Paralegal

Open until filled

JOB SUMMARY

The Paralegal performs work in a variety of complex, program areas or specialty fields in support of the City Attorney. This position comprises a variety of paralegal functions including assisting in the drafting of complex legal instruments, conducting legal research, and interfacing and communicating with a variety of Kannapolis personnel and outside parties.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS: The following descriptions are intended to be representative of the general responsibilities and duties of the position and are not intended to be all inclusive.

• Assists with the preparation and processing of legal instruments, including contracts and deeds.
• Electronic filing in and file retrieval from the Cabarrus and Rowan County Court Systems and Office of the Register of Deeds.
• Conducts title searches and assists with preparation of easements, condemnation actions, and other pleadings.
• Assist in the preparation of city council resolutions and other related or subsidiary documents. 
• Research information and legal documents using LexisNexis.
• Preparation of official correspondence. 
• Assistance with preparation of court pleadings.
• Work with the other staff of the City Attorney’s Office on administrative tasks as needed.

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES

• Organization skills and experience tracking workflow; 
• Considerable knowledge of legal processes and terminology; 
• Considerable knowledge of research techniques and methods;
• Experience and ability to draft legal instruments;
• Experience and ability to prepare written reports; 
• Ability to communicate clearly and logically in oral and written form;
• Ability to utilize technology in research and writing assignments;
• Ability to utilize technology to manage case load;
• Ability to create spreadsheets to capture and analyze data;
• Critical thinking about processes and workflow;
• Ability to maintain effective working relationships with persons contacted in the course of work; and
• Experience and competency in one of the following preferred: Title search experience or litigation experience. 

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE AND TRAINING

Associates/Technical degree with coursework in paralegal studies, or related field and at least five years experience working in a law office, city or county attorney’s office or equivalent combination of education and experience as a paralegal; or Bachelor’s degree from an appropriately accredited institution and three years of substantive paralegal or legal experience; or High school or General Education Development (GED) diploma and seven years of paralegal experience performing delegated, substantive legal work; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

SPECIAL  REQUIREMENTS

Must be able to acquire and maintain a valid Notary Public certification in North Carolina.

Bachelors Degree and Paralegal Certificate are preferred.

JOB RELATED PHYSICAL ACTIVITY REQUIREMENTS

This work requires the occasional exertion of up to 10 pounds of force; work regularly requires sitting, speaking and hearing, typing (repetitive motions), frequently requires standing and walking and occasionally requires reaching with hands and arms for files in a file room; work has standard vision requirements; vocal communication is required for expressing or exchanging ideas by means of the spoken word; hearing is required to perceive information at normal spoken word levels and to receive detailed information through oral communications and/or to make fine distinctions in sound; work requires preparing and analyzing written or computer data, operating machines and observing general surroundings and activities; work is generally in a moderately noisy location(e.g. business office, light traffic).

Salary : $57,269 - $88,768