Corporation Counsel- Legal Office Manager

Eau Claire County; Eau Claire (WI); On-site; USD 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

Eau Claire County is seeking an experienced Legal Office Manager to supervise the Corporation Counsel’s Office and direct daily operations. The role includes budget development, staff training, and liaison duties with other agencies.

You will provide legal administrative support, prepare documents for court, and conduct basic legal research while managing records and contracts. Strong leadership and organizational skills are essential.

Qualifications

• Associate degree or Certificate in legal field or related area.
• Three (3) years of full-time experience in a law office as a paralegal or legal secretary with substantive knowledge of law, terminology, and proper legal format.
• Criminal background check required upon appointment.
• Must meet the position's work-related transportation requirements.

Responsibilities

• Supervise and direct office operations for the Corporation Counsel’s Office, including reporting, purchasing, and information system administration.
• Provide legal administrative support; prepare and process legal documents; assist in court preparation; respond to public inquiries.
• Perform basic legal research using terminology and reference books; interpret laws and cases; prepare findings and recommendations.
• Supervise staff, determine work procedures, schedules, and training needs; evaluate performance; manage leave and overtime.
• Prepare financial data and reports for Corporation Counsel, Finance, DHS, and Administration; track budgets and expenditures.
• Review and maintain contracts; ensure compliance and periodic modification as needed.
• Manage file policy, retention, destruction, and transition to electronic systems.
• Schedule cases for court hearings and ensure timely notices and compliance with legal requirements.

Skills

Office management

Legal support

Budgeting

Supervision

Financial reporting

Contract review

Records management

Communication

Education

Associate degree in legal field

Bachelor's in business administration

Paralegal certification

Job description

The Legal Office Manager supervises and provides general office management and direction to the staff and day-to-day operations of the Corporation Counsel’s office. This position assists in developing and administering the departmental budget, provides ongoing training to staff, and acts as a liaison between the department and other agencies and departments.

• Practices excellent general office management and direction to coordinate the legal specialist support operations of the Corporation Counsel’s Office, such as required reporting, purchasing, information system administration and coordination, and clerical support.
• Provides legal administrative support; prepares and processes legal documents and schedules; performs preparatory work for court hearings; offers public information services to County departments and the public; performs general word processing, and telephone reception duties.
• Performs basic legal research applying expertise in legal terminology and using legal reference books; reviews and interprets specified laws and cases; prepares findings and recommendations in appropriate formats.
• Directs knowledge of the principles and practices of supervision to participate in decisions on hiring, retention, discipline, and other personnel matters; supervises and manages activities of staff that includes determining work procedures and schedules and developing methods for expediting workflow; approves employee requests for leave and overtime as required by operational necessity; evaluates employee performance; coaches and counsels staff to achieve improved performance and productivity; recommends corrective disciplinary action as needed; identifies individual training needs in order to achieve greater departmental performance and productivity.
• Prepares financial data and reports as requested by Corporation Counsel, Finance, Department of Human Services, and Administration.
• Reviews and maintains contracts for the required term and ensures contracts are reviewed, modified, and complied with on a regular basis.
• Reviews and modifies department policy and procedure regarding file management, including file maintenance, retention, and destruction when appropriate; implements conversion to electronic files.
• Schedules and prepares cases for court hearings; ensures timely notice and adherence to legal requirements on various legal matters.
• Adheres to strict confidential program, participant, and organizational information standards; establishes and maintains case files; contacts individuals for court appearances; schedules hearings, trial dates and times.
• Performs records management duties to ensure statutory timelines are met for all cases; maintains statistical records of case numbers and results; prepares and maintains electronic index of bankruptcy notifications received by the county and sends quarterly reports.
• Applies precise records and retention procedures; coordinates and performs the annual closing, retention, and year-end destruction of department records.
• Drafts and prepares legal documents, ordinances, and resolutions in compliance with legal standards for review by Corporation Counsel staff.
• Reviews approved ordinances and amendments made at County Board meetings; uses data classification skills to update county codes and indexes; publishes and distributes as required.
• Organizes County ordinance citations for pre-trials; researches and compiles information; prepares and files paperwork; participates in pre-trials with assigned attorney; notifies Clerk of Courts of outcome and enters results into database.
• Processes claims filed against the County; submits to insurance carrier; maintains record of status; provides reports and maintains retention schedule of claims.
• Assists in reviewing, analyzing, preparing, and monitoring the departmental budget implementing knowledge of the budget process.
• Tracks purchases utilizing organizational and attention to detail skills; follows guidelines to ensure purchases are within budget; reconciles purchases; prepares time tracking data reports.
• Pursues tax intercept on collection files; processes collection efforts on referred accounts; drafts and sends correspondence; negotiates, obtains, and monitors repayment agreements; pursues collection through WDOR/TRIP Program.
• In consultation with attorney staff, determines what actions are necessary to enforce a small claims judgment which may include petitioning the court and appearing at a hearing on contempt, garnishment of wages, and/or execution against property.
• Provides reception coverage for Corporation Counsel; assigns ordinance and resolution numbers; reserves conference rooms.
• Performs other related duties as required or assigned.

• Associate degree or Certificate in the legal assistant, paralegal, or related field.
• Three (3) years of full-time experience working in a law office as a paralegal or legal secretary having substantive knowledge of the law, legal office practices, terminology, and proper legal format.
• Appointment will be conditional upon successful completion of a criminal background check.
• Must be able to meet the position's work-related transportation requirements. When using a personal vehicle for County business, employees must comply with applicable County requirements regarding driver's license validity, vehicle insurance, and authorization for work-related travel.

• Knowledge of Wisconsin Statutes pertaining to the handling of Chapters 48, 49, 51, 54, 55, 59, and 938 cases.
• Bachelor’s degree in business administration or related field.
• Experience working in a local governmental setting.
• Experience in basic accounting procedures used in collections, annual accounts, and budgeting.
• Keyboarding skills of 55 wpm.