Legal Research Attorney

Placer Superior Court; Roseville (CA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Placer Superior Court is seeking a Legal Research Attorney to support judicial officers and court staff. You will research legal issues, draft memoranda and tentative rulings, review court files, and attend hearings as requested. The role emphasizes independence, ethics, and accuracy under tight deadlines.

This professional classification offers challenging cases, opportunities to work with a diverse bench, and impact on administrative and operational court matters.

Qualifications

• Legal research and memo drafting skills.
• Strong ethics and independence in decision making.
• Ability to work under time constraints with accuracy.

Responsibilities

• Research legal issues for the Court and prepare written memoranda.
• Draft tentative rulings and provide advice to judicial officers.
• Review court files and discuss cases with judicial officers and staff.
• Attend hearings as requested and assist with special research projects.

Job description

Job Summary

The position of a legal research attorney is a challenging but highly fulfilling job, where the attorney works closely with trial court judicial officers and court administration to assist them with matters that come before the court. Research attorneys will routinely review court files, research the pertinent law, discuss the case with the judicial officers, draft a memorandum and/or tentative ruling, and attend hearings as requested by the judicial officer. They will often be assigned to special research and writing projects related to the work of the court. The work product prepared by a research attorney must be thorough, accurate, and often prepared under significant time constraints. A research attorney should be objective and adaptable, quickly adjusting to the individual needs of a diverse bench. They must also have strong ethics along with the ability to defer to the judicial officer regarding case dispositions. Under general direction, the Legal Research Attorney classification assists the Superior Court Judicial Officers by researching legal issues before the Court and providing assistance, advice, and counsel to the Court Executive Officer and the management team on legal aspects of administrative and operational issues.

EMPLOYMENT AT WILL

The Legal Research Attorney classification is established as an "at will" position. As such, the incumbent serves at the pleasure of the Court Executive Officer, who has the right to terminate the employment of anyone in this classification at any time, with or without advance notice, and with or without cause.

DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS

This is a professional classification. Most duties and responsibilities are performed within established policies, procedures, standards, rules, and laws. However, incumbents most often work independently and make decisions in the absence of easily applied rules. This class typically reports to the Court Executive Officer. Legal Research Attorney 1 positions are flexibly staffed to the Senior Legal Research level.

Legal Research Attorney 1: is the first working level in the Legal Research Attorney class series. Initially, the incumbent works under close supervision in performing research and drafting legal opinions for Judicial and Executive staff. Supervision may be provided by other Legal Research Attorney 2, Senior, or those acting in a lead or supervisory capacity for this purpose. As experience is gained, there is a greater independence of action. Incumbents may advance to the higher level after gaining experience and demonstrating proficiency, which meet the qualifications at the higher level.

Legal Research Attorney 2: is the experienced working level in the Legal Research Attorney class series. Incumbents work independently in performing legal research and drafting legal opinions for Judicial and Executive staff and must be able to respond within short time frames to Judicial Officers’ queries on procedural and substantive issues during trials and retrial hearings.

Senior Legal Research Attorney: is the expert working level in the series. At this level, the incumbent is independent in performing the full range of complex Legal Research Attorney assignments and tasks.

JUDGMENT AND RESPONSIBILITY

Incumbents work under general direction to perform most duties independently based on general policies, procedures, and standards. However, incumbents frequently make decisions that may have multiple alternative solutions and may involve the occasional development of new techniques and procedures. Priorities are established by court needs and can change frequently. Errors can have significant consequences to the legal rights of litigants and on the trust and confidence in the court system and its judges. Incumbents do not typically supervise other employees in the court