Job Description

The Office of the City Attorney is committed to providing excellent legal services, consistent with the highest professional and ethical standards, to the City with the goal of protecting and advancing its interests in serving the people of San Jose. The Office is seeking a motivated individual with the ability to work independently and also in a team environment.
This position is responsible for performing legal secretarial duties requiring both sound judgment and good technical skills. These duties may include, but are not limited to, transcribing, preparing, processing, and e-filing pleadings/briefs in the various state and federal courts; preparing and processing correspondence, contracts, ordinances, resolutions, City Council memoranda, and other legal documents and instruments; maintaining calendars for attorneys; answering telephones and contacting other offices to provide, obtain, and/or coordinate information and/or appearances; performing office filing; and organizing and maintaining a wide variety of information and materials in support of attorneys. The skill level of this position places strong emphasis on accuracy, quality, and attention to detail. A strong knowledge base of legal procedures and court rules (federal and state) is desirable. This position involves a variety of legal matters including civil litigation, workers' compensation, and all aspects of municipal law. Incumbent must be proficient in the use of personal computers and able to work with various types of software in the Microsoft Windows environment.
The selection process will include an evaluation of the applicant's training and experience based on the application, resume, and answers to the job-specific questions. Only those candidates whose backgrounds best match the position will be forwarded to the interview phase. You must answer all job-specific questions to be considered for this vacancy or your application will be deemed incomplete and withheld from further consideration. Education and Experience
Legal Administrative Assistant I
Completion of high school or equivalent (General Education Development [GED] Test or California Proficiency Certificate) AND two (2) years of experience in legal administrative assistant work preparing and formatting legal documents such as pleadings, briefs, contracts, ordinances, resolutions or other transactional documents.
Legal Administrative Assistant II
Completion of high school or equivalent (General Education Development [GED] Test or California Proficiency Certificate) AND three (3) years of experience in legal administrative assistant work preparing and formatting legal documents such as pleadings, briefs, contracts, ordinances, resolutions or other transactional documents.
Competencies
The ideal candidate will possess the following competencies, as demonstrated in past and current employment history. Desirable competencies for this position include:

• Job Expertise - Demonstrates knowledge of and experience with applicable professional/technical principles and practices, Citywide and departmental procedures/policies and federal and state rules and regulations.
• Communication Skills - Effectively conveys information and expresses thoughts and facts clearly, orally and in writing; demonstrates effective use of listening skills and displays openness to other people's ideas and thoughts.
• Computer Skills - Experienced with common business computer applications including but not limited to: MS Outlook, MS Word, MS PowerPoint, MS Access, and MS Excel.
• Teamwork & Interpersonal Skills - Develops effective relationships with co-workers and supervisors by helping others accomplish tasks and using collaboration and conflict resolution skills.
• Customer Service - Demonstrates the ability to anticipate customers' needs and deliver services effectively and efficiently using professional demeanor.
• Initiative - Exhibits resourceful behaviors toward meeting job objectives; anticipates problems, is proactive, and avoids difficulties by planning ahead; displays willingness to assume extra responsibility and challenges; pursues continuing education opportunities that promotes job performance.
• Multi-Tasking - Can handle multiple projects and responsibilities simultaneously; has handled a wide variety of assignments in past and/or current position(s).
• Problem Solving - Approaches a situation or problem by defining the problem or issue; determines the significance of problem; collects information; uses logic and intuition to arrive at decisions or solutions to problems that achieve the desired outcome.
• Reliability - Completes quality work assignments in a timely and efficient manner; fulfills responsibilities and maintains confidentiality as appropriate.

Skills Required