Paralegal

American Oversight is looking for a dedicated, organized, and efficient paralegal to join our team and help us shine a light on government misconduct and threats to democracy. We’re a nonpartisan, nonprofit watchdog that uses targeted public records requests and litigation to uncover evidence of corruption, abuse of power, or conflicts of interest.

We leverage our open records expertise to act where corruption and government power overlap. From the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to state transparency laws, we use carefully crafted records requests to extract information from the government. When the government fails to respond as required by law, our team has the expertise to take them to court and enforce the public’s right to hold our leaders accountable. American Oversight has obtained and published more than one million pages of emails, memos, calendars, text messages, and other records — ensuring accountability, exposing misconduct, and often driving significant corrective action, at all levels of government.

The paralegal will support our legal team by keeping outgoing records requests, incoming agency correspondence, and document productions organized. The paralegal will also provide litigation support to our attorneys, including service of process, keeping litigation calendars up-to-date, file maintenance, and more. Our paralegals are a small but vital team that has become the beating heart of American Oversight, keeping the core of our work organized and promptly accessible to the rest of the staff.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

Specific tasks will shift day by day with our work, but depending on your weekly rotation assignment, in a typical week, you will:

• Monitor federal FOIA or state records email inboxes for incoming correspondence and document productions from government agencies and offices.
• Interact with federal FOIA and state agency open records personnel directly or notify American Oversight attorneys of correspondence requiring their review.
• Finalize and file FOIA and state records requests with government agencies.
• Create folders and database entries within American Oversight’s document management systems, and track FOIA and open records request deadlines.
• Process incoming document productions, including entering production information in databases, saving documents to proper locations, making them text searchable and applying pagination and logos.
• Provide litigation case support to attorneys, including service of process, organizing and maintaining litigation files and calendars, and other litigation projects.
• Review and research current events to spot issues for potential investigation and to identify opportunities to uncover government malfeasance or unethical conduct through FOIA and state records requests.
• Assist legal and investigations teams with drafting FOIA and state open records requests.
• Assist legal and investigations teams with document review and drafting administrative appeals.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Exceptional organization and project-management skills.
• Extraordinary attention to detail.
• Sound judgment and the ability to apply existing protocols to a variety of situations while properly identifying when situations do not fit within preexisting processes.
• Highly professional communication skills, including the ability to communicate courteously, clearly and concisely in a fast-paced environment with internal and external stakeholders.
• A team-player that is able to work collaboratively and seamlessly share responsibilities.
• Familiarity with a variety of software programs, including word processing, spreadsheets, and databases.
• Flexibility to quickly learn new software programs and systems.
• High degree of professional ethics and integrity.
• Interest in government ethics and accountability.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

American Oversight is proudly an equal opportunity employer and is committed to building a diverse team. Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply for jobs unless they believe they have every one of the qualifications listed. We are dedicated to finding the best candidate for the job. Our hiring process is centered on assessing candidates with diverse lived experiences. We would encourage you to apply, even if you don’t believe you meet every one of our qualifications described. If you are unsure of whether you meet the qualifications of this position, or how this would be determined, please contact us to discuss your application.

• The salary range for this position is $50,000 to $56,000, commensurate with experience. Generous and comprehensive benefits package.
• American Oversight is a nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization.
• American Oversight is a remote-first organization, and our employees can work from anywhere in the country.  Our office in downtown Washington, DC, is an optional workspace when pandemic-related restrictions allow.

https://americanoversight.applytojob.com/apply/lw69DiqIH3/Paralegal?source=Hire