Legal Processing Assistant III

Ventura County•Ventura, CA

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

Under direction, performs specialized clerical and/or secretarial duties in support of specialized law enforcement or legal defense/prosecution activities; and performs related duties as required. Legal Processing Assistant III provides advanced journey level support to professional and paraprofessional staff in legal prosecution/defense case management; or serves as lead person over lower-level Legal Processing Assistant activities. Incumbents providing direct staff support are expected to gain familiarity of overall case content in order to anticipate and complete needed procedural activities on behalf of assigned staff members. Incumbents of lead work positions are expected to demonstrate thorough understanding of and coordinate legal document preparation and processing through the assigned office, the Courts and/or other areas of the justice system. This position is eligible for overtime compensation.

Requirements

Three (3) years legal clerical or legal secretarial experience which has included legal document preparation and processing and the application of specialized law enforcement/legal court procedure in support of a legal specialty area (e.g., criminal defense, criminal prosecution, or witness liaison) OR One (1) year as a Legal Processing Assistant II with the County of Ventura.
Knowledge of Microsoft Office applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.
Bilingual skills.

Nice To Haves

General office practices and procedures.
Legal terminology, procedure and processes applicable to the office to which assigned.
Legal and general record keeping systems and file maintenance methods.
Available office resource reference materials.
Specialized typing formats and legal documents used in area of assignment.
Grammar, spelling and punctuation.
Basic math.
Understand, interpret and apply laws, regulations, policies and procedures governing clerical processing operations.
Prepare final documents from handwritten, typed and voice recorded draft.
Format specialized documents, and reports.
Determine proper wording and phrases from garbled, recorded or illegible written draft copy.
Research regulations, case status, procedures and information from a variety of sources.
Prepare routine procedural documents.
Coordinate and perform clerical activities in support of legal processes and/or services.
Problem solve.
Communicate effectively both verbally and in writing.
Proofread.
Lead the work of others.
Demonstrate tact and diplomacy.

Responsibilities

Processes legal documents and records through the office to which assigned as well as through the Courts and/or other offices based on established legal procedure or special instructions in case files; examines documents for conformance with established rules, standards and/or legal requirements.
Maintains reference materials, records systems, status logs and/or workload statistics; sorts and stores information based on alpha, numeric, content, or other classification method; searches for and retrieves information stored in manual and/or automated systems; purges files in accordance with established procedure.
Prepares a variety of legal documents, (e.g., summons and complaints, motions, briefs, declarations and jury instructions) or staff reports from dictation and/or verbal instructions, handwritten, typed or voice recorded draft; consults with document originator and independently determines format, distribution and preparation priority; proofs and/or corrects copy for grammar, spelling, punctuation and conformance to established procedure or other guidelines; develops forms and standardized correspondence language.
Ensures the service of legal process; requests, receives, evaluates, and files information on prior legal actions and professional reports related to current cases as well as documents resulting from or in support/defense of legal action; conducts case research involving use of specialized automated data bases and/or case citation search/verification and other activities requiring the application of routine legal research methods.
Gives the public, clients, law enforcement officials and/or other employees procedural and/or case information which requires distinguishing between, and consideration of, sensitive/protected and public information and may require understanding or interpretation/explanation of legal documents (e.g., subpoenas), legal/court procedure or specific file notations regarding case/processing and status.
Coordinates the preparation of files scheduled for court ensuring that all needed documents are included and presented in proper form and order; maintains current status of court calendars.
Prepares correspondence and/or legal forms and documents using standard word processing applications from prepared drafts, special file notations or from standard procedural guidelines.
Accompanies attorneys and/or other professional staff to court as required; makes notations to case files and draws the attention of the attorney to case or procedural detail.
Coordinates court appearances for witnesses or defendants by updating appearance times, scheduling/postponing/canceling appearances; maintains case status information and contact with interested parties; notifies witnesses and/or other involved parties of case disposition.
May compute fees or credit for time served or other circumstances affecting length of custody; may collect fees, issue receipts, and prepare bank deposits or statement of cash received; may prepare work unit reports and/or workload statistics.
May lead the work of legal processing staff and/or provide guidance to general clerical support staff within a legal office; prepares work unit reports.
Performs other related duties as assigned.

Benefits

Merit Increases
Educational Incentive
Bilingual Incentive
Flexible Workweek/Telework Schedule
Vacation Accrual
Annual Leave Redemption
Sick Leave
Deferred Compensation - 401(k) Shared Savings Plan and/or Section 457 Plan with up to a 3.00% match
Health Plans (medical, dental, vision)
Flexible Spending Accounts
Pension Plan
13 paid holidays per year
Tuition Reimbursement
Disability Plans
Employee Assistance Program
Life Insurance
Wellness Program