Paralegal

This position is open to Alaska Residents only. Please check our residency definition to determine if you qualify.

This position provides paralegal support to attorneys in the Agency’s Kenai office and supervises the support staff in that office (one paralegal and two law office assistants). Our attorneys represent individuals in all phases of litigation in criminal, child in need of aid, and delinquency cases. This position is responsible for assisting attorneys in organizing and managing cases, providing direct client assistance, and utilizing the internal case management system to draft letters and pleadings among other duties.

The Sixth Amendment guarantees the right to counsel in many types of cases and the Public Defender Agency is appointed by the Court to represent people who are unable to afford counsel on their own. Paralegals are an integral part of providing that representation and protecting our clients' rights. They work closely with attorneys and other Agency staff to complete conflict of interest analysis to ensure that Agency representation of individual clients is and remains conflict-free.

They will make recommendations to withdraw from representation where they determine a conflict of interest exists. This position is essential to the success of the division by providing advanced legal analysis and managing the success of the team.

Support staff at the Public Defender Agency have the opportunity to learn about the legal system and hone their administrative skills to further their career development in the legal field. Most importantly, they get to do this while working as a team to provide meaningful contributions to Alaska, as the work we do impacts people’s lives and protects the constitutional rights of all Alaskans.

This important work helps improve case outcomes for individuals charged with crimes, helps re‑unify families, and provides the foundation for successful re‑entry into communities. Many paralegals use the skills and experience they gain to transition to investigative and administrative management positions within the Agency, the State of Alaska, or the private sector.

Your first 12 months in the Agency are probationary and considered a training period, with formal and on‑the‑job training with your supervisor and your colleagues.

The office is located in Kenai, Alaska. The hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM with an hour lunch  position interacts and works closely with attorneys, investigators, paralegals, and law office assistants in the Kenai office and communicates regularly with co‑workers across the state, clients of the Agency, and court system staff.

This job class uses competency based minimum qualifications. Please ensure your application (through work history, volunteer experience (duties summary), training, education, licenses, certifications, etc.) supports how you have gained the knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors (competencies) and that you possess the minimum required competencies for the job class.

The competency description(s) listed below have been designed to promote a common understanding of the essential elements of the job class. They highlight the more general and customary knowledge, skills, abilities (KSAs), tasks, and behaviors used to describe the competency. They typically list expectations, as opposed to specific tasks, and are to be used only as parameters and guidelines. A competency’s description is not intended to exclusively define every KSA, task, and behavior needed to successfully meet the competency, but rather to provide the manager/agency with a broad reference of options as to how an applicant can meet the job expectation.

Any combination of education and/or experience that provides the applicant with competencies in:

• Law:
  Knowledge of State and federal laws, including legal and court procedures, regulations, guidelines, precedents, admissibility of evidence, case preparation,…