DEFINITION

Under general supervision, provides varied and responsible secretarial, office administrative assistance and legal support work to two or more attorneys; performs related work as assigned.

CLASS CHARACTERISTICS

This is the journey level class in this series, fully competent to perform a wide range of legal support work requiring the exercise of independent judgment and use of extensive legal terminology. Responsibilities include regular contact with City staff and outside agencies in situations where tact and discretion are important. This class is distinguished from the legal secretary class in that the latter is the entry level class in this series requiring less independent judgment and legal expertise and is designed to allow incumbents to learn the terminology, procedures and formats in the legal secretary field through assignment of basic legal secretarial duties. It is distinguished from supervising legal secretary in that the latter acts as secretary to the City Attorney in addition to providing direction, work coordination supervision and training to legal office support staff.

A TYPICAL WAY OF GAINING THE KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS OUTLINED ABOVE IS:

Equivalent to graduation from high school and four (4) years of responsible secretarial or office administrative experience in a legal setting. Business or secretarial school training in the legal office field and experience in a public agency are desirable.

Note: The level and scope of the knowledge and skills listed below are related to job duties as defined under Class Characteristics.

Knowledge of:

• Standard office administrative and secretarial practices and procedures, including business letter writing and the operation of common office equipment;
• Legal office terminology, processes, procedures, and the format for legal documents;
• Recordkeeping, report preparation, and filing methods. Correct English usage, including spelling, grammar, punctuation and vocabulary;
• Standard business arithmetic.

Ability to:

• Draft pleadings and other legal documents from brief instructions, or prior documents;
• Provide varied and responsible secretarial and office administrative assistance to two or more attorneys;
• Use initiative and independent judgment within established guidelines;
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with those contacted in the course of the work;
• Analyze and resolve office administrative situations and problems;
• Research and compile a variety of information; maintain accurate records and files;
• Typing at a rate of 60 net words per minute from printed copy; and
• Organize work, set priorities, meet critical deadlines, and follow up assignments with a minimum of direction.

Applicants must submit the following:

• City of Berkeley Employment Application
• Supplemental Questionnaire
• Resume

• Review of applications to ensure all required materials have been submitted and for minimum qualifications for the classification.
• Applicants who meet the minimum requirements will undergo a competitive review and assessment of their supplemental questionnaire responses to evaluate education/training, and experience to determine the best qualified applicants.
• Depending upon the number of qualified applicants, those that pass the competitive review will be invited to participate in an oral examination. The oral exam will cover elements of the knowledge and abilities identified in this announcement.