LEGAL SECRETARY

Legal Secretary Position

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 include performing difficult, complex and/or confidential legal office support work, assisting 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. Other duties include preparing, indexing, and filing legal documents by researching and assembling information from a variety of sources to prepare legal documents; typing and transcribing a variety of correspondence and legal documents; proofreading and checking legal documents and other materials for accuracy, completeness, and compliance with departmental policies and regulations; maintaining and organizing litigation and other departmental files including the copying, filing, and maintenance of individual case files and attending to a variety of law office administrative details; acting as receptionist and receiving and screening visitors and telephone calls and directing the caller to the proper person or personally handling the call; arranging meetings by notifying participants and reserving rooms; providing 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; assisting 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; operating standard office equipment and various computer applications.

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; 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.