Paralegal – Legal Orders and Subpoenas

Job Description

Paralegal-Legal Affairs | American Express

The Tone:
This is a full-time role at American Express, operating within a hybrid work model. American Express is a global financial services leader where the General Counsel’s Organization leverages legal expertise to influence business strategy and strengthen the company. This role is crucial for protecting the organization by providing strategic legal support, managing risk, and ensuring compliance in responding to various legal orders. The paralegal’s work directly contributes to upholding American Express’s commitment to exceptional products and services.

The TL;DR
• Role: Full Time
• Type: Full-time
• Location: Hybrid, Sunrise, FL

• Team: Reports to Counsel, supports Senior Paralegal.
• Mission: Efficiently and accurately manage the intake, analysis, and fulfillment of legal orders from various agencies and litigants, ensuring legal and privacy compliance.
• Tech Stack: MS Office Suite, case management system, shared drive, various databases and information platforms.

What You’ll Actually Do
• Support Legal Order Response: Collaborate closely with Counsel and the Senior Paralegal to provide comprehensive support in processing and responding to diverse legal orders.
• Decision and Fulfill Orders: Independently analyze legal orders issued by federal, state, and local agencies, as well as private attorneys or pro se litigants, for validity and objections, then prepare and fulfill the requested records.
• Ensure Data Integrity: Maintain the highest quality and accuracy of fulfillment records, delivering them electronically using technology enhancements or securely via email or US mail, and meticulously uploading official records to designated systems.
• Manage Complex Cases and Escalations: Work directly with Counsel on the production for large, complex, or highly confidential subpoenas, and escalate specific third-party legal orders that meet the defined legal review/escalation procedure.
• Maintain Regulatory Compliance & Communication: Validate that all escalated third-party legal orders fully meet the requirements of federal and state RFPA privacy laws before record release, and directly contact issuers to negotiate extensions or resolve questions regarding subpoena validity.

The Must-Haves
• Background: Associate degree in legal studies, criminal justice, or a related field, or a paralegal certification.
• Experience: At least 2-3 years as a litigation, regulatory, or government Paralegal/Legal Assistant in either a law firm or with a government agency. This includes experience in preparing responses to discovery and/or regulatory requests, and managing litigation dockets.
• Skills: Strong knowledge of legal terminology, critical thinking skills, experience in understanding and interpreting legal order requests, proficiency in MS Office Suite, excellent written and oral communication skills, meticulous attention to detail, and strong organizational and time management abilities.