Legal Secretary

State of Montana • Helena, MT

3d

About The Position

The Legal Secretary is instrumental in ensuring the effective operations of Public Defender offices by performing a variety of high level administrative and legal office support activities. This position’s responsibilities are to ensure the smooth and effective operations of the office which include but are not limited to data input and maintaining files, scheduling appointments, providing correspondence, assisting clients and office staff with information requests, and that all court requirements are met throughout the designated location. The Legal Secretary provides exceptional customer services to all clients, courts and internal customers in support of Public Defender Offices and reports to the Administrative Support Manager.

Requirements

• Knowledge of office administrative processes and procedures.
• Knowledge of bookkeeping and recordkeeping.
• Effective written and oral communication skills.
• Professional customer service skills.
• Ability to operate personal computer and general office equipment as necessary to complete essential functions, including using spreadsheets, word processing, database, email, internet, and other computer programs.
• Ability to develop and maintain cooperative working relationships.
• Ability to follow written and verbal instructions.
• Ability to plan, organize, and gather information.
• Ability to work independently.
• Ability to maintain confidential information.
• Ability to accurately track numerous details simultaneously.
• Ability to perform tasks with accuracy while under pressure of strict deadlines.
• High school diploma or equivalent.
• One year of directly related office experience of performing a variety of office support or clerical work.
• Other combinations of directly related education and experience may be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Nice To Haves

• Knowledge of the functions, procedures and organization of a law office and the principles and practices of legal research; court and law enforcement systems and understanding of different aspects of the criminal justice system, including law enforcement and jail procedures as well as legal terminology.

Responsibilities

• Manages and provides information regarding requests from clients, courts and office staff.
• Arranges meetings, conferences and schedules appointments for clients, staff and management; Coordinates office functions with other state and local government offices.
• Creates, reviews and maintains court calendars and provides complete and factual court calendars to appropriate parties and makes sure attorneys are notified.
• Receives and screens office visitors and telephone calls.
• Formats, drafts, prepares a wide variety of time sensitive and official legal documents such as legal pleadings, affidavits, warrants, motions and orders, summonses, subpoenas, correspondence, briefs, complaints, appeals, and pretrial agreements, stipulations, finding of facts, judgments, dismissals, and related documents in criminal cases and other public defender cases in accordance with instructions established in policies and procedures.
• Reads and analyzes incoming correspondence, faxes, e-mail, memos, submissions, and reports to determine their significance and plan their distribution.
• Reviews and distributes mail includes mailing, fax, or arranging delivery of legal correspondence to clients, witnesses, and court officials.
• Prepares open cases and submits referrals to the conflict Defender Office.
• Establish and maintain case files and ensures that such files are complete, up to date and in proper format and order, for criminal, dependent neglect, mental, and juvenile cases; retrieves legal documents, records, and reports.
• Inputs data into Case Management System concerning all clients, case information, closes cases and runs reports from the OPD Case Management System.
• Scans or copies correspondence, documents, evidence, and other printed material and enters into Case Management System.
• Prepare invoices, reports, memos, letters, financial statements and other routine documents and inquiries.
• Maintains filing system and records for criminal, dependent neglect, mental, and juvenile cases, opens files, closes files and files documents.
• Assists attorneys in collecting information such as employment, medical, and other records.
• Provides various administrative Services to management staff and clients such as order placement or case information.
• Proofread documents, records, or other files to ensure accuracy.
• Organizes, prepares and maintains documents, evidence, trial notebooks, various exhibits obtained during discovery by subject matter and chronologically for Public Defenders to use at depositions, motions hearings and during court.
• Gathers and compiles information for exhibits and appendices, and discovery requests received from Public Defenders and Investigators. This includes requesting documents from County Attorney Office, Police Department, records management, and other sources; reading through files to identify information necessary to establish key facts to provide knowledgeable and accurate responses and documents that would be critical in successfully defending clients.
• Retrieve and copy all documentation that relates to a particular case, subject, event, person, etc. as requested. Work often requires reading documents for content and interpreting whether a document is relevant and submitting to a Public Defender/Investigator for review.
• Receives resolves and/or refers complaints to appropriate individuals.
• May attend legal meetings, such as client interviews, or depositions, and take notes at meetings or conferences.
• May assist with legal research by reviewing legal publications and performing data base searches to identify laws and court decisions relevant to pending cases.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• Health coverage
• Retirement plans
• Paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays
• Work/life balance
• Flexible schedules
• Opportunities and room for professional growth
• Telework (when applicable)
• Public Service Loan Forgiveness - Employment with the State of Montana may qualify you to receive public service loan forgiveness – visit the Federal Student Aid website to learn more!

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: High school or GED
• Number of Employees: 101-250 employees