LEGAL ASSISTANT - 76953

Executive Service

Background Check: This position requires a criminal background check. Therefore, you may be required to provide information about your criminal history in order to be considered for this position.

Who we are and what we do:

The Tennessee Department of Correction operates and oversees 14 adult prisons across the state, housing some 21,000 offenders. In the community, TDOC supervises 79,000 offenders on probation, parole, or community corrections. The department operates 44 probation/parole offices in 13 districts across the state.
The Office of General Counsel (OGC) is the legal division for the Department of Correction. Under the oversight of the General Counsel, the OGC supports the Tennessee Attorney Generals Office in litigation involving the department and provides ongoing legal advice to department leadership for daily operations. The OGC serves as legal liaison for the TDOC with the courts, the legal community, and the public through presentation of, or participation in, meetings and educational programs.

Job Overview:

This position assists the executive staff of the TDOC legal division and performs legal assistant work of considerable difficulty under the supervision of licensed attorneys. Reporting directly to the General Counsel, this position conducts legal research and evaluates the legal implications of specific acts, policies, or proposed legislation, on the operations or employees of the department. This position is also required to draft legal documents as needed for the General Counsel and other executive or legal staff.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Responsible for the timely collection, organization, and distribution of documents in response to state and federal subpoenas, and records requested under the Tennessee Public Records Act.
2. Responsible for reporting critical prison incidents pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. * 39-16-202.
3. Primary point of contact in the TDOC Office of General Counsel for the Attorney General's office for coordination of their defense of the TDOCs civil litigation in all Claims Commission, state, and federal cases.
4. Collects documents and evidence, drafts responses to interrogatories, drafts responses for request for admissions and request for production of documents.
   Supports TDOC counsel in their defense of employee Step III appeals. This will include document collection, organization, trial notebook compilation, and assistance at appeal hearings, when necessary.
5. Assists with general legal research questions from internal partners and drafts responses as needed.
6. Responsible for legal research and writing on a variety of topics impacting the correctional industry and conducting legal analysis and evaluating the legal implications of a specific act, policy, or proposed legislation.
7. Performing legal research using electronic search engines such as Westlaw or other electronic legal research systems

Minimum Qualifications:

Education equivalent to graduation from an accredited college, university, or professional school with one of the following:

1. an associate's degree in paralegal or legal assistant studies.
2. a bachelor's degree in paralegal or legal assistant studies.
3. a paralegal certificate; or (4) one year (28 semester hours) of graduate level law school.

OR

Education equivalent to graduation from a standard high school and two years of full-time experience in researching legal issues and documenting findings to assist in building case files, settling legal disputes, and/or providing legal counsel to clients.

Pursuant to the State of Tennessee's Workplace Discrimination and Harassment policy, the State is firmly committed to the principle of fair and equal employment opportunities for its citizens and strives to protect the rights and opportunities of all people to seek, obtain, and hold employment without being subjected to illegal discrimination and harassment in the workplace. It is the State's policy to provide an environment free of discrimination and harassment of an individual because of that person's race, color, national origin, age (40 and over), sex, pregnancy, religion, creed, disability, veteran's status or any other category protected by state and/or federal civil rights laws.