Career Opportunity

Legal Secretary I - Trial/Litigation Team - City Attorney's Office (1458)

Recruitment: RTF0152473-01112730

Published: November 06, 2024

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About:

The San Francisco City Attorney’s Office is looking for a qualified and motivated legal secretary to join its Trial/Litigation Team.

Appointment Type: Temporary Provisional (TPV), limited to no more than 3 years in duration. This temporary position is excluded by the Charter from the competitive Civil Service examination process, is considered "at will" and shall serve at the discretion of the Department Head. This position will be subject to the Permanent Civil Service examination process. Successful participation in the Permanent Civil Service examination and selection through an open competitive process is needed in order to be considered for the permanent appointment.

• Application Opening: November 6, 2024
• Application Deadline: Continuous, earliest close 5:00 p.m. Wednesday, November 20, 2024
• Compensation Range: $91,130 - $110,760
• Recruitment ID: RTF0152473-01112730

About the Office

The San Francisco City Attorney’s Office is an innovative, nationally-recognized municipal law office working to protect and advance the rights and interests of the City and County of San Francisco and its residents. With over 300 talented and dedicated employees, the Office provides exceptional legal services to the City’s Mayor, Board of Supervisors, officials, and departments. Our work empowers City leaders with effective, responsive, and creative legal solutions and representation so they can deliver critical public services, and our affirmative advocacy enhances the lives and wellbeing of San Francisco’s residents and visitors.

The Office recognizes that diversity in the backgrounds, identities, ideas, and lived experiences of our employees enriches our workplace and enhances our work. We aspire to recruit, employ, retain, and promote talented individuals representing the full spectrum of our community, and welcome all candidates, including candidates of any race, religion, national origin, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, and age, and candidates with disabilities. We have a clear vision: to be the place where a diverse mix of people want to come and stay, grow professionally, and find purpose and engagement, and where all employees feel welcomed and respected for their full authentic selves, and valued for their work and contributions to the Office and the City. To learn more about the Office’s efforts to provide an inclusive workplace where employees feel they belong and can meaningfully contribute, please visit: https://www.sfcityattorney.org/aboutus/dei/

The Office offers a hybrid remote work schedule for eligible employees, with three days onsite and up to two days remote.

To learn more about the City Attorney’s Office please visit: https://www.sfcityattorney.org/

Role description

About the Trial/Litigation Team

Under supervision, the Legal Secretary I on the Litigation/Trial Team supports a high-volume, busy litigation and trial practice. The duties associated with the position include but are not limited to:  preparing and editing a wide variety of legal documents in proper format such as briefs, correspondence, subpoenas, jury instructions, notices, exhibit lists and verdict forms; filing (including E-Filing) documents with State and Federal trial courts and courts of appeal; maintaining attorney calendars and case calendars; creating and maintaining files; answering requests for information from attorneys, opposing counsel, court staff and members of the public; and performing related duties as required.

Position Information and Responsibilities

Legal secretaries work under the direction of attorneys and provide a variety of secretarial and clerical duties in a fast-paced, civil litigation practice. The responsibilities listed below are representative of the range of duties assigned and are not intended as an exhaustive list.

• Preparing, editing and proofreading a wide variety of legal documents in proper format which may include pleadings and briefs with preparation of table of contents and table of authorities, motions, notices, declarations, complaints, discovery documents, correspondence and contracts utilizing multiple word processing systems, spreadsheet software, and case management systems/software.
• Legal filings and service of documents with state and federal courts as well as other government agencies.  E-filings may include confidential underseal filings that accommodate multiple and voluminous media format.
• Scheduling of depositions, court reporters, witnesses and subpoenas.
• Opening, monitoring, organizing, closing legal case files; creating and updating file index, correspondence and electronic record files.
• Maintaining and updating attorney appointments and team calendar; keeping abreast of important court dates, local court rules and procedures regarding filing legal documents with courts as mandated including e-filing, and serving legal document as required by rules; prioritizing duties and deadlines to accommodate work schedules of attorneys.
• Reviewing, preparing, editing and finalizing resolutions and ordinances for submission to Board of Supervisors.
• Performing other duties and responsibilities as required including general administrative tasks; coordinating and setting up meetings, managing subscriptions for distribution.
• Managing retention contracts and invoicing process for multiple consultants, and keeping attorneys informed on contract expenditures/budget.
• Assisting with special projects, i.e. research and public records request and backing up other teams for court E-filings when needed.
• Contact with court staff, administrative law organizations, consultants and other city departments using discretion and tact.

