Career Opportunity

8173-Legal Assistant

Recruitment: RTF0120991-01150763

Published: April 11, 2022

Apply using SmartRecruiters, the City and County of San Francisco's application portal.

About:

Specific Information Regarding this Recruitment Process

Classification: 8173- Legal Assistant

Status: Full-Time

Appointment Type: Permanent Exempt (PEX)

Application Opening: March 28, 2022

Application Deadline: April 11, 2022 by 11:59pm

Hourly Compensation: $86,112-$112,684/Annually

Recruitment ID: PEX-8173-120992 

The Public Defender’s office provides legal representation to persons charged with a crime in San Francisco who do not have the financial means to retain their own counsel. Each year, the office serves approximately 20,000 people. The San Francisco Public Defender’s office is a nationally recognized model of public defense.

Role description

This Legal Assistant position requires demonstrated commitment to ending mass incarceration and a talent for direct services. In this position, the successful candidate will be required to compile and organize large volumes of records, sort spreadsheets effectively, and act as a liaison between the legal team, clients and loved ones, as well as institutional actors. Importantly, the successful candidate will have strong communication skills, oral and written, strong research skills, and show deep empathy for a wide variety of individuals, including those incarcerated for decades and their loved ones, often despite difficult or upsetting case facts. Working independently as well as with a small team is required. Lived experience in the criminal punishment system a plus. 

Appointment Type: Permanent Exempt (PEX) Category 18. This permanent exempt position is not to exceed 3 years; excluded by the charter from the competitive civil service examination process and shall serve at the discretion of the appointing officer. In order to be considered for a permanent appointment, the incumbent will be required to successfully compete in a Civil Service Examination.

Under supervision, this position in the Public Defender’s Office is responsible for but not limited to:

1.    Investigates, collects and compiles case materials and documentary evidence in contract and personal injury litigation.

2.    Drafts Complaints, Affidavits, Motions, Interrogatories and other pleadings connected with trial preparation and discovery; interviews witnesses and assists the attorney at trial or at depositions.

3.    Performs legal research and assists in the preparation of contracts, leases, briefs and legal opinions; may perform statistical research required for litigation.

4.    Assists in the preparation of legislation, including research of existing statutes and regulations, review of existing legislation for possible conflicts with proposed legislation and analysis or digesting of proposed legislation.

5.    As assigned, maintains a tracking system for adjusting claims against the City, coordinates investigation and departmental review of claims and communicates with members of the public and departmental representatives relative to claims against the City.

6.    Corresponds and communicates with attorneys, representatives of other governmental agencies and the general public.

7.    As assigned, analyzes depositions, exhibits, and pleadings to extract facts pertinent to issues argued on brief; may assemble exhibits, affidavits and other legal documents for use in preparing a trial.

8.    Interviews citizens with complaints and obtains information for appropriate City legal department; may observe a variety of legal conferences and proceedings; when assigned, attends and observes court room activities.

CONDITION OF EMPLOYMENT:  All City and County of San Francisco employees are required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment.  For details on how it is applicable to your employment, please click here.

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.

How to qualify

Applicants must fully meet the minimum qualifications by the final filing deadline unless otherwise stated:

EDUCATION:

Completion of a certificated Paralegal Studies curriculum approved by the American Bar Association;

SUBSTITUTION: The education as described above may be substituted by one of the following:

Possession of an associate (AA) degree from an accredited college or university AND six (6) months of law-related work experience; 

OR

Completion of thirty (30) semester or forty-five (45) quarter units of law-related courses from a postsecondary institution that has been accredited by the American Bar Association or by a national/regional accrediting organization or approved by the Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education;

OR

Two (2) years of paralegal or law-related work experience under the direct supervision of an attorney.

Notes:

1.     Applicants must meet the minimum qualifications by the final filing date unless otherwise noted.

2.     One (1) year full-time experience 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 experience.

Desirable Qualifications:

The stated desirable qualifications may be used to identify job finalists at the end of the selection process when candidates are referred for hiring.

1.     Bilingual proficiency in Spanish or Cantonese

2.     Experience in conducting legal interviews

3.     Experience in using EXCEL and setting up a database

4.     Experience in reviewing, sorting, and summarizing voluminous court records, police reports and rehabilitation materials submitted by Clean Slate petitioners.

5.     Familiarity with reviewing criminal background “rap” sheets that range from local San Francisco rap sheets, Statewide “CII” rap sheets, and FBI or federal rap sheets.

6.     Knowledge of statutes dealing with expungement under Penal Code section 1203.4, factual innocence under Penal Code section 851.8, and Certificate of Rehabilitation.

7.     Comprehensive knowledge of prosecutorial statute of limitations on felony and misdemeanor arrests

8.     Works Independently but a team player

Verification of Experience and/or Education

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 http://sfdhr.org/index.aspx?page=456

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.

Selection Plan:

Individuals who have expressed an interest in the manner described above will be screened for satisfaction of the minimum requirements, including relevant qualifying experience.  Additional screening mechanisms may be implemented in order to determine individuals’ qualifications.  Only those individuals who most closely meet the needs of the department will be invited to participate further in the selection process.  INDIVIDUALS MEETING THE MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS ARE NOT GUARANTEED ADVANCEMENT TO THE SELECTION PROCESS.

Working Conditions: Must be able to work full time within the regular office hours of 8:00am – 5:00pm, and to travel throughout San Francisco and the surrounding cities on a daily basis to conduct visits at varied times of the day.  

What else should I know?

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

• Information About the Hiring Process
• Conviction History
• Employee Benefits Overview  
• Equal Employment Opportunity 
• Disaster Service Worker
• ADA Accommodation
• Veterans Preference
• Seniority Credit in Promotional Exams [required for Combined, Promotive, Entrance
• (CPE) Exams only]
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement

If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please email PUBDEF.HR@sfgov.org

HOW TO APPLY

Applications for City and County of San Francisco jobs are only accepted through an online process. Visit https://careers.smartrecruiters.com/CityAndCountyOfSanFrancisco1/ and begin the application process.

·       Select the Announcement: 8173- Legal Assistant

·       Select the “I’m Interested” button and follow instructions on the screen

Official Public Health Order-Shelter in Place: In line with the Official Public Health Order to slow the spread of COVID-19, “shelter-in-place” has been issued for all San Francisco residents that is expected to be in effect until further notice. As a result, Department of Human Resources (DHR)’s office (located at 1 South Van Ness Avenue, 4th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103) is currently closed to the general public. If you have any questions, please feel free to email the Exam Analyst listed at the end of this job ad.

Applicants may be contacted by email bout this recruitment and, therefore, it is their responsibility to ensure that their registered email address is accurate and kept up-t0-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.

Exam Analyst information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the exam analyst, Stephanie Aquino,  Stephanie.aquino@sfgov.org or PUBDEF.HR@sfgov.org

CONDITION OF EMPLOYMENT:  All City and County of San Francisco employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment. Someone is fully vaccinated when 14 days have passed since they received the final dose of a two-shot vaccine or a dose of a one-shot vaccine. Any new hire must present proof of full vaccination status to be appointed. Any new hire who will be routinely assigned or occasionally enter High-Risk Settings, must provide proof of having received a COVID-19 booster vaccine by March 1, 2022, or once eligible.

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.