Job Information
San Mateo County, CA Legal Secretary I/II (Open and Promotional) in United States
Legal Secretary I/II (Open and Promotional)
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Legal Secretary I/II (Open and Promotional)
Salary
$65,436.80 - $91,104.00 Annually
Location
County of San Mateo, CA
Job Type
Full-Time
Job Number
E378X
Department
District Attorney's Office
Opening Date
04/22/2024
Closing Date
5/6/2024 11:59 PM Pacific
Description
Benefits
Questions
Description
The County of San Mateo District Attorney's Office is accepting applications for the position of Legal Secretary.
About the Agency:
The San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office mission is to prosecute adult and juvenile offenders, provide services to support victims, enforce consumer and environmental laws, provide legal and investigative support to public safety partners and to remain committed to the principles of equity and transparency in seeking justice and greater public safety. To that end, we are committed to ensuring that no member of our office will seek or obtain a criminal conviction or seek or obtain a sentence of any individual on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, or disability. To learn more about the District’s Attorney’s Office please visit: https://www.smcgov.org/da.
The Position:
Legal Secretaries perform essential tasks, including preparing legal documents, correspondence, memoranda, and reports, providing support for incoming referrals, and arranging court dates, meetings, and appointments. Screening phone calls, conducting research, and compiling information are crucial aspects of the role. Additionally, Legal Secretaries maintain organized files, process mail, and effectively manage their own work, ensuring priorities are set and critical deadlines are met.
Rewarding Aspects of the Job:
The department offers an environment where you can develop or enhance your administrative professional skills within the county and judicial systems. Additionally, there will be opportunities to collaborate with a variety of public safety partners. As a new member of the office, you will be a part of a diligent and diverse team that is committed to maintaining justice and public safety.
Challenging Aspects of the Job:
In this role, you will need to retain an abundance of procedures and consistently work under pressure. Communication, organizational, and time-management skills are essential to succeed in this position due to the demand of administrative support that is to be provided to the managers and attorneys of the office.
The ideal candidate for this position will have:
Experience working in a public or private law office.
In-depth knowledge of legal terminology and legal procedures.
Experience supporting multiple managers or attorneys simultaneously.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications including Word and Excel.
Working knowledge of legal case management systems.
Strong interpersonal, communication, organizational, and time management skills.
Proven success of working independently on multiple assignments and meeting deadlines.
Depending on the qualifications of the selected candidate, the vacancy may be filled at the Legal Secretary I or Legal Secretary II level.
Legal Secretary I ($31.46-$39.34 Hourly) is the entry level in this specialized secretarial series. It is designed to allow an experienced incumbent with either well-developed office administrative or secretarial support skills to learn the terminology, formats, and procedures in the legal secretarial field, or an incumbent with knowledge of legal office terminology, formats, and procedures to learn office administrative and secretarial support skills. This classification is flexibly staffed with Legal Secretary II and incumbents may advance to the higher level after gaining experience and demonstrating proficiency which meet the qualifications of the higher-level class.
Legal Secretary II ($35.03-$43.80 Hourly) is the journey level class of this series, fully competent to independently perform a wide range of legal secretarial support work. General procedures and guidelines are normally established by the secretarial lead or the attorney to which assigned; however, day-to-day activities may require the use of initiative and independent judgment. Responsibilities include regular contact with County staff and outside agencies in situations where tact and discretion are important.
Note: The eligible list generated from this recruitment may be used to fill future extra-help, term, unclassified, and regular classified vacancies.
Examples Of Duties
Legal Secretaries perform varied and responsible legal secretarial duties including but not limited to the following:
Preparing legal documents, correspondence, memoranda, and reports.
Processing new referrals.
Scheduling court dates, meetings, and appointments.
Receiving and screening telephone calls.
Researching and compiling a variety of informational materials.
Maintaining and organizing files.
Processing mail.
Organizing own work, setting priorities, and meeting critical deadlines.
Perform related duties as assigned.
Qualifications
Education and Experience:
Any combination of education and experience that would likely provide the required knowledge, skills, and abilities is qualifying. A typical way to qualify is:
Legal Secretary I: One year of EITHER secretarial and office administrative experience equivalent to the County's class of Secretary OR legal office support experience.
Legal Secretary II: Two years of experience in providing legal secretarial and office administrative support to one or more attorneys and related support staff.
Knowledge of:
Office administrative and secretarial practices and procedures, including filing and business letter writing.
Legal office terminology, processes, procedures, and the format for legal documents.
The operation of common office equipment, including a word processor and personal or on-line computer.
Record keeping, report preparation and filing methods.
Correct English usage, including spelling, grammar, punctuation, and vocabulary.
Business arithmetic, including percentages and decimals.
