Paralegal

Ride BART to a satisfying career that lets you both: 1) make a difference to Bay Area residents, and 2) enjoy excellent pay, benefits and employment stability. BART is looking for people who like to be challenged, work in a fast paced environment, and have a passion for connecting riders to work, school and other places they need to go. BART offers a competitive salary, comprehensive health benefits, paid time off, and the CalPERS retirement program.

All San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment. You will be required to show proof of your completed COVID-19 vaccination prior to receiving a final offer, unless you receive a COVID-19 Vaccination reasonable accommodation due to a medical condition or a religious exemption due to an approved sincerely held religious belief that prohibits you from receiving a vaccine. BART will review requests for a reasonable accommodation or religious exemption on a case-by-case basis. Documentation may be required. For questions, please contact BART Human Resources, Leave Management at .

Office of the General Counsel

BART offers comprehensive compensation and benefits programs. Benefits include CalPERS pension; excellent medical (effective January 1, 2023 current employee cost $160.96 monthly for most plans), vision, and dental coverage; supplemental insurances; paid holidays and vacation; as well as two investment programs, one of which is entirely funded by BART. BART does not participate in Social Security. Complimentary BART passes for employee and qualifying dependents.

$87,476.896 - $103,515.568 (Non-Rep Pay Band-710)

Initial salary step offered will commensurate with experience and education.

March 6, 2023

Open until filled.

Initial screening of applications will commence on March 27, 2023.

Associate General Counsel

Saturday and Sunday

All current BART employees and qualified individuals who are not yet BART employees.

BART's Office of the General Counsel is seeking an experienced paralegal to provide support to attorneys in litigation, arbitration, and transactional matters. The Office of the General Counsel includes a team of fourteen attorneys and five support staff working in a highly collaborative environment to deliver legal services to every department at BART. The successful candidate will primarily support attorneys working on employment litigation and labor arbitrations, with some additional assignments related to transactional matters.

The ideal candidate will demonstrate the following characteristics beyond the minimum qualifications:

• Desire and ability to work with a collaborative, team-oriented group of professionals working towards a common goal
• Ability to establish and maintain effective relationships with other department members, clients, and staff at outside law firms
• Willingness and flexibility to perform a wide range of both paralegal and administrative duties as needed
• Ability to juggle multiple deadlines and assignments; ability to prioritize and communicate effectively with colleagues regarding deadlines and capacity
• A track record of taking ownership of and pride in assignments and work product
• Experience with current legal office technology and procedures, including electronic court filings and electronic discovery; ability to stay current with new technology and procedures in the legal profession

1. Conducts various document searches and factual research by creating and maintaining internal case databases, runs searches on internal and external document databases and systems, culls relevant information from a variety of resources such as newspapers, magazines, libraries, case documents and trade associations.

1. Prepares witness and matter materials by organizing all relevant materials and documents for attorney review and case preparation.

1. Under attorney supervision, gathers and prepares documents relevant to depositions, organizes exhibits, takes notes and handles exhibits during depositions and summarizes transcripts.

1. Pulls relevant documents, formats, and proofreads pleadings and papers, organizes exhibits and creates document indices in preparation for motion filing.

1. Works with attorneys in the preparation and electronic filing of court documents in state and federal court. Creates, binds, and distributes both file and courtesy copies. Organizes and formats briefs, exhibits and appendices.

1. Acts as liaison between the Office of the General Counsel and internal departments, as well as with outside agencies investigating factual allegations and developing responses. Oversees the progress of documents through any support departments, orders transcripts from reporting services and fulfills requests from outside counsel and others.

1. Prepares attorneys for trial and arbitration by organizing exhibits, files and all other supporting documents, coordinates trial and arbitration set-up and logistics, assists attorneys in mediations, hearings, arbitrations and in court by taking notes, handling exhibits, and marking documents referred to by counsel, assists in the preparation of witness testimony and serves as liaison between trial attorneys and in-house staff.

1. Coordinates calendars and schedules court dates, meetings, and appointments for assigned staff.

1. Assists in the preparation of reports, correspondence, and directives.

1. Updates legal periodicals as assigned.

1. Assists in retrieving legal sources and verifying legal citations to law sources such as statutes, recorded judicial decisions, legal articles, and treatises.

1. Performs other administrative duties as assigned.

Education:

Possession of an associate degree in Legal, Business Administration, or Public Administration fields, or a closely related field from an accredited college or university.

