SPECIAL INFORMATION:

• A criminal background check is required.

• An employee new to the Judicial Branch will serve a one-year probationary period.

• Applicants must be members in good standing with the Montana State Bar.

• Applicants must be admitted to practice law in Montana for at least 3 years prior to the date of hire.

• Applicants must submit a writing sample to demonstrate processional level legal work.

Nature of Work:

This is a highly responsible professional legal work in adjudicating a variety of cases in the Eight Judicial District in Great Falls, Montana.

Work includes responsibility for hearing and ruling on proceedings, researching issues, and writing findings of fact, conclusions of law, and orders. The Standing Master may require the production of evidence, rule on the admissibility of evidence, put witnesses on oath and examine them, call the parties to the action and examine them on oath, and issue temporary orders. The Standing Master must interpret and apply statutes, case law, and regulations applicable to each case as it is heard or briefed. The primary case types include family law, orders of protection, and other cases as assigned. Work is reviewed by a judge only when specific objections to findings of fact and conclusions of law are filed with the District Court. Work assignments are carried out with a substantial degree of discretion and independent judgment within the framework of state laws and rules of procedure.

Essential Functions: (Any one position may not include all the duties listed, nor do the examples cover all the duties which may be performed.)

• Conducts temporary and final hearings as well as modification hearings in domestic relations matters including parenting plans, property distribution, maintenance, and family support.

• Mediates and conducts settlement conferences in civil matters; conducts discovery conferences, and rules on discovery motions; conducts civil trials and renders judgments.

• Conducts preliminary proceedings in criminal cases, including arraignments, initial appearances on warrant, probation revocation hearings, and bail hearings; conducts plea change hearings.

• Sets and revokes bail and determines release conditions; orders persons detained pending trial.

• Conducts preliminary and detention hearings in juvenile matters, hearings on delinquent youth petitions, preliminary hearings in abuse and neglect cases and civil commitment proceedings; conducts trials in child abuse and neglect matters.

• Conducts contested hearings in domestic relations cases and dependent neglect proceedings; calculates child support amounts in original proceedings and in modification proceedings; may conduct adoption proceedings, and sanity hearings.

• Conducts status conferences, scheduling conferences, modification hearings, and intervention proceedings.

• Performs legal research and writes findings of fact and conclusions of law.

• Performs administrative work as required by the area of assignment.

• Supervises one administrative support person.

Working Conditions:

Work is performed in an office or courtroom with extensive public contact. Work may involve exposure to potentially dangerous situations from unpredictable litigants or parties.

Physical Demands:

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to sit, talk and hear. Work is essentially sedentary with occasional walking, standing, bending, and carrying items under 25 pounds such as papers and files.

Knowledge, Abilities and Skills:

Extensive knowledge of federal and state laws and court rulings as they pertain to the area of assignment.

Extensive knowledge of established precedents, and sources of legal reference.

Extensive knowledge of court procedures, rules of evidence, and courtroom procedures.

Ability to apply legal principles and specialized knowledge to individual cases and problems.

Ability to prepare for hearings and hear difficult cases and present material clearly and logically in oral and written form.

Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with others.

Ability to deal with unhappy, unstable litigants.

Ability to counsel persons on sensitive problems.

Skill in the operation of a personal computer.

Qualifications:

Graduation from an accredited law school supplemented by extensive experience in the practice of law with emphasis in family, civil and criminal law.

Licensure and Certification Requirements:

Possession of a current Certificate of Admission to the Bar of the State of Montana; admission to practice law in Montana for at least 3 years prior to the date of hire; eligibility to practice law before the courts of the State of Montana. Completion of required continuing legal education courses.