Legal Secretary I/II

Job Description:

Legal Secretary I/II

Description

Job Description

State Bar Court

Annual Salary Range for Legal Secretary I: $66,409 - $88,541

Annual Salary Range for Legal Secretary II: $73,046 - $97,399

FLSA Non-Exempt / Union Represented

This position allows for up to 4 days of remote work per week

About the Office

The State Bar Court (SBC) adjudicates disciplinary and regulatory cases involving attorneys and recommends attorney discipline to the California Supreme Court. The SBC is structured as a Hearing Department (trial court) and a Review Department (appeals court). California is the only state with an independent professional Court dedicated to ruling on attorney discipline cases.

The Ideal Candidate

The State Bar Court seeks a Legal Secretary I/II to provide administrative support to the State Bar Court Judges, Clerk of the Court, Court Counsel, and attorneys. Primary responsibilities include distributing and tracking attorney assignments, proofreading decisions, maintaining supply inventories, preparing expense reports and p-card statements, and making travel arrangements. Must communicate clearly and effectively, be a team player, have strong organizational skills, and have the ability to prioritize work. Experience in Word and Excel preferred.

Legal Secretary I

Definition

Under general supervision, a Legal Secretary performs a range of highly confidential secretarial and specialized office support duties related to the specific work and function of the office or unit to which this position is assigned and relieves other staff members of clerical duties and other office procedures.

Distinguishing Characteristics

This entry-level classification provides legal secretarial duties to assigned attorneys or judicial staff. It is distinguished from higher-level classes by its limited experience, the absence of lead responsibilities, and/or the handling of more complex documents.

Examples of Essential Duties

Duties may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Provides routine or standardized legal support through secretarial assignments to ensure effective, timely, and accurate assistance for the assigned legal team.
• Types and assembles, in final form, legal pleadings for filing in all state, federal, or State Bar courts, including proofreading and editing documents for accuracy, entering data into a database, and ensuring that litigation deadlines are met.
• Checks legal citations, oversees the production of legal documents, and distributes documents to the appropriate court and in-house personnel.
• Types, proofreads, and/or assembles other legal documents, including but not limited to pleadings, contracts, subpoenas, legal memoranda, letters, proposals, and/or other documents unique to the department, office, or unit to which assigned.
• Produces a variety of correspondence, reports, memoranda, and other documents.
• Extracts data from a database(s); and filters, sorts, counts, and completes other essential spreadsheet functions.
• Assumes responsibility for secretarial assistance, including, but not limited to, calendaring court appearances; making appointments; creating and maintaining legal files and indices; date stamping, faxing, scanning, and copying documents; and screening and routing telephone calls.
• Assists with processing new case assignments and monthly random audits, including preparing letters, printouts, and/or emails; entering data into a database and/or spreadsheet; and delivering files.
• Performs other similar or related duties that may not be specifically included within this position description but are consistent with the general level of the job and the responsibilities described.
• May provide coverage for other Legal Secretaries during staff absences on a rotational basis by assisting direct supervisors of the absentee secretaries.

Employment Standards

Knowledge of:

• Centralized information and data record-keeping systems.
• Legal secretarial support principles relating to the legal specialization or activity of the assigned office.
• Modern office practices and procedures, including standard computer software such as Microsoft Office and case management system applications.
• Basic principles, concepts, and methodology of legal proceedings and legal research.
• Legal terminology, documents, and procedures.
• The basic vocabulary, grammar, spelling, and punctuation rules, as specified in Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary.
• Business math for nontechnical calculations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
• Filing requirements for State Bar Court and Superior Courts.

Ability to:

• Demonstrate accomplished legal writing skills.
• Organize and maintain legal files and records.
• Work independently, and work cooperatively in a team environment.
• Complete multiple tasks and meet deadlines.
• Demonstrate independent judgment and initiative.
• Receive and relay detailed information through verbal and written communications.
• Carry out duties in accordance with policies, procedures, and scope of responsibility.
• Review complex written documents.
• Communicate clearly and effectively in person, by telephone, and in writing.
• Demonstrate accomplished computer keyboarding skills.
• Maintain confidentiality of State Bar documents, records, and data, including legally protected personal information, proprietary and pre-decisional information not subject to public information disclosure, sensitive legal and programmatic data, and other sensitive information.

Minimum Qualifications

Education:

• High school diploma or equivalent.
• Two (2) years of post-secondary education preferred.

Experience:

• Two (2) years of secretarial experience, at least one year of which has been in a legal environment, or four (4) years of administrative support or general clerical experience.
• Or an equal combination of education, certification, and/or directly related legal secretary experience that resulted in successful job performance.

License, Certificate, and Registration Requirements:

• None required.

Applicants who meet the Minimum Qualifications will be required to successfully complete the State Bar's selection process for this classification.

Legal Secretary II

Definition

Under direction, the Legal Secretary II assists legal professional, supervisory, and judicial staff member(s) in accomplishing highly confidential secretarial and administrative duties and responsibilities of the department, unit, or individual legal staff member, to which the position is assigned. In addition, the LSII coordinates special projects and performs analysis, editing, evaluation, report preparation, and other duties as assigned.

