State of Maryland

10

A Paralegal I is the intermediate level of support work to an attorney involving legal research, application of Maryland case law and preparation of various legal documents. Employees in this classification do not supervise.

Employees receive moderate supervision from an attorney.

Positions in this classification are evaluated using the Classification Job Evaluation Methodology. The use of this method involves comparing the assigned duties and responsibilities of a position to the job criteria found in the Nature of Work and Examples of Work sections of a class specification.

Paralegal I and Paralegal II are differentiated on the basis of the degree of supervisory control exercised by the supervisor over these employees. Paralegal I performs duties under close supervision at times and under general supervision at other times depending on the complexity of the specific duty being performed. Paralegal II performs the full range of duties under general supervision.

Paralegal work differs from professional work as an attorney in that paralegals cannot try cases in a court of law, give legal advice, accept cases or set fees. Paralegals do perform legal research, interview witnesses and write and handle legal documents concerning the mechanics and processes of cases and legal proceedings under the supervision of an attorney. Paralegal work differs from work as a legal secretary in that legal secretaries are primarily responsible for secretarial services such as maintaining appointments and schedules, screening phone calls and visitors, maintaining filing systems for case files and transcribing a variety of legal documents and filings. Legal secretaries, under specific instructions, may occasionally perform some legal research.

Conducts legal research and interprets and analyzes law sources in order to prepare legal documents such as briefs, pleadings, appeals and contracts;

Investigates facts and laws of a case to determine causes of action and to prepare case for attorneys;

Assists attorneys in interviewing witnesses, including expert witnesses and preparing them to give testimony;

Files pleadings in court;

Delivers or directs the delivery of subpoenas to witnesses and parties of action;

Gathers information and prepares records and reports;

Drafts correspondence on routine legal issues;

May specialize in a particular area of the law such as litigation, contracts, corporate or other areas;

Performs other related duties.

Specific educational and experience requirements are set by the agency based on the essential job functions assigned to the position.

A Class Description provides information about the Nature of Work, Examples of Work and General Requirements for a classification in the Management Service or a classification in the Skilled or Professional Service in which all positions have been designated Special Appointments. Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities; Minimum Education and Experience Requirements; Special Requirements; and recruitment and testing procedures are set by the using agency. Class descriptions broadly define groups of positions used by various State departments and agencies. Position descriptions maintained by the using department or agency specifically address the essential job functions of each position.

Feb 9 2010 12:00AM

Director, Division of Classification and Salary