Experience:

The equivalent of two (2) years of verifiable full-time verifiable paralegal experience in a legal office litigation environment, within the last five years, in the United States. Paralegal work involving labor and employment claims is desirable.

Other Requirements:

Paralegal certification or completion of one year of law school from an accredited institution.

Substitution:

Additional experience as outlined above may be substituted for the education on a year-for-year basis. Associate Degree or higher is preferred.

Knowledge of:

• Legal office procedures, terminology, and electronic document preparation
• Legal research procedures
• Court filing procedures, including federal and state electronic filing requirements
• Electronic discovery and document production
• Principles and practices of employment law and labor relations
• Advanced office administrative practices and procedures, including independent business letter writing, and the operation of common office equipment, including use of standard legal computer software to create and format pleadings, agreements, and other documents
• Record keeping, independent report preparation and filing methods
• Correct English usage, including spelling, grammar, punctuation, and vocabulary

Skill/ Ability in:

• Advanced ability to plan, coordinate, document factual research and investigate facts
• Research cases, decisions and other materials in a legal library
• Proofread materials for accuracy and compliance with policies and procedures; use initiative and independent judgment within established guidelines
• Demonstrate leadership skills
• Use tact, discretion and prudence in establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with those contacted in the course of the work
• Compose correspondence independently or from brief instructions
• Set priorities, meet critical deadlines, and follow-up on assignments with a minimum of direction
• Prepare complex litigation documents
• Strong organizational, interpersonal, communication, writing and presentation skills
• Create and edit documents in Microsoft Word, including formatting, tables of contents, indices, and other common sections of motions and pleadings

Applications will be screened to assure that minimum qualifications are met. Those applicants who meet minimum qualifications will then be referred to the hiring department for the completion of further selection processes.

The selection process for this position may include a skills/performance demonstration, a written examination, and a panel and/or individual interview.

The successful candidate must have an employment history demonstrating reliability and dependability; provide copies of certificates, diplomas or other documents as required by law, including those establishing his/her right to work in the U. S; pass a pre-employment medical examination which may include a drug and alcohol screen, and which is specific to the essential job functions and requirements. Pre-employment processing will also include a background check. (Does not apply to current full-time District employees unless specific job requires additional evaluations).

External applicants may only apply online, at www.bart.gov/jobs. Applicants needing assistance with the online application process may receive additional information by calling (510) 464-6112.

Current employees are strongly encouraged to apply online, either at www.bart.gov/jobs, or on WebBART. Current employees may also apply using a BART paper application by delivering the completed form to the Human Resources Department, or by mailing it to P. O. Box 12688, Oakland, CA 94604-2688.

All applicants are asked to complete the application in full, indicating dates of employment, all positions held, hours worked, and a full description of duties. On line applicants are invited to electronically attach a resume to the application form to provide supplemental information, but should not consider the resume a substitute for the application form itself.

Applications must be complete by the closing date and time listed on the job announcement.

The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants shall not be discriminated against because of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age (40 and above), religion, national origin (including language use restrictions), disability (mental and physical, including HIV and AIDS), ancestry, marital status, military status, veteran status, medical condition (cancer/genetic characteristics and information), or any protected category prohibited by local, state or federal laws.

The BART Human Resources Department will make reasonable efforts in the examination process to accommodate persons with disabilities or for religious reasons. Please advise the Human Resources Department of any special needs in advance of the examination by emailing at least 5 days before your examination date at .

Qualified veterans may be eligible to obtain additional veteran's credit in the selection process for this recruitment (effective Jan. 1, 2013). To obtain the credit, veterans must attach to the application a DD214 discharge document or proof of disability and complete/submit the Veteran's Preference Application no later than the closing date of the posting. For more information about this credit please go to the Veteran's Preference Policy and Application link at www.bart.gov/jobs.

Please be prepared to present documentation in support of any required licenses, degrees, or certifications upon request.

Please note that any job announcement may be canceled at any time.

When you have successfully applied for this position you will receive an auto reply e-mail acknowledging that your application was received for this position. Please retain a copy of the e-mail for your records. If you receive an auto reply that does not specifically reference this position, please email Employment Help at for assistance.

To verify submission of your application, click on the 'My Career Tools' link at the top of the 'Careers Home Page' after submitting your application to view the list of applications you have submitted (including application date and status). If you have further questions, please email the Employment Help at , between the hours of 8:15am - 5:00pm, Monday- Friday.