Description
Conveniently located on the east coast of Florida between Daytona Beach and New Smyrna Beach, the City of Port Orange is a vibrant, up-and-coming community and home to 66,000 residents. Covering 29 square miles, Port Orange is a moderately sized city in Volusia County with waterfront property lining the intracoastal waterway. Port Orange is accessible via I-95 and US-1. The City operates under a Council-Manager form of government.
Under the general direction of the City Attorney, the paralegal provides support to three in-house attorneys on matters ranging from transactional drafting, litigations support, and agenda preparation.
The City offers competitive pay and benefits for well-qualified applicants.
Position Objective
- The paralegal performs paraprofessional legal support work for attorneys in the City Attorney’s Office. Work includes a variety of specialized tasks such as drafting contracts, litigation pleadings and other legal documents; performing legal research and preparation of case files, in matters related to procurement, real property, tort, corporations, government, labor, employment, workers’ compensation, land use and zoning, construction law, constitutional law, and other typical paralegal duties as may be assigned, under the supervision of an attorney.
Essential Functions
- Assists with meeting materials and agenda item support related to contracts; initiates and drafts legal documents as assigned.
- Draft, format, proofread, and finalize municipal agreements and related documents, including procurement contracts, construction contracts, professional services agreements, amendments, renewals, addenda, change orders, exhibits, and related correspondence.
- Coordinate with vendors, consultants, and others regarding required contract documentation and execution requirements.
- Litigation support for garnishments, Risk Protection Orders, civil forfeiture proceedings, animal cruelty and dangerous dog files, along with related case management, document preparation, and coordination with internal departments and external stakeholders.
- Handles real estate matters, including foreclosure, bankruptcy and tax deeds.
- Handles administrative processing of legal cases and claims filed by or against the City, including collection and preparation of relevant documents and correspondence with the parties.
- Assists in preparation of discovery documents, including requests for production, interrogatories and responsive pleadings.
- Assists in the coordination of persons involved in the investigation of claims made by or against the City, including interviews and communication with employees, managers, outside counsel and insurance adjusters.
- Prepares communications, email, telephone, letters and memos; assembles and copies documents.
- Assists in the preparation of pleadings and motions; manages litigation, appeals, property transactions and all other types of matters involving City business.
- Analyzes and summarizes depositions, witness statements and documentary evidence.
- Maintains all aspects of file documents.
- Conducts legal research, summarizing case information, preparing memorandums of law and presenting information to attorneys.
- Prepare documents related to the preparation for, response to and recovery after an emergency event.
- Performs other related duties as assigned. These additional duties may be representative of tasks typically performed by those in a lesser or more advanced job grade.
Qualifications
- EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS
- Associate degree in paralegal studies from an approved paralegal program.
- Experience in Local Government Law or related fields preferred.
Certifications, Licenses, and Registrations
- Certified Legal Assistant (CLA) or Certified Paralegal (CP) certification preferred.
- Florida Registered Paralegal preferred.
- Florida Notary License or ability to acquire within six (6) months
