Salary : $56,925.00 - $109,768.00 Annually
Location : Carroll Building, 3450 Courthouse Drive, Ellicott City, MD
Job Type: Full Time
Job Number: 26-00686
Department: Office of Law
Division: Office of Law
Opening Date: 09/16/2026
Closing Date: 9/30/2026 11:59 PM Eastern

POSITION SUMMARY/CLASS DESCRIPTION
POSITION SUMMARY:

This position provides comprehensive legal support in the Office of Law by assisting a team of civil litigation attorneys. Work may involve conducting research, filing claims, drafting pleadings, and providing other paralegal support. Performs routine paralegal work under general supervision from an administrative or technical superior. ?
STARTING SALARY HIRING RANGE$27.37 - $30.86/Hourly$56,925 - $64,180/Annually

*This is the anticipated starting salary range for this position. Please note that the final salary will be determined by the Office of Human Resources, commensurate with experience and aligned to ensure internal equity with similarly situated roles.*

*This is a Classified position, meaning that it is a part of the Howard County Classified Service upon completion of a probationary period of at least six (6) months*

*This position serves in a confidential capacity within the definition of Howard County labor relations law and is ineligible for membership in a collective bargaining unit. *

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Legal Case Management (Collections, Bankruptcy, Civil Citation):

• Support collection, bankruptcy, and civil citation matters under attorney supervision.
• Conduct case work-ups and communicate with debtors and courts.
• Serve court process.
• File suits and other court papers and assist in enforcing judgments.
• Prepare and file bankruptcy proofs of claim and other bankruptcy-related documents nationwide.

Legal Research and Writing:

• Identify issues of law or fact under attorney supervision.
• Research cases, statutes, regulations, and other legal authorities using print materials, Westlaw, and similar tools.
• Draft correspondence for clients, creditors, and court personnel.

Document Review, Proofreading, and Citation Checking:

• Proofread legal memoranda for accuracy and completeness.
• Check citations for proper Bluebook format.
• Verify quotations and case references.
• Use Shepard's Citations or a similar resource/tool to validate cited cases.

Litigation Support:

• Prepare and organize documentation required for litigation.
• Assist attorneys in trial preparation, including exhibits, file organization, and copying documents.
• Attend and assist at trial as necessary.

Court Filing and Records Management:

• File pleadings through electronic systems such as MDEC and PACER.
• Travel to retrieve records from courts, government agencies, and third parties.
• Open, organize, maintain, and close legal files.
• Work within document management/workflow systems such as HighQ.

Administrative and Office Support:

• Schedule meetings, maintain calendars, and support office operations.
• Assist with filing, mail distribution, and general office tasks.
• Work collaboratively with a team of paralegals supporting both legal and administrative functions.
• Communicate effectively with the public, employees, and officials of county, state, and federal agencies and courts.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES:
This position has no supervisory responsibilities.
MINIMUM REQUIRED EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE

Associate's degree and three (3) years of related experience, or equivalent combination of education and experience.

REQUIRED CERTIFICATIONS, LICENSES, AND REGISTRATIONS:
Paralegal certificate or degree from a program certified by the American Bar Association.
PREFERRED EDUCATION, KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES:

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Excellent organizational skills.
• Strong analytical skills.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, etc.
• Attention to detail.
• Ability to work well under pressure and meet competing time demands.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively with a team.
• Ability to communicate, cooperate, and work well with a wide variety of individuals including office co-workers, County personnel, court personnel, members of the public, other parties to County transactions and their attorneys, civil litigation defendants, and their attorneys, etc.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORK ENVIRONMENT:
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk or hear. The employee frequently is required to sit. The employee is occasionally required to stand, walk, and use hands to finger, handle, or feel. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 10 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, and depth perception.

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.
LANGUAGE SKILLS, MATHEMATICAL SKILLS AND REASONING ABILITY:
Ability to read and interpret legal and technical documents, statues, regulations, and case law.

Ability to draft legal documents reports and correspondence.

Ability to speak effectively before groups of customers or employees of organization.

Ability to calculate figures and amounts such as discounts, interest, commissions, proportions, percentages.

Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts and draw valid conclusions.

