree from an accredited Law School.
- Experience working as a paralegal for two or more attorneys in a governmental agency, law firm, or corporation.
- Experience working with Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Outlook, Teams and SharePoint.
- Experience developing standardized procedures to streamline data organization.
- Experience working with confidential information, contracts or grants.
- Experience processing documents for litigation.
- Experience producing written communications that are without typographical and grammatical errors.
- Experience communicating with multiple stakeholders and coordinating stakeholder engagement.
AN AFFIRMATIVE ACTION/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER The State of Connecticut is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and strongly encourages the applications of women, minorities, and persons with disabilities.
As defined by Sec. 5-196 of the Connecticut General Statutes, a job class is a position or group of positions that share general characteristics and are categorized under a single title for administrative purposes. As such, a job class is not meant to be all-inclusive of every task and/or responsibility.
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