Legal Support Assistant I - Riverside at County of Riverside in Riverside, California

Job Description:

ABOUT THE POSITION

The Riverside County Public Defender's Office is seeking to fill a Legal Support Assistant I vacancy to support their office in Riverside.

The incumbent will perform a wide variety of specialized and responsible clerical work involving the continual use of legal terminology and procedures; assist in processing and tracking a variety of legal documents, records and correspondence; perform the required specialized legal clerical work in support of legal staff within County offices; perform other related duties as required.

Competitive candidates will possess customer service, front desk experience, and the ability to type at least 40 words per minute. Candidates with previous work experience in a law office are preferred. Additionally, Bilingual-Spanish is preferred, but not required.

The Legal Support Assistant I is the entry level classification in the Legal Support Assistant series and provides clerical support to attorneys and/or other County staff within the Office of the Public Defender. Incumbents are assigned to either perform a moderate range of specialized legal clerical work or, in a training capacity, learn to perform a wide variety of specialized legal clerical work characteristic of the Legal Support Assistant II. The Legal Support Assistant I is distinguished from the Legal Support Assistant II by the latter's ability to understand and apply a more extensive range of legal procedures related to the processing of legal documents. Depending on assignment, incumbents may be expected to promote to the journey level Legal Support Assistant II classification after acquiring the necessary experience and training and demonstrating satisfactory job performance.

Meet the Team!

It is the mission of the Law Offices of the Public Defender to provide the highest quality legal representation to any person unable to afford it for criminal, juvenile, or certain civil proceedings. The Public Defender strives to preserve human dignity in all cases where citizens' liberties are at stake. The Public Defender is dedicated to the principle that no citizen shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without competent, professional, and vigorous representation so that due process is implemented fairly, equitably, and without prejudice. The Public Defender is headquartered in Riverside, with additional offices providing support to residents in Banning, Blythe, Murrieta, and Indio.

EXAMPLES OF ESSENTIAL DUTIES

• Serve as clerical support to attorneys and other County staff; schedule appointments, screen callers, and initiate reply to routine correspondence.

• Maintain files of correspondence and legal documents including a cross-reference index file; file legal papers with the proper courts; enter record of hearings, record pleas, trials, convictions, acquittals, sentences, judgments, orders, and other dispositions of cases.

• Complete documents for case files by extracting complete and accurate information from a variety of sources, obtaining necessary signatures and attaching required addenda; review and verify file documents to ensure that receipt and filing with appropriate court or parties is done within statutory time limits.

• Review and route calls from the public and/or in person and provide information with discretion and in accordance with established policies of confidentiality; make inquiries of individuals presenting documents or requesting documents to determine adherence to special legal requirements; contact by phone, automated system or in person, judges, attorneys, court clerks, witnesses, medical representatives, and other County departments or government agencies in order to obtain or confirm information for case files or to arrange medical appointments, depositions or hearings; prepare case files and maintain case status records, including the posting of court actions and court dates to calendars.

• Perform general office duties (e.g., filing, opening and distributing mail, maintaining logs, keeping statistics, and preparing reports); utilize a variety of computer systems; may interpret legal, procedural or department prerequisites from the record to the public, law enforcement agencies and/or attorneys.

• Type from drafts, rough notes, verbal instructions, or taped dictation a variety of correspondence and legal documents, including interviews, proceedings, ordinances, contracts, agreements, orders, motions, complaints, warrants, subpoenas, commitments, decisions, investigation requests, affidavits, briefs, jury instructions, dismissal sheets, reports, appeals, writs, petitions for hearings, and other legal documents; may receive payments, issue receipts, turn in money, and file fee receipts with the court.

• Process, obtain or track legal documents through the courts and/or other offices for the attorneys' case building process.

• Compile a variety of reports locating sources of information and determining proper format for finished reports; complete legal papers and documents for which general forms are available.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education: Graduation from high school or equivalent (e.g., GED, high school proficiency certificate).