Ability to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions and deal with several abstract and concrete variables.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

TO APPLY: You must complete an employment application online to be considered for this recruitment. Resumes cannot be substituted for completion of the job application work history. No paper applications will be accepted.

Selected candidates may be subject to drug screening, background screening, and reference checks.

At time of application, please submit a copy of any college degree, coursework, licenses, or certifications that you have referenced on your application. Applicants who have education obtained outside of the U.S. may need to provide proof of the equivalent U.S. education as determined by a foreign credential evaluation service, such as the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (http://www.naces.org) or World Education Services: International Credential Evaluation (https://www.wes.org/).

Howard County Government is not sponsoring employees in application of the H-1B Visa or providing an extension of an existing H-1B Visa. All applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.

The following is a summary of the benefits available to Howard County employees who hold full-time benefit-eligible positions. Employees in positions covered by a bargaining agreement should consult their union contract for other specific benefits. Additional details are also available in the Employee Manual and in summary plan descriptions which are available in the Office of Human Resources or at

FLEXIBLE BENEFITS PLAN: Under the County's flexible benefits plan called CountyFlex, employees may elect to enroll in medical insurance plans, dental insurance plans, optional life insurance, dependent life insurance, and healthcare and dependent care flexible spending accounts. Employee contributions to these benefits are made on a pre-tax basis. Information concerning enrollment options, plan rates and a benefits comparison chart are available in the Office of Human Resources.

GROUP TERM LIFE INSURANCE: Employees receive a group term life insurance benefit equal to 2 times their annual salary at no cost. Accidental death and dismemberment coverage is included. The County pays the entire cost for this benefit. Employees may purchase additional coverage under the CountyFlex benefits plan.
PAID LEAVE BENEFITS: Annual and Disability Leaves are accrued over 24 pay periods each year. Personal leave is credited on January 1st each year. Use of Annual, Disability and/or Personal Leave requires supervisory approval.

ANNUAL LEAVE: During the first 5 years of employment, employees accrue the equivalent of 13 days per year. From years 6 through 10, the accrual is the equivalent of 16 days per year. From years 11 through 20, the accrual is the equivalent of 19 days per year. From year 21 on, the accrual is the equivalent of 21 days per year. Annual leave may not be used during the first 6 months of employment. A maximum of 40 days may be carried over from one fiscal year to the next.
DISABILITY LEAVE: Employees accrue the equivalent of 1 day per month (12 days per year). There is no maximum accrual. This leave may be used for the disabling illness/injury of the employee, spouse or minor child or for a serious medical condition approved under F.M.L.A. Absences of over 3 days must be substantiated by a physician's certificate.

PERSONAL LEAVE: Employees receive 6 personal leave days each calendar year to be taken during the calendar year. Employees hired after April 30th receive 4 days of personal leave that year; those hired after August 31st receive 2 days; and those hired after November 30th receive no personal leave for that year. Personal leave may not be carried over.

HOLIDAYS: Employees are paid for the following holidays: New Year's Day; Martin Luther King Day; President's Day; Good Friday; Memorial Day; Juneteenth; Independence Day; Labor Day; Columbus Day; Veteran's Day; Thanksgiving Day; Friday after Thanksgiving Day; Christmas Day.

OTHER PAID LEAVE: Other paid leave will be granted for approved jury duty, military leave, bereavement leave and official leave. Unpaid leave will be granted in accordance with the Family and Medical Leave Act.

RETIREMENT: Howard County sponsors a defined benefit plan for its employees. participation in the plan is mandatory. Employees are required to make contributions to the plan, which are taken on a pre-tax basis. Contribution rates are dependent upon the plan in which the employee participates (general plan, or police and fire plan). The County contributes an additional percentage sufficient to ensure that each plan is adequately funded. Complete details are available in the summary plan descriptions which are available in the Office of Human Resources.Howard County Retirement Plan: Employees contribute 3% of salary to the plan. Sheriff Deputies hired after 7/1/2021 contribute 8.5% of salary to the plan. All eligible Corrections Employees must enroll in the Corrections Employees Enhanced Benefit and must contribute 8.5% of salary to the plan.Howard County Police and Fire Employees' Retirement Plan: Sworn police officers and career firefighters must participate in this plan. Police employees contribute 11.6% of salary and Fire employees contr