Distinguishing Characteristics

This is an experienced (minimum of three years in legal secretary role), journey-level classification in the Legal Secretary classification series. It is distinguished from the lower-level Legal Secretary I classification in that incumbents independently perform the full range of legal secretarial and staff support duties. Incumbents in this classification may serve in an informal lead capacity, assisting, training, assigning, and monitoring the work of lower-level Legal Secretary staff.

The Legal Secretary II is distinguished from the Legal Secretary III classification by the latter's formal lead responsibilities.

Examples of Essential Duties

Duties may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Provides legal secretarial support, including preparing legal briefs, motions, and memoranda.
• Formats, edits, assembles documents and enters databases for filing in all state, federal, or State Bar courts.
• Assembles and types, in final form, legal pleadings for filing in all state, federal, or State Bar courts, including proofreading and editing documents for accuracy, entering data into a database, and ensuring that litigation deadlines are met. Interprets local court rules for requisite format and several duplications of pleadings.
• Checks legal citations, oversees the production of legal documents and distributes documents to the appropriate court and in-house personnel.
• Proofreads, edits, and/or assembles legal documents, including but not limited to pleadings, contracts, subpoenas, legal memoranda, letters, proposals, and/or other documents unique to the department, office, or unit to which assigned.
• Serves in a formal trainer capacity for new hires.
• Tracks legislative research and analyzes internal data, policies, and legal subject matter, such as labor law and recent court decisions.
• Assists others in preparing for committee or other meetings, including, but not limited to, the preparation, distribution, and printing of notices, agendas and materials, and minutes.
• Assumes responsibility for secretarial assistance, including, but not limited to, calendaring court appearances; making appointments; creating and maintaining legal files and indices; date stamping, faxing, scanning, and copying documents; and screening and routing telephone calls.
• Performs other similar or related duties which may not be specifically included within this position description, but which are consistent with the general level of the job and the responsibilities described, including paralegal and office support duties within the main areas of (1) legislative support, (2) litigation support, (3) legal and policy research, (4) contract administration, (5) transactions support and (6) executive legal support.
• May format, cite, check, and edit Review Department opinions for Judges and maintain version control of all opinions, ensuring their progress from oral argument to timely filing and, at times, publication.
• May perform legal and policy research, including researching, compiling, and analyzing various internal data, policies, and legal subject matter such as labor law and recent court decisions.
• May provide coverage for other Legal Secretaries during staff absences on a rotational basis by assisting direct supervisors of the absentee secretaries.

Employment Standards

Knowledge of:

• Workflow principles for maintaining centralized information and data record-keeping systems.
• The complete system of technical processes for providing substantive and procedural legal support.
• Developments in the functional domain(s) of assignments and changes in guidelines applying to the work focus areas, such as matters of legislative support.
• The relevance and importance of various legislative histories, policy issues, agreements, and other information pertinent to the organization's interests and perspectives in legislative matters from a legislative support perspective.
• Modern office practices and procedures, including standard computer software such as Microsoft Office and case management system applications.
• Broad legal concepts, terminology, documents, and procedures, including specialized legal processes and methodology of legal proceedings and legal research.
• The basic vocabulary, grammar, spelling, and punctuation rules specified in Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary.
• Business math for nontechnical calculations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. • Filing requirements for State Bar Court and Superior Courts.

Ability to:

• Demonstrate accomplished legal writing skills with accurate, clear, and complete legal documents.
• Organize and maintain digital and paper legal files and records.
• Problem solve to select, organize, and logically process relevant information (verbal, numerical, or abstract) to solve a problem.
• Work independently, and work cooperatively in a team environment.
• Complete multiple tasks and meet deadlines.
• Demonstrate independent judgment and initiative.
• Receive and relay detailed information through verbal and written communications.
• Carry out duties in accordance with policies, procedures, and scope of responsibility.
• Communicate clearly and effectively in person, by telephone, and in writing.
• Demonstrate accomplished computer keyboarding skills.
• Maintain confidentiality of State Bar documents, records, and data, including legally protected personal information, proprietary and pre-decisional information not subject to public information disclosure, sensitive legal and programmatic data, and other sensitive information.

Minimum Qualifications

Education:

• Possession of high school diploma or equivalent.
• Two (2) years of post-secondary education.

Experience:

• Three (3) years of directly relevant legal secretarial experience.
• Or an equal combination of education, certification, and/or directly related legal secretary experience that resulted in the successful performance of the job.

License, Certificate, and Registration Requirements:

• None required.

Applicants who meet the Minimum Qualifications will be required to successfully complete the State Bar's selection process for this classification.

About the State Bar

The State Bar of California's mission is to protect the public and includes the primary functions of licensing, regulation, and discipline of attorneys; the advancement of the ethical and competent practice of law; and support of efforts for greater access to, and inclusion in, the legal system.

Our Values

Clarity | Investing in Our People | Excellence | Respect | Growth Mindset

Learn more about our values.

DEI Statement

We are a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace where all of our employees and prospective employees experience fairness, dignity, and respect.

Learn more about our commitment to DEI.