Paralegal ( Fact-Witness Coordinator ) at USAO – Forfeiture Support Associates – Scranton, PA

FSA, a professional services company delivering highly qualified personnel in support of the government’s mission, is collecting resumes for a potential Legal Assistant II (Paralegal) opportunity to work in support of the United States Attorney’s Office (USAO). The contract title is Legal Assistant II; the duties are those of a Fact-Witness Coordinator. The Fact-Witness Coordinaor provides all clerical services required to perform the tasks related to the support of the USAO fact witness management process by providing a variety of direct assistance to USAO Victim-Witness personnel, AUSAs, legal assistants, administrative staff, and other USAO personnel.

In this role, a Legal Assitant II performs, but is not limited to the following duties:

• Provide witness management assistance prior to, during, and after trial. Typical assignments include: work directly with fact witnesses, provide assistance and support to ensure appearance for court, pre-trial conferences, and grand jury.
• Receive visitors, field phone calls, questions and other inquiries from fact witnesses seeking information pertaining to court, pre-trial conferences, grand jury appearances and expense reimbursement. Obtain pertinent information for files and documents necessary to arrange witness travel and reimbursements.
• Initiate contact/notify fact witnesses concerning travel arrangements, appearance date/time, and determine any special circumstances or needs of the fact witness. Use judgment to determine when AUSA should be notified of special circumstances or needs of fact witnesses.
• Confer with AUSA concerning fact witness appearance and special circumstances regarding witnesses (special authorizations, international witnesses, military/federal employee witnesses, or hostile witnesses). Complete and submit proper documentation for special authorizations and obtain prior approval before proceeding with travel arrangements.
• Prior to fact witness’ appearance, ensure all travel documents and appearance date and time have been provided to witness. Make necessary arrangements for fact witness travel and lodging according to Department of Justice and USAO policies and procedures.
• Meet with fact witnesses upon arrival to designated hearing or pre-trial conference, offer and perform courtroom orientation, accompany witness to court, ensure a safe waiting area is available, and collect necessary documentation and signatures for fact witness reimbursement documents.
• Prepare and submit documentation for fact witness reimbursement, i.e. witness vouchers and other required documentation for fact witnesses. Furnish requested information concerning pending and completed fact witness vouchers. Gather required documentation and reconcile Government Travel Accounts,
• Obtain information, confer, and coordinate with the Court, Probation, Pretrial, U.S. Marshals Service, investigative agencies, and other counterparts, when necessary.
• Complete variable aspects of recurring documents in conformance with the rules governing their style and format. Compose original letters that do not require legal interpretations, but require a good working knowledge of legal procedures and specialized terminology relevant to fact witness laws and regulations.
• Perform general office procedures pertaining to fact witness management, including, but not limited to: establish and maintain a variety of fact witness files, documents and databases; assemble documents and other information for fact witness file material and retention in accordance with established procedures and Department of Justice regulations; if requested, establish and maintain calendar and/or database of active and pending fact witness appearances; track hearings, trial dates, grand jury and scheduling conferences; perform other administrative and logistical fact witness management related duties as required/assigned.

A Legal Assistant II (Paralegal) supporting the fact witness process must meet the following qualifications:

• High School Diploma required, Associates’ Degree and/or Paralegal Certificate preferred
• Good communication skills
• Knowledge of software used by the USAO (or the ability to acquire knowledge about the USAO’s computer systems)Provide word processing and data entry/retrieval
• Ability to:
• Deliver highest quality work under pressure
• Review and analyze data and information from multiple sources
• Establish case/project files
• Enter and retrieve data from databases
• Prepare and format management reports
• Manipulate, transfer, compute and print information
• Prepare and correct reports and correspondence using word processing software
• Schedule appointments
• Answer inquiries regarding case-related information as maintained in the database
• Answer inquiries regarding case-related status
• Obtain additional information from other agencies/organizations
• Maintain internal status information on the disposition of designated information, files, and assets
• Assure information is accurate and perform analytical computations necessary to process data
• Provide administrative information and assistance concerning case or file to other agencies or organizations
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust Security Access

This position requires U.S. Citizenship and a 7 (or 10) year minimum background investigation.

Forfeiture Support Associates (FSA), LLC is proud to be an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. We recruit, employ, train, compensate, and promote qualified persons in all job titles without regard to age, ancestry, color, gender, HIV status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation (including gender expression and identity), veteran status, family leave status or any protected group status as defined by applicable law.