Rate Counsel protects the rights and interests of consumers, as a class, against rate increases done by utility companies (i.e. PSE&G , Comcast, Verizon etc.) and a variety of other utility-related issues. My job duties consist of the following:•Draft Rate Counsel comments to be filed with the Board of Public Utilities (“BPU”) and response letters to complainants/ratepayers regarding utility-related issues.•Conduct legal research on cases, statutes, administrative regulations (both state and federal), and other NJ BPU matters and orders. •Collate legal discovery, petitions, and boards orders for all cases and perform general file organization and administrative tasks. •Communicate with reporters via phone and e-mail concerning current utility news stories in the media and provide statements on behalf of the Director of Rate Counsel regarding gas, electric, water, and telecommunications issues in the press. •Prepare and distribute press releases and compile relevant news articles to be circulated to the attorneys in Rate Counsel.•Assist with other special assignments/projects as needed.

•Draft closing document checklists and other real estate loan and acquisition related documents.•Assemble and circulate approximately 10 closing binders per month within 3 months from the closing date which exceeds client expectations. •Conduct due diligence research, including UCC and other lien searches.•Prepare approximately 40-50 UCC-1 Financing Statements and UCC Amendment forms on state and county levels annually, with a 97% accuracy rate. Draft schedules to UCC-1s. •Negotiate requirements with Title Company and Surveyor.•Draft escrow letters and assemble escrow packages.•Post-post-closing follow-up due diligence with Title Company.•Compile lender, borrower, and guarantor signature pages to be executed.•Conduct inventory of the fully-executed signature pages and update closing document checklist accordingly once received.•Organize and notarize loan documents at in-person closings.•Draft letters and general e-mail correspondence.•Perform general administrative tasks as needed (i.e filing, scanning, copying, addressing client inquiries via phone, submit expense reports and check requests, schedule meetings/conference calls, book travel arrangements etc.).

Independently, prioritized high volumes of case loads, and interviewed complainants via telephone to gather information about the alleged violation of their constitutional rights and/or personal issues reported. Inserted information accurately in the database and forwarded reports to the legal team. Provided referral sources via mail to other agencies better suited to assist complainants if necessary, and handled confidential matters with discretion.

Received academic credit in Political Science for duties performed. Reported to the Communications Director and assisted in preparing for press conferences and in the distribution of press releases by coordinating and following through with established protocols. Received inquiries from the public and elected officials and provided information and/or referred parties to appropriate information source. Inserted voter information on excel spreadsheets, coordinated volunteers for assignments, and worked as a team player to create website designs and complete other special projects with fellow interns.