Legal Secretary

Job Description and Duties

Under the general supervision of the Supervisor I, Legal Secretaries independently perform a full range of legal secretarial duties for the Department of Industrial Relations, Office of the Director-Legal Unit (“OD-Legal”), including the most difficult complex secretarial work, supporting two or more OD-Legal attorneys and investigators. Duties include, but are not limited to:

• Finalize legal pleadings and other legal documents, including by formatting, proofing, correcting, generating tables of contents and authorities, and drafting proofs of service;
• Electronically file legal pleadings in the workers’ compensation system (using EAMS), in state and federal trial and appellate courts, and with the State Personnel Board and other state and federal agencies;
• Serve legal pleadings and other documents on other parties to an action;
• Review applicable court rules and ensure pleadings, exhibits and other documents comply with the rules;
• Organize, file and serve trial exhibits;
• Maintain up-to-date appearance and filing calendars;
• Coordinate depositions, including by arranging for location and court reporter;
• Prepare and serve subpoenas;
• Create case files and handle all case filing;
• Process attorneys’ incoming and outgoing mail;
• Answer and screen telephone calls;
• General support of the office and organizational needs of OD-Legal.

This posting may be used to fill future vacancies in accordance with 2 CCR §249.3

To be considered for this Legal Secretary job opportunity, applicants must be either reachable on an employment list, have transfer eligibility or have reinstatement eligibility. To take the exam and gain employment list eligibility, please click here to access the exam bulletin:

You will find additional information about the job in the .

Working Conditions

The position is located in: Los Angeles, CA

This is a full-time position in an office environment on the 18th floor of a 45-story private office building located at 355 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, California. Employees in this position have a cubicle, work at desks, and are required to work extensively on computers as necessary for the drafting of letters and other documents, and for research, email communication, file review, training and other purposes.

• The office location in downtown Los Angeles on Bunker Hill, and is two blocks from the Grand Ave. Arts/Bunker Hill station on the A and E lines. Many bus lines have stops on adjacent streets, including Commuter Express buses as well as LADOT Dash buses. Benefits include reimbursement of 100% of the cost of commuter transit passes.
• Bike parking is available in the building’s garage

Special Requirements

Statement of Qualifications :
In order to apply for this position, you must submit a brief Statement of Qualifications in addition to the standard application form. Your Statement of Qualifications should be typed in 12-point font, single-spaced, and be no more than one page in length. The Statement of Qualifications should re-state (you can copy and paste), and then briefly answer, each of the following questions:

1. Do you have any prior experience as a legal secretary? If so, please state the total number of years or months of your prior experience working as a legal secretary, and the practice areas in which you have worked (for example, employment litigation, personal injury, workers’ compensation, criminal, etc.).
2. Do you have any experience in prior positions performing electronic legal filings in any administrative or civil court filing system (e.g., EAMS, Pacer, Onelegal, TrueFiling), and if so, which filing system(s) have you used? And how many years/months of experience do you have in each system?
3. Do you have any experience finalizing appellate briefs for filing in the California Court of Appeal, California Supreme Court, or other state or federal appellate courts? If so, please estimate the number of appellate briefs you have finalized for filing.
4. Please briefly describe the knowledge, skills and experience that you have that you believe make you a qualified candidate for this position as it relates to the duties outlined in the duty statement.

Please note: You may attach your SOQ in either Word or Adobe pdf format.

Additional Special Requirement :

The position requires the ability to type at a minimum speed of 45 words per minute as designated on the Class Specifications. You must obtain a valid typing certificate confirming your ability to meet the minimum typing speed, prior to being hired. Additional information regarding acceptable typing tests is available at the CalCareers.ca.gov website.

Typing Certification Requirements:

Desirable Qualifications

In addition to evaluating each candidate's relative ability, as demonstrated by quality and breadth of experience, the following factors will provide the basis for competitively evaluating each candidate:

• Prior experience working in a law office or legal unit.
• Experience with civil or administrative litigation.
• Knowledge of court procedures and deadlines.
• Prior experience working on workers’ compensation matters.
• Knowledge of MS Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and ProLaw, or another legal case management system.

Benefits

Benefit information can be found on the CalHR website and the CalPERS website.

• Health, Vision and Dental
• Retirement
• Savings Plan
• Group Legal Service Insurance
• Vacation/Annual Leave Accrual
• Paid Holidays
• Employee Assistance Program

Additional Information

Preference will be given to persons with State Restriction of Appointments (SROA) or Surplus status. Applicants must attach a copy of their most recently dated letter that specifies their designation as either SROA or surplus candidate as proof.

Qualified candidates must have eligibility in State employment, be in a reachable rank on an employment list for this classification, be currently in this classification, or have transfer eligibility to this classification.

If you do not hear from us in 4-6 weeks, you may assume the position has been filled by another applicant. Please note that all additional vacancies that become available may be added to this advertisement.

Please note that the Exam and Certification Online System (ECOS) does not allow you to resubmit your application once you withdraw it. If you have any updates to your online application, please contact the Personnel, Recruitment, & Hiring Unit at (800) 564-0771.

Please let us know how you heard about our position by taking this brief survey: DIR Applicant Survey

Required Application Package Documents

The following items are required to be submitted with your application. Applicants who do not submit the required items timely may not be considered for this job:

• Current version of the State Examination/Employment Application STD Form 678 (when not applying electronically), or the Electronic State Employment Application through your Applicant Account at All Experience and Education relating to the Minimum Qualifications listed on the Classification Specification should be included to demonstrate how you meet the Minimum Qualifications for the position.
• Resume is optional. It may be included, but is not required.
• Statement of Qualifications -

  Please see Special requirements section of the posting for instructions on the Statement of Qualifications.