Paralegal/Law Clerk: Quality Assurance Specialist

Mission: The mission of the Office of the Secretary of State is to exceed the expectations of our customers, the taxpayers, by operating at the highest levels of accuracy, cost-effectiveness, and accountability in a customer-centered environment.

The Administrative Procedures Division (APD) within the Office of the Secretary of State aims to serve our clients, customers, and associates – government agencies, citizens of Tennessee, and judicial partners – by providing impartial, efficient, and sound contested case hearings and mediations. More than 70 state and local government agencies open an average of 7000 cases with APD each year on issues ranging from property taxes to professional licensure, civil forfeiture and seizure of assets to the provision of special education services. APD offers an important platform for citizens to contest administrative rulings from government.

Supervisor: Director of Administrative Procedures

Summary: Proofread, edit, and issue all orders from the Division’s judges.

The scope of APD’s portfolio of cases makes working for APD unique and exciting. In the course of a week, the Quality Assurance Specialist may suggest edits on over 150 orders dealing with anything from a citizen’s appeal of the denial of medical coverage to a business’s appeal of a fine for alleged environmental contamination. The Quality Assurance Specialist’s careful, accurate, and efficient review of each order is critical to ensuring the Division issues high-quality, easily understood orders.

Duties/Responsibilities:

• Proofread all outgoing orders and their accompanying documents for grammatical, spelling, typographical, punctuation, writing, and formatting errors.
• Make suggested corrections for the authoring judge’s review using MS Word Track Changes and Adobe Pro.
• Review all outgoing orders for sound legal thought, providing feedback and suggestions to the authoring judge and/or Quality Assurance Committee.
• Process all outgoing orders whether issued via mail, email, or e-portal.
• Reset hearings on master APD docket schedule per continuance orders or orders setting hearing.
• Staff Quality Assurance Committee as it reviews and makes adjustments to the Division’s Quality Assurance protocols.
• Complete and analyze weekly orders status report, late orders report, and other data reports as assigned.
• Work closely with judges on legal research and drafting of orders as time allows.
• Learn the functions other support staff perform and serve as backup for other staff members as needed.
• Perform other duties as assigned.
• Perform all functions of the job in an independent and responsible manner, including if/when working remotely.

Required Qualifications:

Education and Experience

• Graduation from an accredited college or university resulting in any one of the following: 1) An Associate Degree in paralegal studies from an ABA-approved program; or 2) an Associate or Bachelor’s Degree in any field plus a Technical Certificate in Paralegal Studies from an ABA-approved program; or 3) a Bachelor’s Degree in Legal/Paralegal studies; or 4) a Masters of Legal Studies.
• Full-time experience with a history of increased responsibility in the legal profession and prior experience with the review and editing of legal documents are preferred.

Knowledge and Abilities

• Understanding of legal documents and legal terminology preferably associated with litigation.
• Superior writing and proofreading skills, specifically with legal documents.
• Proficient research skills, specifically in the legal field.
• High attention to detail and accuracy of information. Ability to quickly and accurately analyze large volumes of information and documents, spot errors, and ensure accuracy of writing.
• Exceedingly strong basic computer skills. Comfortable and confident with quickly learning a new case management system.
• Ability to envision and articulate proposals for how the case management system can be enhanced to improve Quality Assurance processes.
• Ability to manage daily tasks and correctly prioritize their timely completion.
• Strong oral and written communication skills as well as excellent listening skills in order to ensure quality customer service. Ability to compose professional, concise, tactful emails using proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
• Ability to use and familiarity with MS Office: Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Ability to use and familiarity with Adobe Pro.
• Ability to use and familiarity with computer-assisted legal resources such as Westlaw.
• Ability to use and quickly learn virtual meeting platforms: Webex and MS Teams.
• Ability to learn quickly, absorbing important information as to the legal meaning of various document types throughout the administrative law process and within APD’s specific case management system.
• Analytical thinking and deductive reasoning ability.
• Ability to quickly adapt to new processes when implemented.
• Ability to manage multiple high-volume priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• A service-oriented attitude, both to customers and to colleagues.
• Knowledge of the administrative law process is a plus.

Salary: Commensurate with experience and State of Tennessee benefits package.

Location: The official workstation is the Tennessee Tower in downtown Nashville, TN. After a period of time, consideration may be given, at the discretion of the Director, to allow for remote work.

Hours: The official work hours are 8:00 am – 4:30 pm Central Time. After a period of time, consideration may be given, at the discretion of the Director, to allow for an adjustment to the work hours.

Powered by JazzHR

6qE09OZDoS