Desired Qualifications

• Excellent verbal and writing skills, and an ability to work independently, as well as collaboratively across multiple legal teams.
• Ability to handle multiple tasks and deadlines and accept and implement written and oral instructions.
• Communicate effectively and tactfully with attorneys, office personnel, court personnel, vendors, City personnel, and the general public.
• Working knowledge of civil litigation procedures, legal terminology and court rules.
• Adept in Microsoft Office Suite, with a focus on Word.
• Experience with Adobe Professional, Cisco WebEx, Microsoft Teams.
• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.
• Commitment to valuing diversity and contributing to an inclusive working and learning environment.

How to qualify

Minimum Qualifications

Experience: Two (2) years of verifiable experience as a legal secretary transcribing dictation and typing legal documents including petitions, motions, briefs, complaints and other legal forms

AND

The ability to type 55 net WPM

Substitution: A certificate of completion in legal secretarial skills from a recognized college, university, or training program, which involved learning legal terminology and legal formats and forms, may substitute for six (6) months of the required legal secretarial experience. Proof of satisfactory completion must be submitted at the time of filing.

One year of full-time employment is equivalent to 2000 hours. (2000 hours of qualifying work experience is based on a 40-hour work week.) Any overtime hours that you work above forty (40) hours per week are not included in the calculation to determine full-time employment.

Desired Qualifications

• Excellent verbal and writing skills, and an ability to work independently, as well as collaboratively across multiple legal teams.
• Ability to handle multiple tasks and deadlines and accept and implement written and oral instructions.
• Communicate effectively and tactfully with attorneys, office personnel, court personnel, vendors, City personnel, and the general public.
• Working knowledge of civil litigation procedures, legal terminology and court rules.
• Adept in Microsoft Office Suite, with a focus on Word.
• Experience with Adobe Professional, Cisco WebEx, Microsoft Teams.
• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.
• Commitment to valuing diversity and contributing to an inclusive working and learning environment.

What else should I know?

Salary and Benefits

The position has a five-step salary scale ranging from $91,130-$110,760. The successful applicant is appointed a salary step based on years of experience and additional relevant degrees, certifications, credentials, or skills. The City offers robust health, retirement, and other benefits. For more information, please visit: https://sfdhr.org/benefits-overview. Legal Secretaries are represented by the Service Employees International Union, Local 1021.

Verification

Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process. If education verification is required, information on how to verify education requirements, including verifying foreign education credits or degree equivalency, can be found at https://sfdhr.org/how-verify-education-requirements.

Note: Falsifying one’s education, training, or work experience or attempted deception on the application may result in disqualification for this and future job opportunities with the City and County of San Francisco.

All work experience, education, training and other information substantiating how you meet the minimum qualifications must be included on your application by the filing deadline. Information submitted after the filing deadline will not be considered in determining whether you meet the minimum qualifications.

Resumes will not be accepted in lieu of a completed City and County of San Francisco application.

Applications completed improperly may be cause for ineligibility, disqualification or may lead to lower scores.

Selection Procedures

The selection process will include evaluation of applications in relation to minimum requirements. Applicants meeting the minimum qualifications are not guaranteed advancement to the interview. Depending on the number of applicants, the Department may establish and implement additional screening mechanisms to comparatively evaluate the qualifications of candidates. If this becomes necessary, only those applicants whose qualifications most closely meet the needs of the Department will be invited to participate in the next stage of the selection process.

Additional Information Regarding Employment with the City and County of San Francisco:

• Information About the Hiring Process
• Conviction History
• Employee Benefits Overview  
• Equal Employment Opportunity 
• Disaster Service Worker
• ADA Accommodation
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement

HOW TO APPLY

Applications for City and County of San Francisco jobs are only accepted through an online process. Visit https://careers.sf.gov/ and begin the application process.

• Select the “Apply Now” button and follow instructions on the screen

Applicants may be contacted by email about this recruitment and, therefore, it is their responsibility to ensure that their registered email address is accurate and kept up-to-date. Also, applicants must ensure that email from CCSF is not blocked on their computer by a spam filter. To prevent blocking, applicants should set up their email to accept CCSF mail from the following addresses (@sfgov.org, @sfdpw.org, @sfport.com, @flysfo.com, @sfwater.org, @sfdph.org, @asianart.org, @sfmta.com, @sfpl.org, @dcyf.org, @first5sf.org, @famsf.org, @ccsf.edu, @smartalerts.info, and @smartrecruiters.com).

Applicants will receive a confirmation email that their online application has been received in response to every announcement for which they file. Applicants should retain this confirmation email for their records. Failure to receive this email means that the online application was not submitted or received.

Human Resources Analyst Information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please send your inquires to Asa Nojd, Human Resources Analyst, at asa.nojd@sfcityatty.org.

The City and County of San Francisco encourages women, minorities and persons with disabilities to apply. Applicants will be considered regardless of their sex, race, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition (associated with cancer, a history of cancer, or genetic characteristics), HIV/AIDS status, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, military and veteran status, or other protected category under the law.