Temporary Assistant to a Visually Impaired Law Clerk

United States Courts; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 34,000 - 44,000; Full time

Job summary

The United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, invites applications for a Temporary Assistant to a Visually Impaired Law Clerk. This twelve-week, full-time temporary position begins January 2027 and is located in the U.S.

District Court, Northern District of Illinois, working directly with a visually impaired law clerk. The incumbent will read aloud legal material, assist with formatting, proofreading, and transcription, and complete a proofreading/citation assessment as part

Qualifications

• Ability to comprehend a wide range of legal concepts and practice
• Excellent reading, writing, proofreading, and organizational skills
• Detail-oriented and highly organized for written work product
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and interact with diverse people

Responsibilities

• Summarizes and reads aloud written legal material in connection with the law clerk’s responsibilities
• Proofreads and cite checks written work product, including citations to the record, grammar, spelling, formatting, and bluebooking
• Maintains and organizes hard copy and electronic case and administrative files; converts documents to accessible formats
• Describes visual aspects of evidence such as maps, photographs, and figures in patents
• Assists with electronic legal research, including Westlaw searches and reading results aloud
• Performs handwritten proofreading marks and enters changes; assists with judge’s revisions on orders
• Runs CM/ECF reports and reviews them with the law clerk
• Maintains internal case and motion tracking system
• Provides courtroom support during hearings and assists with related duties
• Completes forms, copies, faxes, and other clerical tasks as assigned

Skills

Reading aloud legal material

Attention to detail

Organization

Confidentiality

Tools

Westlaw

CM/ECF

Job description

Job Details for Temporary Assistant to a Visually Impaired Law Clerk

Court Name/Organization Illinois Northern District Court

Overview of the Position The U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, is now accepting applications for a Temporary Assistant to a Visually Impaired Law Clerk. This is a twelve-week temporary replacement position starting January 2027. This full-time temporary position is located at the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, and works directly with a visually impaired law clerk. The incumbent must be able to read aloud legal material and case-related items and assist with preparing, formatting, and proofreading a variety of written material. As part of the application process the applicant will be expected to complete a proofreading and editing skill assessment.

• Summarizes and reads aloud written legal material in connection with the performance of the law clerk’s responsibilities
• Proofreads and cite checks written work product, including citations to the record, grammar, spelling, formatting, and bluebooking
• Maintains and organizes hard copy and electronic case and administrative files. Using software, converts electronic documents into an accessible format, e.g., such as Portable Document Format files.
• Describes visual aspects of evidence submitted to the court, such as maps, photographs, video recordings, tangible objects, and figures in patents
• Assists with electronic legal research, including searches on Westlaw, and, if necessary, reads results aloud
• Assists with any handwritten proofreading marks written on hard copy by others. This may include entering the changes or verbalizing them.Makes judge’s revisions on orders.
• Runs reports in CM/ECF and reviews them with the law clerk
• Assists with maintenance of internal case and pending motion tracking system
• Assists law clerk during hearings.This may include providing visual information on activities and individuals within the courtroom.
• Assists law clerk with other duties, such as sending faxes, making copies, and completing forms that must be handwritten. Performs other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

The incumbent must be able to comprehend a wide range of legal concepts, principles and practices and must have excellent reading, writing, proofreading, and organizational skills. Must have the ability to maintain confidentiality and to interact with a wide variety of people. It is essential that the applicant be detail-oriented and extremely organized as this position requires preparation of written work product suitable for the judge’s approval. To qualify for the position, a person must be