Legal Assistant 2 (NY HELPS)

State of New York; New York (NY); On-site; USD 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

State of New York, under the NY HELPS program, offers a non-competitive appointment for Paralegal/Legal Assistant titles, with potential conversion to competitive status later. The job requires meeting the minimum qualifications outlined by NYS Civil Service.

Qualifying candidates may have three years of full-time Paralegal/Legal Assistant experience or an associate degree/certificate in related fields, plus defined educational and transfer provisions.

Qualifications

• Three years of full-time experience as a Paralegal/Legal Assistant (see definition).
• Associate degree (or higher) in a paralegal/legal assistant/legal studies program or a certificate in a paralegal/legal assistant program, where either the degree or certificate was granted from a regionally accredited college or university, or one approved by the ABA.
• An associate degree (or higher) in any field, where the degree was granted from a regionally accredited college or university, or ABA approved, OR Graduation from an ABA-approved law school with a degree required for NYS Bar will be accepted meeting the educational requirements AND two years of experience as a Paralegal/Legal Assistant.
• PLEASE NOTE: An associate degree (or higher) in any field meeting educational requirements OR Graduation from ABA-approved law school with degree required for NYS Bar will be accepted meeting the educational requirements AND two years of experience as a Paralegal/Legal Assistant.
• A permanent non-competitive appointment may also be made pursuant to Section 52(7) of the Civil Service Law, if three or fewer qualified candidates in the department promotion field apply for this position.
• Qualifications for a non-competitive promotion for this title include: one year of service as a Legal Assistant 1.
• Must be immediately reachable on the Civil Service elidable list

Job description

This title is part of the New York Hiring for Emergency Limited Placement Statewide Program (NY HELPS). For the duration of the NY HELPS Program, this title may be filled via a non-competitive appointment, which means no examination is required but all candidates must meet the minimum qualifications of the title for which they apply.

At a future date, it is expected employees hired under NY HELPS will have their non-competitive employment status converted to competitive status, without having to compete in an examination. Employees will then be afforded with all of the same rights and privileges of competitive class employees of New York State. While serving permanently in a NY HELPS title, employees may take part in any promotion examination for which they are qualified.

NON-COMPETITIVE MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

• Three years of full-time experience as a Paralegal/Legal Assistant (see “definition” below) OR an associate degree (or higher) in a paralegal/legal assistant/legal studies program or a certificate in a paralegal/legal assistant program, where either the degree or certificate was granted from a regionally accredited college or university, or one approved by the American Bar Association (ABA).
• Definition: a Paralegal/Legal Assistant is someone who applies knowledge of the law and legal procedures in rendering direct assistance to lawyers, clients, and courts; prepares and interprets legal documents and forms; researches, compiles, and uses information from legal materials to provide both written and verbal comments on their findings; and analyzes and handles routine procedural problems independently with minimal attorney oversight.
• Examples of non-qualifying experience: receptionist, records clerk, bookkeeper, office manager.

PLEASE NOTE: An associate degree (or higher) in any field, where the degree was granted from a regionally accredited college or university, or one approved by the American Bar Association (ABA) OR Graduation from an accredited (ABA approved) law school with a degree required for NYS Bar will be accepted as meeting the educational requirements for this title AND two years of experience as a Paralegal/Legal Assistant (see definition in MQs).

A permanent non-competitive appointment may also be made pursuant to Section 52(7) of the Civil Service Law, if three or fewer qualified candidates in the department promotion field apply for this position. Qualifications for a non-competitive promotion for this title include: one year of service as a Legal Assistant 1.

COMPETITIVE MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

• Must be immediately reachable on the Civil Service elidable list

70.1 TRANSFER QUALIFICATIONS:

One year of permanent or contingent permanent service in an eligible title for transfer determined to be similar by Civil Service. For transfers, a list of approved titles is available through Civil Service GOT-IT at https://careermobilityoffice.cs.ny.gov/cmo/gotit/. The GOT-IT site will inform you if your title is transferrable.