Experience: One year of clerical expe rience. (Completion of 18 semester or 27 quarter units from an accredited college or university in secretarial sciences, business education, or a closely related field may substitute for the clerical experience.)

Other Requirements

Typing: Skill to type 40 words per minute may be required.

Bilingual:Bilingual-Spanish is preferred, but not required.

Knowledge of:Modern office practice s and procedures, including preparing correspondence and reports, filing and operating standard office equipment; current English usage in business contexts; statistical and fiscal recordkeeping principles and application; proper telephone techniques and basic computer skills.

Ability to: Perform general clerical work and learn specific operations of the office; learn legal terminology, codes, forms, documents, and the chronology of legal actions and deadlines required in the preparation, processing and tracking of documentation for attorneys' case files; review legal documents and records for correctness of form, sufficiency of information and conformance with prescribed legal requirements; exercise good judgment and initiative in the performance of legal clerical work and carry out a variety of clerical activities related to assignments; communicate, verbally and in writing, to concisely obtain, record and relay information, explain procedures, forms, and processes with tact and courtesy to the general public, attorneys and law enforcement officers; establish and maintain cooperative relationships with the public and explain to concerned parties the basic procedures of the judicial process as they relate to a variety of legal documents; spell correctly, construct grammatical sentences and make mathematical computations.

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION

Veteran's Preference

The County has a Veteran's Preference Policy. Upload a copy of your (or your spouse's) Member-4 Form DD-214 indicating dates of service, and a copy of your spouse's letter of disability (if applicable) with your application. For privacy reasons, it is recommended that you remove your social security information from the document(s). A Human Resources Representative will review the materials and determine if you qualify for veterans' preference. See the policy here .

Reasonable Accommodations

The County of Riverside is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to applicants as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). Qualified individuals with disabilities who need a reasonable accommodation during the application or selection process should contact the recruiter for the position noted above. For additional information and/or to obtain the appropriate form for requesting a reasonable accommodation, please visit the Disability Access Office web page located at: http://dao.rc-hr.com/ .

What's Next?

This recruitment is open to all applicants. Applicants who are current employees of the Riverside County Public Defender's Office and/or County of Riverside employees may be considered before other applicants depending on the volume of applications received.

Qualified applicants may be considered for future vacancies throughout the County.

Application Period
BASED ON THE NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS RECEIVED, THIS POSTING MAY CLOSE WITHOUT NOTICE.

Applications received prior to the closing date will be considered based on the information submitted.Changes or alterations cannot be accepted.All applicants must submit a complete application by the close date of the recruitment. No late applications will be permitted.

Experience and Education Verification

Applicants who fail to provide information demonstrating they possess the position requirements may not be considered further in the application process. A description of job duties directly copied from the job classification or job posting will not be considered.

Competitive experience/education must be reflected on your application/resume. Applicants who fail to provide information demonstrating they possess the position requirements may not be considered further in the application process.

If using education to qualify, upload a copy of your education documents (degree/transcripts) to your Government Jobs profile at the time your application is submitted.Official or unofficial transcripts will be accepted.

*Prior to submitting your application , upload a copy of any license(s), official/unofficial transcript(s), degrees, and/or related employment documents to your Government Jobs account. *** If your education was completed outside of the United States, you will need to provide a copy of your Foreign Education Equivalency evaluation from a member of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) or Academic Credentials Evaluation Institute (ACEI).

Contact Information

For more information regarding the position, please contact the recruiter Letisia Jimenez at (951) 955-5787 or via email at ltjimenez@rivco.org .

GENERAL APPLICATION INFORMATION:

Please read and follow any special application instructions on this posting. Click the 'Apply' link located on this page to submit your application. For instructions on the application process, examinations, Veteran's preference, pre-employment accommodation or other employment questions, please refer to our web site, www.rc-hr.com . A pre-employment physical examination and background check may be required.

