See PARALEGAL 1.

Positions perform expert paralegal work in support of Assistant Attorneys General in litigation of State matters. Positions perform complex paralegal duties requiring a high degree of knowledge of legal concepts, issues and research, which, absent the paralegal, would be performed by an assistant attorney general. Positions have delegated responsibility for administrative supervision over other paralegals.

This is the supervisory level of the series and must have direct administrative supervision over work performed by other paralegals and legal support staff and are significantly involved in their training.

This level typically has the highest level of knowledge and experience in a functional area of litigation support and oversees a unit of other paralegals. Typically, the experience and knowledge has been gained through progression of the paralegal series. Independently organizes, monitors, evaluates and makes adjustments to litigation tools, processes, and tactics for their division.

Positions in this level of the series are expected to identify, understand and pursue all steps in the agency’s most complex, critical or precedent setting matters with minimal oversight.

Acts as an expert resource to entry and journey paralegals concerning questions or problems they may have arising in of their work, or concerning the litigation support systems used by the division or office;

Analyzes, summarizes, and proposes solutions to complex legal issues;

Negotiates and, under attorney supervision, stipulates settlement agreements in administrative cases;

Identifies, locates, collects, organizes, assesses and manages documentary, statistical, computer and demonstrative evidence, including reports and other information obtained from public and private sources, for use civil litigation;

Signs leave slips, assigns work, conducts performance evaluations, and participates in the interview and selection process;

Reviews advance sheets and prepares case abstracts on relevant cases for attorneys;

Designs and creates case specific databases; provides case-related database maintenance; works with litigation team to identify coding requirements; performs file conversion; database uploads; conducts and provides database backups and troubleshooting;

Uses or modifies existing computer data bases for complex litigation cases;

Coordinates the updating and maintenance of brief banks, client advice files, and current case indices;

Designs and delivers training for paralegals;

Mentors and develops other paralegal staff, acting as a resource to the team, irrespective of supervision responsibilities.

Assists in determining and balancing work assignments among other paralegals on staff; directly assigns work to other paralegals in areas where groups of paralegals are handling particular cases;

Assists division leadership with development of processes, systems, and protocols of litigation management.

Under the direct supervision of a division chief, section chief, or lead attorney in a regional office, the Paralegal 3 may perform the following substantive legal work and supervision:

Directly supports the division chief, section chief, or lead attorney in a regional office in coordinating, controlling and directing paralegal services;

In conjunction with the supervising attorney, participates in the conduct of performance evaluations; assists the division chief, section chief or lead attorney in a regional office with personnel issues dealing with paralegals;

Performs work performed by of Paralegals 1 and 2;

Performs other work as required.

Knowledge of: supervisory techniques; performance management; legal terminology; current legal office practices; methods and procedures; law office communications; civil and appellate procedures and rules; legal requirements and proper procedure for service of legal pleadings on parties and witnesses; process and resources used to check and verify legal citations, references and quotation information for pleadings and legal memoranda; state and federal legal requirements regarding privilege and redaction of confidential information; discovery procedures; advanced skills in software and database applications typical of a law office; rules and regulations relating to witness appearance for trials and hearings, including preparation and service of required subpoena, lay and expert witness contracts and allowable compensation; correct punctuation, spelling, grammar and vocabulary skills.

Ability to: supervise, coach, counsel and train staff; model professional and respectful behaviors at all times; locate and independently interpret the highly technical local court rules and requirements set forth by multiple court venues; interpret ambiguous or nuanced local court rule requirements and take necessary action steps to ensure attorneys are aware of requirements and prepare and file documents in accordance with the requirements; independently prepare and format pleadings filed in multiple court venues following each local court’s rules and requirements; maintain confidentiality of restricted information; independently research court rules in multiple administrative, county, and appellate court venues to calculate filing deadlines and determine formatting and filing requirements for cases and pleadings; utilize case management systems and databases for tracking documents, pleadings, depositions, hearings, trials, and critical case and litigation deadlines; utilize litigation software; understand and follow written and oral instructions.

There may be instances where individual positions must have additional licenses or certification. It is the employer’s responsibility to ensure the appropriate licenses/certifications are obtained for each position.

Persons legally authorized to work in the U.S. under federal law, including Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients, are eligible for employment unless prohibited by other state or federal law.

Combination of five years of experience through paralegal certification, two-year paralegal degree, and/or paraprofessional experience in support of an attorney.


Three years' experience as a Paralegal 2. 
Equivalent education/experience.

New class adopted September 14, 1979.
Revise class. Revises title (formerly Antitrust Legal Examiner 3), definition, minimum qualifications; adopted September 13, 1985.
Revise class. Revises title (formerly Legal Examiner 3), definition, minimum qualifications; adds distinguishing characteristics; adopted February 15, 1991.
Revise class. Revises class code (formerly 46630); adopted May 10, 2007, effective July 1, 2007.
Class series concept added, definition and distinguishing characteristics revised; additional class plan maintenance; salary adjustment. Adopted June 22, 2023 effective July 1, 2023

Revised Legal Requirements; effective June 6, 2024, due to adopted legislative action.