• Phoenix, Arizona
• Salary: $32000 - $37000 per year
• Full time Contract

Requisition #775

This job starts as an in-person position through onboarding to ensure all system access is available which is estimated as one week. Training is virtual unless roadblocks are discovered. Training will be conducted virtually, and initial production weeks will be in the office. 

Roles & Responsibilities

This is a hybrid position. The Appellate Services Administration (ASA) provides an administrative hearing and review process for approximately 45 programs administered by DES. Subject matter generally falls into three main categories: benefit eligibility and overpayment, licensing, and certification of service providers, and claimant fraud. 

• This position functions as a Legal Assistant to provide support to the Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) at the Office of Appeals.
• This function is mission critical, as ASA requires this position to review requests for an appeal, select exhibits for hearings and must distinguish between the different programs and issue codes to create packets that will be sent to all parties.
• Primary duties for this position include verifying incoming appeals, retrieving accurate exhibits for a hearing, entering case documentation into appropriate repositories, assisting customers with elevated docket calls, assisting Administrative Law Judges with legal research, and interpreting necessary procedures for research and analysis of case files for hearings and uploading legal decisions and dispositions for the department to take action on a case.

Skills Required

• Organization and maintenance of confidential paper and electronic files;
• Arizona Public Assistance and Unemployment Insurance law, practices, and procedures;
• Customer service techniques and office security procedures;
• Identification of complex legal issues with appeals in a timely manner.
• Analyzes jurisdiction, issues, etc. by reviewing imaged and paper documents per case.
• Create hearing packets for ALJs to use as exhibits during the procedural hearing.
• Determine the timeliness of the request for hearing and register additional issues as needed.
• Ensure incoming appeals meet noticing deadlines mandated by Federal and State laws.
• Research-related issues are elevated by legal support staff or referred by ALJs, ASA management or other DES Departments.
• Identify and correct errors and virtually print missing documents.
• Elevate appeals to the Board for Appeals as necessary.
• Enter notes into the case documentation repository.
• Timely and accurately process requests for postponements, withdrawals, and other requests by parties and ALJs.

Skills Preferred

• Adapt to prescribed procedures within the Administration, knowledge of the Administrative Procedures Act;
• Perform repetitive detailed work with a very high level of accuracy and speed;
• Concentrate and focus on complex and sometimes conflicting information from a variety of sources;
• Analyze and research complex case information observing confidentiality policies and making command decisions on assigning workload to meet legally mandated deadlines;
• Ability to work with customers and staff of various backgrounds, nationalities, and needs.

Experience Required

• English; speaking, writing, reading;
• Multi-task capabilities;
• Manage conflicting priorities and demands, knowledge of Google Apps (Gmail, Docs, Sheets), Adobe Acrobat;
• Operating various office equipment;
• Use of computer with multiple programs running simultaneously;
• Customer service techniques;
• Interpersonal skills to handle internal and external customer complaints and concerns.
• Effectively communicate (e.g. verbal, written, and reading) with internal and external customers, ALJs, coworkers, agency personnel, supervisors, and managers.
• Work with minimal supervision;
• Use critical thinking to analyze complex appeals requests, resolve conflicts between competing information, and extract and capture pertinent legal information.

Experience Preferred

• Case management systems (e.g. APS, Clear2There, Guide mainframe, HEAplus, AZTECS, PUA Portal);
• Office policies and procedures and handling sensitive data.
• Managing multiple computer programs at one time;
• Identifying appropriate legal documents in an imaging system to create and send out notices for hearings and create case files.

Education Required - High School Graduation

Education Preferred - Paralegal or Legal Assistant Certification from an accredited University, college, or ABA accredited training program; Associate degree from an accredited college; Experience as a legal assistant.