Judicial Secretary

Government of the Virgin Islands

2d•Onsite

About The Position

An employee in this class is responsible for providing advanced-level executive secretarial support of a confidential nature for a Superior Court Magistrate Judge. This position involves extensive public contact, office management, word processing, case scheduling and calendaring functions. The incumbent relieves a judge of clerical work and minor administrative and business details. The employee is expected to function independently and exercise discretion. Work is performed based on standard practices and in accordance with established policies and is reviewed in progress by a Superior Court Magistrate Judge.

Requirements

Considerable knowledge of legal terminology and format.
Considerable knowledge of the rules of court, civil and criminal procedure.
Considerable knowledge of business English, spelling and punctuation.
Considerable knowledge of office practices, procedures, equipment and standard clerical techniques.
Ability to understand and carry out moderately complex oral and written instructions.
Skill in taking and transcribing from hand or machine dictation, if required by the position.
Ability to effectively work under pressure, manage multiple projects and meet deadlines with a high attention to detail and follow through.
High degree of confidentiality, camaraderie and initiative.
Proficiency in the use of standard office equipment, Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook); and automated systems.
Graduation from an approved high school or vocational school preferably supplemented by an Associate’s degree in secretarial science or related field and two to five years executive or legal secretarial or administrative experience in processing legal documents.

Responsibilities

Prepares and processes various legal documents and correspondence requiring the application of complex clerical procedures and a comprehensive knowledge of court rules and terminology.
Receives, screens, and routes incoming telephone calls and callers and takes complete and accurate messages; screens mail; schedules matters for hearing and maintains the judge’s personal calendar; makes travel arrangements, arranges meetings and maintains a schedule for use of a courtroom.
Retrieves and examines case files and makes certain motions have been disposed of and case is at issue prior to trial or hearing; may maintain logs, records and files pertaining to the status of cases and courtroom activities.
Prepares calendars for the judge; ensures that all files are complete and available for matters scheduled.
Performs a variety of confidential, technical, and general clerical tasks, and minor administrative work for the judge; takes and transcribes hand and machine dictation.
Coordinates the scheduling of arraignments, preliminary hearings, pre-trial conferences, trials, motions, and other matters, taking in consideration the complexity of cases, number of cases and attorneys and required time factors; notifies attorneys and parties of settings, contacting by telephone or mail as necessary; works out conflicts concerning dates and length of time required; records data in permanent records; resets cases as necessary.
Prepares jury trial calendar and alternate dates as required; coordinates juror activity; coordinates with jury manager.
Based on judge’s instruction, prepares a variety of orders, such as, hearing date, mediation order, discovery order, trial date, psychiatric evaluation, dismissal, entry of default, summary judgment order, criminal pretrial order, withdrawal order, expungement order, memorandum opinion and compel discovery order.
When assigned as judicial secretary for Presiding Judge Emeritus, manages chambers, coordinates the academic and cultural awards endowment, organizes judge’s records for archival purposes, serves as liaison for special volunteer assistance to other judges, General Counsel’s Office and Administrator of Courts, schedules appearances and appointments.
Other duties as assigned or required.