Skill/Ability to:
Draft pleadings and other legal documents from stenographic notes, brief instructions, dictated tapes, or printed information.
Provide varied and responsible secretarial and office administrative assistance to one or more attorneys and/or associated staff.
Use initiative and independent judgment within established guidelines.
Organize and maintain accurate records and files.
Organize work, set priorities, meet critical deadlines, and follow up on assignments.
Establish and maintain effective working relationships with those contacted in the course of the work.
Some positions may require the ability to type at a rate of 50 words per minute.
Note: Specific positions may require skill in taking dictation at a rate of 80 words per minute by hand or stenographic machine and transcribing it accurately.
Application/Examination
Open and Promotional. Anyone may apply. Current County of San Mateo and County of San Mateo Superior Court of California employees with at least six months (1040 hours) of continuous service in a classified regular, probationary, Confidential and Management extra-help/limited term, and SEIU or AFSCME represented extra help/limited term positions prior to the final filing date will receive five points added to their final passing score on this examination.
Responses to the supplemental questions on the online application must be provided. Resume will not be accepted as a substitute for the required employment application and supplemental questionnaire.
The examination process will consist of an application screening (weight: pass/fail) based on the candidates' application and responses to the supplemental questions. Candidates who pass the application screening will be invited to a panel interview (weight: 100%).
Depending on the number of applicants, an application appraisal of education and experience may be used in place of other examinations or further evaluation of work experience may be conducted to group applicants by level of qualification. All applicants who meet the minimum qualifications are not guaranteed advancement through any subsequent phase of the examination. All examinations will be given in County of San Mateo, California and applicants must participate at their own expense.
IMPORTANT: Applications for this position will only be accepted online. If you are currently on the County's website, you may click the "Apply" button above or below. If you are not on the County's website, please go to https://jobs.smcgov.org/ to apply. Online applications must be received by the Human Resources Department before midnight on the final filing date.
TENTATIVE RECRUITMENT SCHEDULE
Final Filing Date: Monday, May 6, 2024, by 11:59PM PST
Application Screening: Week of May 13, 2024
Panel Interviews: Week of May 27, 2024
About The County
San Mateo County is centrally located between San Francisco, San Jose, and the East Bay. With over 750,000 residents, San Mateo is one of the largest and most diverse counties in California and serves a multitude of culturally, ethnically, and linguistically diverse communities.
The County of San Mateo is committed to advancing equity in order to ensure that all employees are welcomed in a safe and inclusive environment. The County seeks to hire, support, and retain employees who reflect our diverse community. We encourage applicants with diverse backgrounds and lived experiences to apply. Eighty percent of employees surveyed stated that they would recommend the County as a great place to work. County of San Mateo is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering diversity, equity and inclusion at all levels.
At the County of San Mateo, we welcome and celebrate the diversity of our employees, and strive to create a workplace where they feel valued every day.
HR Contact: Ximena Burns (04222024) (Legal Secretary I/II - E377/E378)
Please visit https://www.smcgov.org/media/100206/download?inline= for a complete listing of all benefits for this classification.
Benefits are offered to eligible employees of the County of San Mateo. All benefits are subject to change.
NOTE: Employees hired on or after January 1, 2013 may be subject to new Pension Reform retirement laws.
As an additional benefit, the County offers extensive training and development programs designed to improve skills and enhance career opportunities. Most programs are offered on County time at no cost to you.
County employees are also covered by the federal Social Security system and earn benefits for retirement based on salary and time worked.
01
IMPORTANT: Applicants for this position are required to submit responses to the following supplemental questions. Your responses will give us additional information about your background and experience related to this position and will be used in the selection process. Be concise and specific. Neatness, clarity of expression, grammar, spelling and ability to follow instructions will be considered in the evaluation process. A resume will not be accepted as a substitute for your responses. I have read and understand these instructions.
Yes
No
02
Secretarial work in the District Attorney's Office involves efficiently managing administrative tasks, facilitating communication, and maintaining organized systems to ensure the smooth operation of the office environment.
Describe the duties you have performed in your current or previous job, specifically in a secretarial, office administrative or legal office capacity. In your response, be sure to specify your assignment(s) and the number of staff you supported, if applicable.
03
Provide a specific example from your work experience in which you successfully met a tight deadline while multitasking, supporting multiple individuals, and working under pressure. Describe how you managed the situation and the outcome. Please be as specific as possible.
04
Describe your work-related experience in filing and maintaining official or legal documents. a) Where was the experience gained; and b) what were some of the requirements involved in filing these documents?
Required Question
Agency
County of San Mateo
Address
County of San Mateo Human Resources Department 455 County Center Redwood City, California, 94063-1663
Phone
(650) 363-4343
Website
https://jobs.smcgov.org
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