Legal Assistant / Paralegal - Return Utah (Part time)

Do you want to rejoin the workforce and learn the intricacies of the administrative law process? Want to be an essential part of administrative law with the State of Utah? Ready to work closely with Administrative Law Judges in an intellectually fulfilling role? Please take the next step and apply for our Legal Assistant/Paralegal role with the Utah Department of Commerce!

**At the discretion of the Director, up to 3 days of telework may be approved if eligibility requirements are met.  

The Return Utah program is a formal career reentry program, designated for Utahns reentering the workforce after a career break. The program is tied to the state job you are applying for, meaning that, along with a new role and traditional on-the-job training, candidates hired will receive 16 weeks of transitional support (which includes an office technology review, coaching, career development opportunities, mentorship, networking opportunities, and job market readiness training).

Career break reasoning is irrelevant.

To be eligible for Return Utah, candidates must:

• Have prior professional/life experience and/or qualifying skills suitable for the job’s functional area of interest, and,
• A career break of one year or more at the time of application, or,
• Confirm military affiliation (as a service member, veteran, spouse, or partner) or,
• Be underemployed at the time of application.

This is a temporary position. While the Return Utah program will provide access to resources that will enable you to explore further employment opportunities, your participation does not guarantee employment with the state of Utah upon conclusion of the program.

PRINCIPAL DUTIES

The Administrative Law Judges (ALJ) oversee administrative hearings for several divisions within the Department of Commerce, including the Division of Consumer Protection, the Division of Securities, the Division of Real Estate, and the Division of Professional Licensing.  In this position, you will assist the ALJs and work with members of various divisions.  You will perform legal assistant and paralegal tasks with review and supervision by an ALJ, as well as general office tasks to help run the administrative duties of the office.

Duties will include, but not be limited to, the following:

• Participating in legal research.
• Drafting legal documents.
• Using legal search engines and other resources for legal research to conduct factual research and compile information.
• Answering questions and phone calls from the public.
• Reviewing case files.
• Maintaining document control, tracking, and tracing.
• Searches records.
• Assist with the opinion review process, including gathering information.
• Assisting ALJs in locating, obtaining, tracking, and disseminating information.

THE IDEAL CANDIDATE

We are looking for a professional who can be described as:

• Proactive and resourceful.
• An excellent communicator, both verbally and in writing.
• Exceptionally detail-oriented.
• A problem solver with critical thinking abilities.
• A team player who can collaborate with all levels of an organization.
• Positive with a desire to learn.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Office/clerical experience.
• Customer service experience.
• Proficient with Microsoft Word and Excel.

PREFERRED

• Certified paralegal.
• Professional knowledge and or experience with administrative law or civil litigation.
• Experience with legal search engines.
• Experience drafting professional documents (emails, letters, training and educational resources, initial legal drafts, notices, etc.).
• Experience using PowerPoint, Adobe Sign or DocuSign, and Google Workspace.

AGENCY

The Department of Commerce is the licensing and registration agency for Utah's professional and business community.  We provide oversight of business registrations, trademarks, Uniform Commercial Code filings, professional licensing, consumer protection, public utilities, securities, real estate, and residential mortgage lending.

You can learn more about our agency by visiting our website.

(Includes knowledge, skills, and abilities required upon entry into position and trainable after entry into position.)

• The ability to serve the public in a manner that shows sensitivity, tact, and professionalism.

• The ability to ensure compliance with statutes, rules, regulations, etc.

• The ability to evaluate information against a set of standards.

• The ability to communicate information and ideas clearly and concisely, with English fluency. 

• The ability to compose and produce reports, documents, and related materials.

• The ability to follow processes to completion timely and accurately.

• Possess excellent business writing skills.

• The ability to establish, organize, and/or maintain files.

• As a part of the interview process, you may be asked to participate in a writing exercise.

• State of Utah Job: Legal Assistant (Paralegal) I (#85508). 

• Please note, a position's eligibility for remote work is established by agency management and is subject to change at their discretion at any time and for any reason.

• In this position, you are not required to respond to situations involving threats to public safety or perform duties that consist of actively preventing or detecting crime, or perform duties that primarily provide community protection, and you do not obtain warrants of arrest.

• Effective July 1, 2021, in-state work rules require all work to be performed while physically within the state’s borders.

• We are interested in every qualified candidate who is eligible to work in the United States. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa at this time.

• As a condition of employment with the Department of Commerce, employees shall receive compensatory time off in lieu of payment in cash for all overtime worked under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

• Valid driver's license required to drive a motor vehicle on a highway in this state per Utah Code  § 53-3-202(1)(a).

• Work requires some physical exertion such as long periods of standing, walking over rough terrain or rocky surfaces; recurring bending, crouching, stooping, stretching, reaching, lifting moderately heavy items (up to 50 lbs.) or similar activities.