ABOUT THE JOB: The person in this position will work 8 hours per day, 12 months per year. Under general direction of General Counsel, works independently to provide legal administrative and secretarial support by performing a variety of confidential, complex, and technical legal assignments that require a high degree of initiative and judgment in applying policies and procedures to a variety of situations affecting district-wide functions and operations; assists General Counsel with administrative details; and performs related work as assigned.

JOB DUTIES: Relieves General Counsel of administrative detail and responds to common inquiries on behalf of General Counsel as appropriate; reminds General Counsel of deadlines for preparing litigation documents, opinions, and other such documents; transcribes and types legal pleadings, requests for production of legal documents, contracts, leases, agreements, resolutions, licenses, and a wide variety of other legal forms, correspondence, reports, and documents from dictation, rough copy or notes, with minimum supervision; prepares and assembles information into proper legal form following established procedures or general instructions; proofreads and corrects various forms, documents, and pleadings in order to ensure accuracy of records and entry of information; assists in composing and typing routine memoranda for signature by an attorney; copies, mails, faxes, and makes arrangements for filing litigation documents and exhibits in appropriate courts or administrative agencies and for obtaining court transcripts; keeps current on filing and service time limits and deadlines; files, indexes, cross-indexes, and locates correspondence, legal opinion, court decisions, and other legal documents as requested; assists and arranges for the reproduction and distribution of correspondence and legal opinions, and maintains the office library of legal publications, legal subject files, and confidential files; calendars appointments, meetings, hearings, depositions, court appearances, and document and filing deadlines district counsel; makes travel and hotel arrangements; performs routine research and assembles data to support the resolution of questions and issues, referring more complex matters to appropriate staff; utilizes a variety of computer software programs to perform critical functions such as creating and editing documents, maintaining spreadsheets and databases, and extracting data to prepare reports and monitor budgets; prepares and assembles Board of Education agenda items; compiles complex information to prepare statistical, financial, and administrative reports; provides information to employees, students, parents, and the public as appropriate; and handles a variety of sensitive, difficult, and complex public relations matters.

Complete Job Description available at www.ggusd.us under Employment/Classified Job Opportunities/Job Descriptions

EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS

Education and Experience: Graduation from high school or equivalent; and three years of increasingly responsible secretarial experience within a law office setting.  An associate’s degree or higher with college-level coursework in paralegal, legal assistant, legal professional preparation or other directly related field is desirable. Part-time experience will be considered and adjusted appropriately. Any other combination of training and experience which would likely provide the required skills, knowledge and abilities may be considered.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:  May be asked to obtain and maintain a Notary Public Commission. 

A SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATE REQUIRES THE FOLLOWING….

Knowledge of:  Legal terminology, forms, documents, and court/administrative agency rules, filing requirements and timeframes used in legal practice and proceedings; legal references, materials, and their contents; statutory deadlines for responding to and/or filing pleading documents; proper preparation of pleadings, briefs and legal forms; current office practices, procedures, equipment, and office-related software; principles of office management; applicable laws, procedures, rules, and regulations; and principles of writing professional correspondence, agendas, and reports, including English usage, spelling, grammar, and punctuation. 

Ability to:  Compose correspondence and prepare standard legal documents from brief instructions with a high attention to detail and accuracy; use legal terminology and follow legal procedures; organize, set-up, and use legal opinions and subject files and a library of legal publications; perform complex work independently and with minimal supervision; read, interpret, apply, and explain laws, rules, regulations, policies, and procedures; learn the various legal services provided by governmental jurisdictions and private agencies; analyze situations accurately and adopt an effective course of action using independent judgment and knowledge of district policies; establish and maintain effective relationships using tact and diplomacy with board members, the superintendent, administrators, employees, and community members; use computers effectively and learn related software programs to enter, extract, compile, and arrange complex data; organize and maintain office files and calendars with a high degree of accuracy;  organize complex material and summarize discussions and actions in written form; and analyze information and data and compile into comprehensive reports.