Paralegal | Employment | Civil Division bei City of Seattle, WA

About the Department

With more than 200 attorneys and professional staff, the Seattle City Attorney’s Office is one of the largest law offices in Seattle and is the third-largest public law office in the state. Our office is committed to making Seattle a safe, healthy, empowered, and thriving community for everyone. We strive to address historical injustices within the court system with self-examination and to pursue justice in Seattle with integrity, creativity, and fairness. We believe working transparently, innovatively, and in collaboration with our partners in the community is necessary to achieve outcomes that promote equity, accountability, and healing.

The Seattle City Attorney's Office is seeking a Paralegal to join three other Paralegals, twelve Assistant City Attorneys, and two Legal Assistants in the Employment Section. The Section advises on and litigates complex employment matters arising from the City of Seattle’s workforce of over 10,000 employees in a variety of City departments. The work of the Employment Section is dynamic and often fast-paced. We take a collaborative, team-oriented approach to both litigation and advice work, seeking to build effective teams and strong, lasting relationships with City departments and their leadership. Paralegals in the Employment Section are critical to this professional philosophy and are valued members of our enthusiastic and experienced team.

The Paralegal in this position will support Assistant City Attorneys representing the City in employment-related matters in a variety of forums, including lawsuits pending in state and federal courts, administrative cases at the Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC) and Civil Service Commissions, and labor arbitrations. They will assist in all aspects of representation, including assisting with factual investigation, coordinating record collections, managing discovery, and actively participating in trials, arbitrations, and civil service proceedings.

Position Duties

Responsibilities of this position include, but are not limited to: 

• Assisting attorneys in preparing for, strategizing, and representing the City at trials, hearings, and arbitrations.
• Working closely with attorneys and legal assistants to ensure our office is producing quality work product in a timely manner.
• Performing legal, factual, and records research.
• Drafting and assisting with preparation of documents, including communications, records requests, pleadings, discovery, and requests for information.
• Preparing and organizing documents for responding to discovery requests and for use as exhibits for depositions and motions. 
• Providing eDiscovery support, including:

• Initiating litigation holds
• Coordinating collection of physical and electronic records from records custodians across all City departments, including tracking records collection, preserving metadata, and maintaining chain of custody.
• Conducting Microsoft Purview M365 searches and exports (e.g. for Outlook, OneDrive, Teams, and SharePoint records). 
• Staging documents to be ingested into the review platform, Nuix Discover.
• Coordinating document review and production. 

• Assisting attorneys in responding to requests from administrative agencies, such as the EEOC and DOL. 
• Assisting attorneys in other ways, as assigned, and as required to provide the City with the best legal representation possible.

Minimum Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:
Bachelor's degree and at least five years of experience performing paralegal duties, OR a certification from a nationally accredited paralegal training institution and three years related experience, OR a combination of education and/or training and/or experience which provides an equivalent background required to perform the work.

Desired Qualifications:
You will be most successful in this role if you possess the following experience, skills, and abilities:

• Litigation expertise, particularly with electronic and traditional discovery, deposition and trial preparation, and all phases of civil litigation from start to finish. 
• Familiarity with eDiscovery applications and processes, including best practices for data collection, processing, analytics, strategic review, and production. Experience with at least one ediscovery platform, Nuix Discover, Relativity, Logicull, iPro, etc. 
• Working knowledge of court rules in state, federal, and appellate courts.
• Ability to work collaboratively with individuals at all levels of the City.
• Excellent research, writing, communication, and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to work on multiple projects simultaneously in a fast-paced environment.
• Capable of providing timely work product with great attention to detail.
• Ability to represent the City Attorney’s Office in a professional and ethical manner and demonstrate professionalism in all interactions with both employees and outside contacts.
• Have excellent judgment, ability to work independently, self-motivated, and initiative.
• Ability to take direction from multiple attorneys with differing priorities and excellent ability to follow up on all tasks.
• Ability to anticipate and address attorney needs in both routine and unusual situations.
• Ability to work effectively on a variety of teams, including self-managed litigation teams where shared responsibility, accountability, open communication, and collaborative problem-solving are critical.
• Strong work ethic, professional integrity, and compliance with City and legal ethics rules
• Ability to develop and maintain positive and productive relationships with colleagues, attorneys, supervisors, and clients, including the ability to develop and maintain credibility and trust with all internal partners.
  

Other Qualifications

Additional Information

Application Process – For your application to be accepted, you must:

• Complete the online City of Seattle Application
  • (https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/seattle)
• Include the following required attachments: 
  • Cover Letter describing your interest in the position. (.pdf, .doc, or .docx format)
  • Resume detailing your relevant experience. (.pdf, .doc, or .docx format)

Application Submission Guidelines – All applicants are required to apply on or before the closing date indicated on the job posting.  Applicant inquiries received via email and websites such as Indeed, etc. will not be considered unless the individual has applied to the available position via the Government Jobs site.  Note: The required documents listed in the above "Application Process" section must be attached to the application prior to the job closing date indicated to ensure consideration for the application submitted.  Please contact the Office of Human Resources on or before the closing date indicated above at [email protected] should you need assistance with the online application process.

Race and Social Justice Initiative – The City of Seattle recognizes every City employee must play a role in ending institutional and structural racism.  We seek individuals who will work toward the goals of the Race and Social Justice Initiative.

Benefits – The City of Seattle offers a comprehensive benefits package including vacation, 12 official holidays and 2 floating holidays, sick, and paid parental leave as well as medical, dental, vision, life, and long-term disability insurance for employees. City Attorney’s Office employees also have the opportunity to participate in a defined benefits retirement program. More information about benefits can be found at https://www.seattle.gov/human-resources/benefits/employees-and-covered-family-members/most-employees-plans.

Workplace Environment – Currently, the Seattle City Attorney's Office has a Flexible Work Arrangements Policy. Employees have the option to work a hybrid schedule (3 days in the office, 2 days remote). This is subject to change as circumstances and business needs dictate.

Who may apply – This position is open to all candidates who meet the minimum qualifications.   

The City of Seattle values diverse perspectives and life experiences. Applicants will be considered regardless of race, color, creed, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender identity or expression, family or marital status, disability, religious or political affiliation, age, sexual orientation, medical condition, pregnancy, or other protected characteristics.  The Seattle City Attorney's Office encourages people of all backgrounds to apply.

Questions?  Contact our Human Resources team at [email protected].