LEGAL SECRETARY

City of Stockton, CA; Stockton (CA); On-site; USD 52,000 - 68,000; Full time

Job summary

The City Attorney's Office is seeking a well-qualified individual to fill a vacant legal secretary position to handle advisory matters for the City, including general civil litigation matters, code enforcement matters, and municipal code violations. The ideal candidate for this position possesses general legal secretary experience.

The Legal Secretary will work in the Office of the City Attorney. The Office of the City Attorney provides legal services and advice to the City Council, officials,

Qualifications

• High school diploma or GED and 3 years of secretarial experience in a law office within the last five years.
• Must possess a valid typing certificate with 60 net WPM accuracy.
• Experience assisting attorneys with motions, discovery, and calendaring is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Performs confidential legal office support work requiring independent judgment and discretion.
• Assists attorneys with motions and discovery, intake of new cases, calendaring, hearings, and depositions; files and serves pleadings and discovery documents.
• Prepares, indexes, and files legal documents from statutes, decisions, articles, etc.; drafts correspondence and legal documents.
• Proofreads legal documents for accuracy and compliance with style guides and cites; maintains litigation files.
• Acts as receptionist, screens visitors and calls, and directs inquiries to the proper staff; coordinates meetings.

Skills

Typing 60 WPM

Legal secretarial experience

Excel

Microsoft Word

PowerPoint

Education

High school diploma or GED

Law office administration coursework (desirable)

Tools

Lexis/Nexis

Microsoft Word

Excel

PowerPoint

Job description

DEFINITION

OPEN/ PROMOTIONAL OPPORTUNITY

FLSA STATUS: Non-Exempt

TENTATIVE INTERVIEW DATE: TBD (Candidates must appear in person for the interview.)

TYPING CERTIFICATE SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Due at time of application (email to [e-mail] with the subject "Legal Secretary")

To be accepted, the typing certificate must specify the following:

• Applicant's full name printed on certificate
• 5-minute timed evaluation (only 5-minute tests will be accepted)
• Minimum of 60 net words per minute
• Date of exam (Must be within two years or less from the final filing date)
• Number of typing errors or accuracy rate
• Name of online testing agency/website

The City Attorney's Office is seeking a well-qualified individual to fill a vacant legal secretary position to handle the advisory matters for the City, including: general civil litigation matters, code enforcement matters, and municipal code violations. The ideal candidate for this position possesses general legal secretary experience.

The Legal Secretary will work in the Office of the City Attorney. The Office of the City Attorney provides legal services and advice to the City Council, officials, boards, commissions, and departments regarding legal and regulatory matters of concern to the City and its operations. The incumbent will work a City of Stockton 9/80 schedule: 7:30am - 5:30pm Monday through Thursday; 8:00am - 5:00pm Fridays, with every other Friday off.

This is an At-Will (Unclassified) position and is not represented by a bargaining unit. Only those candidates deemed best qualified will be placed on the eligible list. (Applicants who fail to submit a typing certificate and fully complete the on-line application/supplemental questionnaire will be subject to rejection.)

These lists may be used to fill future vacancies.

Prior to appointment, eligible candidates may be required to submit to and successfully pass a background investigation, which will include fingerprinting and a drug screen.

Under general supervision, performs a variety of confidential, complex, and specialized clerical, secretarial, and paraprofessional duties in the City Attorney's Office; relieves administrators of routine legal clerical duties; and performs related work as assigned.

LEGAL SECRETARY - This class performs a full range of legal secretarial work and office administrative services for professional legal staff. Incumbents apply technical legal secretarial skills with only occasional instruction or assistance while exercising judgment and discretion in the performance of duties. Work is typically reviewed only on completion. The Legal Secretary is distinguished from the Paralegal in that it is responsible for the legal secretarial and office administration assistance to the City Attorney and associated legal staff.

