Legal Secretary

California Department of Industrial Relations; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 60,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

California Department of Industrial Relations seeks a Legal Secretary to provide high‑level support to two or more OD-Legal attorneys and investigators in Los Angeles. You will finalize pleadings, file documents electronically, and manage calendars and case files.

The role requires experience in legal secretarial work, electronic filing in EAMS and other systems, and familiarity with appellate briefs and court rules. Office is located downtown with transit benefits.

Qualifications

• Experience as a legal secretary handling complex duties for attorneys.
• Experience filing pleadings electronically in state and federal courts.
• Experience finalizing appellate briefs for filing in appellate courts.
• Ability to review court rules and ensure compliance for pleadings.

Responsibilities

• Finalize legal pleadings and documents, including formatting and proofs of service.
• Electronically file pleadings in workers’ compensation system and courts.
• Serve pleadings on other parties and review compliance with rules.
• Organize and file trial exhibits and maintain calendars.
• Coordinate depositions and prepare subpoenas and case files.
• Process attorneys’ mail and provide general OD-Legal support.

Skills

Legal secretarial experience

Electronic filing in courts

Appellate briefs preparation

Court rules familiarity

Tools

EAMS

Pacer

OneLegal

TrueFiling

Job description

Job Description And Duties

Under the general supervision of the Supervisor I, Legal Secretaries independently perform a full range of legal secretarial duties for the Department of Industrial Relations, Office of the Director-Legal Unit (“OD-Legal”), including the most difficult complex secretarial work, supporting two or more OD-Legal attorneys and investigators. Duties include, but are not limited to:

• Finalize legal pleadings and other legal documents, including by formatting, proofing, correcting, generating tables of contents and authorities, and drafting proofs of service;
• Electronically file legal pleadings in the workers’ compensation system (using EAMS), in state and federal trial and appellate courts, and with the State Personnel Board and other state and federal agencies;
• Serve legal pleadings and other documents on other parties to an action;
• Review applicable court rules and ensure pleadings, exhibits and other documents comply with the rules;
• Organize, file and serve trial exhibits;
• Maintain up-to-date appearance and filing calendars;
• Coordinate depositions, including by arranging for location and court reporter;
• Prepare and serve subpoenas;
• Create case files and handle all case filing;
• Process attorneys’ incoming and outgoing mail;
• Answer and screen telephone calls;
• General support of the office and organizational needs of OD-Legal.

This posting may be used to fill future vacancies in accordance with 2 CCR

To be considered for this Legal Secretary job opportunity, applicants must be either reachable on an employment list, have transfer eligibility or have reinstatement eligibility. To take the exam and gain employment list eligibility, please click here to access the exam bulletin: https://www.calcareers.ca.gov/CalHrPublic/Exams/ExamBulletin.aspx?ExamControlId=5073

You will find additional information about the job in the Duty Statement.

Working Conditions

The office is located at: 355 S. Grand Ave., Suite 1800, Los Angeles, CA 90071
Position in an office environment on the 18th floor of a 45-story private office building. Employees in this position have a cubicle, work at desks, and are required to work extensively on computers as necessary for the drafting of letters and other documents, and for research, email communication, file review, training and other purposes.
The office location in downtown Los Angeles on Bunker Hill, and is two blocks from the Grand Ave. Arts/Bunker Hill station on the A and E lines. Many bus lines have stops on adjacent streets, including Commuter Express buses as well as LADOT Dash buses. Benefits include reimbursement of 100% of the cost of commuter transit passes.
Bike parking is available in the building’s garage.

Special Requirements

In order to apply for this position, you must submit a brief Statement of Qualifications in addition to the standard application form. Your Statement of Qualifications should be typed in 12-point font, single-spaced, and be no more than one page in length. The Statement of Qualifications should re‑state (you can copy and paste), and then briefly answer each of the following questions:

• Do you have any prior experience as a legal secretary? If so, please state the total number of years or months of your prior experience working as a legal secretary, and the practice areas in which you have worked (for example, employment litigation, personal injury, workers’ compensation, criminal, etc.).
• Do you have any experience in prior positions performing electronic legal filings in any administrative or civil court filing system (e.g., EAMS, Pacer, Onelegal, TrueFiling), and if so, which filing system(s) have you used? And how many years/months of experience do you have in each system?
• Do you have any experience finalizing appellate briefs for filing in the California Court of Appeal, California Supreme Court, or other state or federal appellate courts? If so, please estimate the number of appellate briefs you have finalized for filing.
• Please briefly describe the knowledge, skills and experience that you have that you believe make you a qualified candidate for this position as it relates to the duties outlined in the duty statement.

Please note: You may attach your SOQ in either Word or Adobe pdf format.

Application Deadline

Final Filing Date: 10/26/2026

Who May Apply

Individuals who are currently in the classification, eligible for lateral transfer, eligible for reinstatement, have list or LEAP eligibility, are in the process of obtaining list eligibility, or have SROA and/or Surplus eligibility (please attach your letter, if available). SROA and Surplus candidates are given priority; therefore, individuals with other eligibility may be considered in the event no SROA or Surplus candidates apply.

Screening Process

Applications will be screened and only the most qualified applicants will be selected to move forward in the selection process. Applicants must meet the Minimum Qualifications stated in the Classification Specification(s).

Required Application Package Documents

• Current version of the State Examination/Employment Application STD Form 678 (when not applying electronically), or the Electronic State Employment Application through your Applicant Account at www.CalCareers.ca.gov. All Experience and Education relating to the Minimum Qualifications listed on the Classification Specification should be included to demonstrate how you meet the Minimum Qualifications for the position.
• Resume is optional. It may be included, but is not required.
• Statement of Qualifications - Please see Special requirements section of the posting for instructions on the Statement of Qualifications.

Accommodations

Applicants requiring reasonable accommodations for the hiring interview process must request the necessary accommodations if scheduled for a hiring interview. The request should be made at the time of contact to schedule the interview. Questions regarding reasonable accommodations may be directed to the EEO contact listed on this job posting.

Equal Opportunity Employer

The State of California is an equal opportunity employer to all, regardless of age, ancestry, color, disability (mental and physical), exercising the right to family care and medical leave, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, military or veteran status, national origin, political affiliation, race, religious creed, sex (includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and related medical conditions), and sexual orientation.
It is an objective of the State of California to achieve a drug-free work place. Any applicant for state employment will be expected to behave in accordance with this objective because the use of illegal drugs is inconsistent with the law of the State, the rules governing Civil Service, and the special trust placed in public servants.