Legal Secretary - Municipal Court

Salary: $25.0772/hour, salary is Step 1 of a 7-step salary range.

Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Job Summary:

Under direction, performs a variety of highly responsible, confidential, and complex legal secretarial and paralegal duties in support of the Municipal Court Judge and other office staff; assists in planning, organizing, and coordinating support activities, operations, and functions related to the Billings Municipal Court; and provides general information and assistance to staff and the general public; maintaining a professional decorum while facilitating direct contact to the Municipal Court Judge.

Scope of Responsibility:

Incumbent has a very high degree of understanding of department or functional operations and can work with considerable independent judgment and personal initiative. Working under judicial guidance, incumbent performs work that requires administration of department rules and may establish precedents within delegated areas of responsibility.  Work product has noticeable impact on departmental operations.  Incumbent must have the ability to exercise discretion regarding confidential matters and effectively prioritize work to ensure its timely completion.  

Legal Secretarial Duties

• Attends to and processes administrative details not requiring the immediate attention of the Municipal Court and other office staff; independently responds to routine letters and general correspondence; composes and prepares letters, orders, and drafts routine legal documents. Performs responsible and difficult legal secretarial and paralegal work involving the use of independent judgment and personal initiative; performs varied and responsible secretarial and paralegal duties to assist in the processing and completion of operations for the Municipal Court Judge.
• Research cases and provides a summarization to the Municipal Court Judge. Composes and proofreads letters, memorandums, emails, court orders and legal opinions under verbal instruction from the Municipal Court Judge.  
• Performs legal research and drafts routine and non-routine correspondence and court orders within all area of Municipal Court jurisdiction from verbal instruction.
• Maintains cases files; locates and copies files for attorneys; provides audio copies of the court record for attorneys and the public.  
• Receives, compiles, gathers, and organizes information for the preparation of public records requests, correspondence, documents, and reports as assigned; and maintains confidentiality of information.
• Stays abreast of court rules regarding the preparation and filing of appeals in District Court. Ensures all documents are prepared and filed in conformance with court rules and within deadline requirements.  Performs responsible and difficult legal secretarial and paralegal work involving the use of independent judgment and personal initiative; performs varied and responsible secretarial duties to assist in the processing and completion of legal operations for the Municipal Court Judge. 
• Coordinates, supervises, and monitors special projects, assignments, and activities as assigned.
• Operates and assists with a variety of software programs.
• Maintains court calendar; schedules and sends orders for trials and hearings; arranges or schedules meetings, notifies participants, confirms dates and times; reserves sites and prepares appropriate meeting materials.
• Assists with court hearings when needed.

Department Operations

• Serves as a primary resource and information source regarding Department policies, procedures, objectives, and operational functions; receives telephone callers; answers questions and provides information where judgment, knowledge, and interpretations are utilized, especially in the proper handling of confidential information or files; resolves complaints; refers callers to appropriate source as necessary.
• Maintains detailed calendar of Department activities; arranges interviews, appointments, schedules, conferences, travel arrangements, and itineraries.
• Prepares agendas for internal department meetings; represents the department in meetings and groups as assigned.
• Establishes, maintains, and purges records and files according to state records management requirements.
• Attends and participates in staff meetings and related activities; attends workshops, conferences, and classes to increase professional knowledge.

Performs other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications & Skills:

• Paralegal degree or certification
• Four (4) years of increasingly responsible legal secretarial experience 
• Must have a knowledge of the court system along with an understanding of legal procedures.
• Strong legal writing skills are a must in addition to the ability to access legal resources
• Strong interpersonal skills
• The ability to operate personal computers and must have advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office applications  

Work is a normal office environment. Intermittent effort involving lifting of amounts between 5 and 25 pounds is required.  Work requires high attention to detail or deadlines over 70% of the time.   Incumbent may be exposed to disagreeable elements on an intermittent basis including, dealing with angry people and/or offensive language. 

Some requirements in this job description may exclude individuals who pose a direct threat or significant risk to the health and safety of themselves or other employees.   All requirements are subject to modification to reasonably accommodate individuals with disabilities.

Requirements are representative of minimum levels of knowledge, skills, and experience required.   To perform this job successfully, the worker must possess the abilities and aptitudes to perform each duty proficiently.

This document does not create an employment contract, implied or otherwise.  The City retains the discretion to add duties or change the duties of this position at any time.

Salary : $25 - $34