Litigation Paralegal

8/23/2022 11:59 PM Eastern

The Office of Corporation Counsel (OCC) provides legal services to the City and County through its three main divisions. First, OCC represents the City, County agencies, and City-County employees in litigation, handling a diverse docket that ranges from tort and contract matters to constitutional law. Second, through its counseling division, OCC provides legal advice to City and County agencies, officials, and oversight bodies to ensure that public entities remain compliant with the law and standards of ethical conduct, to safeguard public funds, and to promote the efficient functioning of local government for Marion County taxpayers. OCC’s third division is the Office of the City Prosecutor, which is responsible for enforcing City-County ordinances. OCC also oversees the Office of Equal Opportunity, which administers the City’s human rights ordinance, protecting against discrimination in employment and other contexts. In exercising these crucial legal functions, OCC cultivates a productive, collaborative, and compliant work environment that prioritizes the needs of our clients and the residents of Indianapolis and Marion County.

Litigation paralegals are responsible for working with and providing legal support services for attorneys in the litigation division of the Office of Corporation Counsel. Position holders perform administrative work, as well as more substantive legal support work under the supervision of practicing attorneys. This position will allow for independent organization and prioritizing of responsibilities and duties along with moderate supervision according to standard operating policies and procedures.

All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran, or disability status. We value diversity in perspectives and experiences among colleagues and the residents of this city of whom we serve.

The City-County is involved in a diverse array of litigation matters, including federal civil rights suits, tort claims, contract disputes, prisoner litigation, appeals at the state and federal level, and administrative and regulatory matters. The primary responsibility of litigation paralegals is to assist litigation attorneys with all stages of the litigation process.

Significant responsibilities include:

• Creating and maintaining comprehensive case management files for each litigation matter for which they have primary responsibility.
• Exercising independent responsibility for creating and submitting more routine court filings under the overall direction of a litigation attorney.
• For more complex court filings (such as dispositive motions and briefs) providing active assistance to a litigation attorney with certain elements of research and drafting.
• Handling communications with court staff and support staff for opposing counsel.
• Ensuring that case management schedules are kept up to date and important litigation deadlines are not missed.
• Assisting with the discovery process, including the management and preparation of evidence.
• Performing editing, proofreading, and cite-checking.
• Assisting attorneys at trial and other court hearings, including by compiling evidence, creating visual aids and exhibits, creating and running slide presentations, and by assisting in all facets of pre-trial preparation.
• Assisting with office-wide needs, including staffing the reception desk, answering and forwarding telephone calls, greeting visitors and accepting deliveries

In addition to the responsibilities listed above, litigation paralegals may perform special research or other assignments on behalf of office leadership and are encouraged to develop areas of expertise that enhance the efficiency of the office overall.

Litigation paralegals may also assist with the tort claim investigation and response process and may assist the office’s attorneys with administrative and other matters that take place outside the civil litigation setting.

This list of duties and responsibilities is not intended to be all-inclusive and may be expanded to include other duties or responsibilities that management may deem necessary from time to time.

Skills Required

Strong independent judgment. Guidance from litigation attorneys will be available, but successful litigation paralegals must have the good judgment to take responsibility for what they can handle themselves, and seek assistance when doing so is in the client’s best interests.

Organizational Skills. This position requires managing a high volume of documents and ensuring that lawsuits proceed on schedule and that no deadlines are missed. To be successful in this position, a litigation paralegal will be required to master the office’s case management software, to develop a comprehensive organizational plan for himself or herself, and to assist busy litigation attorneys in handling and organizing their case files.

Technical proficiency. The office’s litigation paralegals are expected to be able to navigate the electronic filing systems used by state and federal courts. This requires not only proficiency in individual use, but the ability to explain and communicate to attorneys who will rely on the paralegal to handle most aspects of electronic filing and to be able to assist with aspects of online legal research and cite-checking.

Communications skills. Litigation paralegals engage in frequent independent communication – with our clients’ employees, with opposing counsel and opposing counsel’s support staff, and with court staff. A high level of professionalism and skill at concise, persuasive communication is required. Writing skills are also essential to allow paralegals to operate independently in drafting some court filings, and to assist attorneys in drafting or editing others.

Ethics and professionalism. Holders of this position are public servants, and so are their clients. All employees of the Office of Corporation Counsel are expected to uphold the highest standards of ethics and professional conduct at all times.

Minimum Job Requirements and Qualifications

• High school diploma or GED.
• At least three (3) years’ working experience with appropriate references, OR any amount of prior professional experience working as a paralegal or in a legal support staff capacity.
• Proficiency with the Microsoft Office suite of platforms, and some familiarity with electronic records management systems.

Preferred Job Requirements and Qualifications

• Professional experience in a litigation setting, whether as a paralegal or a member of support staff.
• Bachelor’s or associate’s degree.
• Familiarity with online court filing systems and with the “Blue Book” citation manual.
• Paralegal certificate from an institutionally accredited paralegal program.
• Status as an Indiana Registered Paralegal (IRP) through the Indiana Bar Association, or a similar form of certification or specialized training in paralegal work.

Work is conducted in a standard office environment.

All rates are bi-weekly.