PRINCIPAL DUTIES (Illustrative Only)

• Performs difficult, complex and/or confidential legal office support work, which may require the exercise of independent judgment, the application of technical skills, or knowledge of detailed or specialized activities related to the Law Department.
• Assists attorneys in the preparation of motions and discovery; intake of new cases; calendaring; scheduling of hearings, trials, and depositions; and copy and service (by mail and otherwise) of pleadings and discovery documents.
• Prepares, indexes, and files legal documents by researching and assembling information from a variety of sources (e.g., statutes, recorded judicial decisions, legal articles, treaties, constitutions, and legal codes) to prepare legal documents (e.g., briefs, pleadings, appeals, contracts, and affidavits);
• Types and transcribes a variety of correspondence and legal documents including: reports, forms, court pleadings, and other specialized documents (e.g., appellate briefs) from drafts, notes, resolutions, ordinances, legal opinions, contracts, briefs, leases, and agreements using a personal computer.
• Proofreads and checks legal documents and other materials for accuracy, completeness, and compliance with departmental policies and regulations; and checks legal cites for accuracy ensuring conformity with California Style Manual and/or The Bluebook guidelines.
• Maintains and organizes litigation and other departmental files including the copying, filing, and maintenance of individual case files and attends to a variety of law office administrative details.
• Acts as receptionist and receives and screens visitors and telephone calls and directs the caller to the proper person or personally handles the call.
• Arranges meetings by notifying participants and reserving rooms.
• Provides information to the public or City staff as required that may necessitate the use of independent judgment and the interpretation of policies, rules, or procedures.
• Assists with various tasks including compiling information and data for statistical and financial reports; maintaining a variety of records; checking and tabulating data; preparing simple statistical reports.
• Operates standard office equipment and various computer applications.

Qualifications

Education/Experience:

Possession of a high school diploma or GED and three (3) years of secretarial experience in a law office within the last five (5) years performing increasingly responsible and complex clerical work, including: preparations of various pleadings, motions, discoveries, and calendaring. College or business school course work in law office administration is desirable. Must possess a valid (two years old or less) typing certificate for at least 60 net words per minute from a recognized organization.

Other Requirements

• Possession, or ability to obtain a valid California driver's license.

Knowledge Of

• Legal Research and case review;
• Standard legal references, legal terminology, forms, and documents used in legal clerical work;
• English usage, spelling, grammar, and punctuation; business letter writing;
• Modern office practices, procedures, and equipment;
• Civil Procedure, law and motion rules;
• Structure of the California Court System and local, state, and federal rules of court;
• Various computer software such as: Excel, Microsoft Word, and Power Point;
• Municipal legal procedures and practices involved in composing, processing, and filing a variety of legal documents;
• Municipal organization and local governmental agencies;
• Function of civil discovery and preparation of discovery documents; and
• California Style Manual and The Bluebook.

Skill In

• Use of Lexis/Nexis and similar legal research programs;
• Writing Legal Memorandum;
• Organizing files, including exhibits for trial;
• Preparing Trial Notebooks;
• Effective Communication with outside entities;
• Remaining abreast of current industry practice through continuing legal education courses; and
• Researching information from print and internet-based resources.

Physical/Mental Abilities

• Mobility - Constant sitting for long periods of time while operating a keyboard; occasional walking, bending, stooping, kneeling, reaching, pushing and pulling;
• Lifting - Occasional lifting of 10 pounds or less;
• Vision - Constant use of overall visual capabilities; frequent need for use of color perception, hand/eye coordination, reading and/or close up work;
• Dexterity - Frequent holding, grasping, typing, repetitive motion and writing;
• Hearing/Talking - Constant hearing and talking of normal speech in person and on the telephone; Occasionally speaking in front of large groups of people;
• Special Requirements - May require occasional weekend or evening work;
• Emotional/Psychological - Constant concentration, decision making and public contact; occasional ability to exercise sound judgment, especially under stressful situations; and working alone;
• Environmental Conditions - Occasional exposure to noise; and
• Working Conditions - Primarily performed in an office environment which is typically moderately quiet, but may be loud at times and at some locations.

This class specification should not be interpreted as all inclusive. It is intended to identify the essential functions and requirement of this job. Incumbents may be requested to perform job-related responsibilities and tasks other than those stated in this specification. Any essential function or requirement of this class will be evaluated as necessary should an incumbent/applicant be unable to perform the function or requirement due to a disability as defined by the American with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Reasonable accommodation for the specific disability will be made for the incumbent/applicant when possible.

Only those applicants who best fit the needs of the City will be considered for this career opportunity.

The information in this announcement concerning the terms and conditions of employment does not constitute either an expressed or implied contract, and these provisions are subject to change.

In accordance with California Government Code section 3100, et., seq., all City of Stockton employees are considered disaster service workers who may be required to report for duty, or remain on duty to address disaster service activities in the event of an emergency or disaster and are required to undertake an applicable loyalty oath.