Paralegal Specialist

The Office of the State Treasurer exists to provide and ensure effective financial management of public resources, high standards of professionalism and integrity, and expanding opportunity for State of Connecticut residents and businesses.

Under the leadership of Connecticut’s State Treasurer Shawn T. Wooden, the Office of the Treasurer (OTT) is dedicated to safeguarding the state’s financial resources and taxpayers’ dollars, while maximizing returns, minimizing risks and operating at the highest professional and ethical standards. Through investments and disbursements, the Office continues to enhance the State’s fiscal stability, financial literacy, college savings, and its approach to leveraging business partnerships to combat social issues such as gun violence, climate change, and equal opportunity in economic growth that impact shareholder value. 

We are accepting applications for the position of Paralegal Specialist to work at our location in Hartford, CT. This is a full time, 40 hours per week position with operating hours of 8:30am - 5:00pm, Monday - Friday.  The candidate must have 3 or more years of experience providing paraprofessional legal assistance.

The Department

The Unclaimed Property Division (UCP) is responsible for safeguarding assets turned over to the Office of the Treasurer in accordance with state law, until the rightful owners are located.  The primary objective of the unclaimed property program is to reunite rightful owners or heirs with their unclaimed property, which is remitted to the Office of the Treasurer by business entities after the business loses contact with a customer for a period of three to five years.

The Role

The Paralegal Specialist will be responsible for:

• Independently reading and reviewing a variety of legal documents,
• Interpreting, applying and determining compliance with state statutes, rules, regulations, office policies and internal controls.  Such documents may include, but are not limited to:  wills, trusts, business acquisition or merger documents, Security and Exchange Commissioner filings, corporate or franchise documents, corporate subsidiary listings, power of attorney, beneficiary or custodial account documents, estate, decree to transfer, documents appointing a fiduciary, conservator or guardian from Probate Court, divorce decrees and third-party finder contracts.
• Independently performing a third or fourth level review on claims.

We offer a competitive benefits package, excellent health care, generous leave policies, retirement plan, and more!  We also encourage a healthy work-life balance to all employees!

Applicants must meet the Minimum Qualifications as listed on the job opening and specify their qualifications on their application. Please ensure that your application is complete and you have included your resume in the “Resume Tab” of your application as you will be unable to make revisions once you officially submit your application into the JobAps system.  

Applicants invited to interview may be required to submit additional documentation supporting their qualification(s). These documents may include: performance reviews, supervisory references, college transcripts, licensure, etc. at the discretion of the agency.  

This posting may require completion of additional referral questions (RQ’s) which will be sent to you via email after the closing date.  The email notification will include an expiration date by which you must submit (Finish) your responses.  Please regularly check your email for notifications.  Please check your SPAM and or Junk folders, as emails could end up there in error.  

The minimum experience and training requirements must be met by the close date on the job opening, unless otherwise specified.  

Should you have questions pertaining to any phase of this recruitment, please contact the hiring agency's human resources office:  lorna.reid@ct.gov.

In a state agency, this class is accountable for providing advanced paralegal support in a highly complex legal unit. This class provides advanced technical leadership, research and consultation in the areas of preparing draft legal documents and draft decisions of highly complex cases; as a resource regarding issues, procedures, process and timeframe as related to cases and presenting legal matters as needed.

Performs highly complex paralegal duties as defined in one or both of the following areas:

LEGAL OFFICE OPERATIONS: Interprets complex state statutes and federal regulations governing legal records and documents; determines and applies applicable state statute and/or regulation in preparing documentation; interprets court rules and agency policies and regulations; keeps abreast of the latest court rules, calendar changes and pending legislation; monitors and adheres to court deadlines; reviews legal documents and prepares legal documents such as briefs, writs and pleadings for court filings; responds to relevant case information requests from courts; performs legal research and analysis of law sources such as statutes, legal articles, legal decisions, opinions, rulings, memoranda and other legal material; prepares draft legal documents; provides assistance in the discovery process; provides paralegal assistance by interpreting applicable legal provisions, regulations, precedents and policies; responds to requests and obtains information of sensitive nature; acts as liaison between agency, court system, relevant attorney’s offices and general public; serves as agency liaison regarding relevant policies and procedures; prepares legal and administrative reports; updates and maintains case records, pleadings, policy manuals and filing systems; assists in the drafting of proposed legislation and advisory opinions; provides training and assistance to staff; may perform business mathematical computations; performs related duties as required.

CASE PRESENTATION OR HEARING: Analyzes highly complex cases; develops positions and strategies to settle or litigate cases at formal or informal hearings; prepares for and represents State’s interest at hearings or through case presentation; researches and gathers relevant evidence and documentation; interviews witnesses and clients; drafts legal documents, complaints, stipulations, detailed memoranda, letters and proposed findings and awards reviews substantiation appeals and provides recommendation to management regarding the legal sufficiency of substantiation findings; performs related duties as required.

Considerable knowledge of legal processes and procedures; considerable knowledge of legal terminology and legal forms; considerable knowledge of legal research techniques; knowledge of relevant agency policies and procedures; knowledge of and the ability to interpret and apply relevant state and federal laws, statutes, regulations and legislation; considerable skill in fact finding techniques including interviewing clients and compiling evidence; considerable interpersonal skills; considerable oral and written communication skills; considerable ability to evaluate pertinent facts, cases and evidence and compile and assemble such legal data; considerable ability to compose correspondence and draft legal documents; ability to understand complex laws and related reports; ability to utilize computer software.

The General Experience is defined as one of the following:

1. A Bachelor’s degree in legal studies and one (1) year of experience providing paraprofessional legal assistance to an attorney.

2. An Associate’s degree in legal studies and three (3) years of experience providing paraprofessional legal assistance to an attorney.

3. Completion of a Paralegal or Legal Assistance Certificate Program approved by the American Bar Association and three (3) years of experience providing paraprofessional legal assistance to an attorney.

4. Completion of a Paralegal or Legal Assistance Certificate Program consisting of a minimum of twenty-four (24) semester hours from an accredited college or university and four (4) years of experience providing paraprofessional legal assistance to an attorney.

5. Completion of a Paralegal or Legal Assistance Certificate Program from a business school approved by the State of Connecticut, Office of Higher Education and four (4) years of experience providing paraprofessional legal assistance to an attorney.

6. A Law degree from an accredited Law School.

Experience preparing cases for probate court hearings, reviewing and interpreting wills, trusts and other documents utilized in probate matters.

Experience preparing reviewing and filing corporate or business documents including business acquisition or mergers; preparing corporate subsidiary listings; filings with the Security and Exchange Commission; reviewing corporate and business franchise documents.

Experience preparing, reviewing and interpreting Powers of Attorney, beneficiary documents, custodial accounts and trust agreements.

AN AFFIRMATIVE ACTION/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

The State of Connecticut is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and strongly encourages the applications of women, minorities, and persons with disabilities.