Anthem CDHP High

Single: $32.39 EE + Spouse: $77.23 EE + Child(ren): $56.38 Family: $104.61

Anthem CDHP Medium

Single: $49.48 EE + Spouse: $117.99 EE + Child(ren): $86.13 Family: $159.83

Anthem CDHP Low

Single: $65.75 EE + Spouse: $156.79 EE + Child(ren): $114.45 Family: $212.39

Delta Dental High

Single: $13.90 EE + Spouse: $29.59 EE + Child(ren): $33.15 Family: $52.66

Delta Dental Low

Single: $8.02 EE + Spouse: $15.94 EE + Child(ren): $21.57 Family: $33.15

ANTHEM Vision Plan

Single: $2.85 EE + Spouse: $5.16 EE + Child(ren): $5.53 Family: $8.38

Life Insurance Employee Only (rates per $1,000 per month):

Basic: No Cost

Optional Life Insurance Employee Only (rates per $1,000 per month)

Additional:

<25-29 $0.053

30-34 $0.075

35-39 $0.090

40-44 $0.120

45-49 $0.203

50-54 $0.330

55-59 $0.545

60-64 $0.723

65-69 $1.208

70 + $1.867

IMPORTANT PERF UPDATE:

• For more information on eligibility options, refer to Proposal 21-288 https://bit.ly/3exq8yR

1. All employees hired/rehired after to 1/1/2022 have a choice to select the PERF Hybrid plan (3% + Pension) or the INPRS My Choice: Retirement Savings plan (3% + 1% Contribution). The Hybrid plan consists of two components:

Annuity Savings Account (ASA) -This consists of the mandatory employee contribution of three (3%) percent of compensation (made for the employee by the City), plus interest credits or earnings. You're always vested in your ASA portion - it's always yours.

Pension - The pension portion of the retirement benefit is funded by contributions made by the employer over the course of the employee's career and separate from the annuity savings account. Employees enrolled in the PERF Hybrid plan are eligible for retirement benefits at age sixty-five (65) if they have ten (10) or more years of creditable service. After June 30, 1995, employees may retire at age sixty (60) with at least fifteen (15) years of credible service or if the member's age in years plus the years of credible service equals at least 85 and the member is at least fifty-five (55) years of age. With fifteen (15) or more years of creditable service, the employee may retire as early as age fifty (50) with a reduced pension.

2. Employees hired/rehired by the City and County between 1/1/2017 and 12/31/2021 will be automatically enrolled in the PERF My Choice: Retirement Savings plan. This plan is an annuity savings account (ASA) only plan and does not have a pension component. Any service that an employee has in the My Choice: Retirement Savings Plan will not count toward the service time requirements for pension eligibility in the Hybrid Plan.

With the PERF My Choice: Retirement Savings Plan, the ASA is split up into two parts:

Part one - This consists of the mandatory employee contribution of three (3%) percent of compensation (made for the employee by the City), plus interest credits or earnings. You're always vested in your ASA portion - it's always yours.

Part two - This consists of an additional variable rate contribution paid by the City toward your ASA. This variable rate contribution is currently 1% of your gross wages. Vesting in the value of the variable rate employer contribution will vary by length of participation. You are:

• 20 percent vested after 1 full year of participation
• 40 percent vested after 2 full years of participation
• 60 percent vested after 3 full years of participation
• 80 percent vested after 4 full years of participation
• 100 percent vested after 5 full years of participation

3. All employees hired/rehired prior to 1/1/2017 are grandfathered into PERF Hybrid plan. The Hybrid plan consists of two components:

Annuity Savings Account (ASA) -This consists of the mandatory employee contribution of three (3%) percent of compensation (made for the employee by the City), plus interest credits or earnings. You're always vested in your ASA portion - it's always yours.

Pension - The pension portion of the retirement benefit is funded by contributions made by the employer over the course of the employee's career and separate from the annuity savings account. Employees enrolled in the PERF Hybrid plan are eligible for retirement benefits at age sixty-five (65) if they have ten (10) or more years of creditable service. After June 30, 1995, employees may retire at age sixty (60) with at least fifteen (15) years of credible service or if the member's age in years plus the years of credible service equals at least 85 and the member is at least fifty-five (55) years of age. With fifteen (15) or more years of creditable service, the employee may retire as early as age fifty (50) with a reduced pension.

4. City Employees hired/rehired between 1/1/2017 and 12/31/21 that are members of the City AFSCME labor union can choose to enroll in either the PERF My Choice: Retirement Savings plan or the PERF Hybrid plan. Both plans are described above. Employees have 60 days to choose which option they want, and by state law this cannot be changed. If no choice is made, the employee will then be automatically added to the PERF My Choice: Retirement Savings plan.

The Indiana General Assembly has enacted a provision that allows public employees to make voluntary contributions in addition to the mandatory three percent (3%) contributions. Employees may contribute up to an additional ten- percent (10%) of their compensation per pay period to the annuity savings account. This means that the maximum level of contributions to the annuity savings account under this new provision is thirteen percent (13%) of an employee's compensation per pay period.

Employees who separate from the city within their first ten (10) years of employment need to contact INPRS - PERF regarding their ASA account.

Questions relating to PERF may be directed to INPRS - PERF at:

Indiana Public Retirement System

Public Employees' Retirement Fund

One North Capitol, Suite 001

Indianapolis, Indiana 46204

(888) 236-3544