Meghan Casey Totten

Paralegal Specialist @Congressional Research Service

Washington, DC, US

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) American Law Division (ALD), works exclusively for the United States Congress. Providing objective, authoritative, and non-partisan legal analysis and consultation to Members of Congress and their staff on issues of national importance that arise as part of the legislative process. As the first Paralegal Specialist to work in CRS, Meghan has played an integral role in developing and defining the position, to include the training of ALD\'s paralegals and administrative support staff. Meghan is a member of the team that holds the primary responsibility of updating and publishing The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation. A Senate mandated, bound publication that provides a legal analysis and interpretation of the United States Constitution based on a comprehensive review of Supreme Court case law and historical practices that have defined the text of the Constitution. Along with updating, editing, and publishing the written content, Meghan is an active member of the ALD Constitution Annotated website development team. Meghan plans and executes CONAN outreach, to include drafting and facilitating congressional intranet advertisements, authoring blogs for the Library of Congress Law Library and promoting the website through presentations. The audience includes congressional offices, the Capitol Hill Webmasters and the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Meghan independently analyzes and assists in analyzing novel or unique legal and factual issues within ALD\'s responsibility. She selects, assembles, summarizes, and complies substantive information, including legislative histories, by use of statutes, regulations, department orders, digests, commentaries, legal instruments, and other legal reference material. Applying strategic methods and processes of legal research to gather authoritative legal information.

Georgetown University

Law & Paralegal Studies

Salve Regina University

English Language and Literature

Marymount University

English Language and Literature