MEDICAL/DENTAL/VISION INSURANCE: A choice of different medical, dental and visions plan are available to elect. The County provides a Flexible Benefit Credit contribution as governed by the applicable LIUNA Memorandum of Understanding to contribute towards the cost of these plans.

Note: Employees on assignment through the Temporary Assignment Program (TAP) receive different benefits. See the list here .
MISCELLANEOUS RETIREMENT: County of Riverside has three retirement Tiers through the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS).

• 
  Tier I (Classic Member - Formula 3% @ 60): Applicable to current and former County of Riverside local miscellaneous employees hired prior to 08/24/2012 and did not withdraw CalPERS contributions. The employee contribution is eight (8%) percent.


• 
  Tier II (Classic Member - Formula 2% @ 60): Applicable to local miscellaneous employees 1) hired after 08/23/2012 through 12/31/2012; 2) Previously employed with another CalPERS contracting public agency or a reciprocal retirement system, with a break in service of less than six months between the separation date with the previous employer and the appointment date with the County of Riverside. The employee contribution is seven (7%) percent.


• 
  Tier III (PEPRA New Member - Formula 2% @ 62): Applicable to CalPERS local miscellaneous new members hired on or after the implementation of the Public Employees' Pension Reform Act of 2013 (PEPRA) which took effect January 1, 2013. As of July 1, 2020, the employee contribution is 7.25% and subject to change annually.
  

A new member is defined as any of the following:

A new hire who enters CalPERS membership for the first time on or after January 1, 2013, and who has no prior membership in any California Public Retirement System.

A new hire who enters CalPERS membership for the first time on or after January 1, 2013, and who was a member with another California Public Retirement System prior to that date, but who is not subject to reciprocity upon joining CalPERS.

A member who first established CalPERS membership prior to January 1, 2013, and who is rehired by a different CalPERS agency after a break in service of greater than six (6) months.

CalPERS refers to all members that do not fit within the definition of a new member as "classic members".

Contribution rates are subject to change based on the County of Riverside annual actuarial valuation.

Note:

This summary is for general information purposes only. Additional questions regarding retirement formulas can be sent to retirement@rivco.org or by calling the Benefits Information Line at (951) 955-4981,
Option 2.

If you have prior service credit with another CalPERS agency or within agencies, please contact CalPERS at (888) 225-7377 to determine which retirement tier would be applicable to you. CalPERS is governed by the Public Employees' Retirement Law. The Retirement Law is complex and subject to change. If there's any conflict between this summary and the law, the law will prevail over this summary.
DEFERRED COMPENSATION: Voluntary employee contribution with a choice between two 457 deferred compensation plan options.

VACATION ACCRUAL (Bi-Weekly Accrual):

0< 3 year = 80 Hours (10 Days)
4< 9 years = 120 Hours (15 Days)
10 or more years = 160 Hours (20 Days)

Maximum Vacation leave accumulation is 480 hours.

SICK LEAVE: Four (4) hours Sick Leave accrual per pay period with unlimited accrual.

HOLIDAYS: Normally 12 paid holidays per year

BEREAVEMENT LEAVE: Allowed 5 days (3 days are County paid; 2 additional days can be taken from accrued Sick Leave balance)

BASIC LIFE INSURANCE: Equal to one times annual base salary not to exceed $50,000 of term life coverage. Premiums are paid by the County. Additional Supplemental Life plan is available for employee purchase.

DISABILITY: Short-term Disability benefit pays up to a maximum of $461.54 weekly, payable up to a maximum of 52 weeks.

POST RETIREMENT MEDICAL CONTRIBUTION: A monthly contribution is made by the County towards retiree health insurance offered through the County as governed by the applicable Memorandum of Understanding.

OTHER: There may be other benefit provisions as specified in the applicable Memorandum of Understanding. Please contact the recruiter listed on the job posting directly for more information.

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