DISTINGUISHING FEATURES OF THE CLASS:  This is difficult and responsible legal administrative and secretarial work which provides direct assistance and support to the District Attorney. Duties include preparation of legal correspondence and other legal documents, obtaining legal reference material, assisting with conduct of administrative studies, and managing office operations and personnel matters. General understanding of legal procedures and administrative policies is necessary. Work is performed under general supervision of the District Attorney, in accordance with established objectives, policies and procedures, requiring significant exercise of independent judgment. Supervision may be exercised over subordinate clerical staff. Performs related work as required.

TYPICAL WORK ACTIVITIES: (Illustrative only)

• Handles administrative details independently in order to free the time of the District Attorney for planning, policy making, programming and coordinating;
• Manages confidential correspondence independently, and composes and prepares documents for official signature;
• Prepares and produces letters, memoranda, reports, spreadsheets, databases, charts and other work documents, using personal computers and related software;
• Provides information and/or makes referrals as appropriate to address inquiries and requests for information received by telephone, letter and/or in person;
• Maintains confidential and regular correspondence files;
• Organizes and maintains a variety of departmental records;
• Prepares or coordinates the preparation of a variety of reports, documents, studies and/or statistical data;
• Assists with conducting administrative studies and liaison work;
• Makes recommendations for administrative determinations, subject to review and approval;
• Collects and compiles data and statistics with regard to departmental organization and work flow;
• Makes recommendations to improve departmental operations and office efficiency, for development of procedures and to address administrative problems;
• Coordinates office work activities and manages staff, including calendars, time bank forms, West Law accounts, etc.;
• Reviews all resumes and coordinates interviews and hiring processes for professional and support level office staff;
• Performs interviews of support staff and interns and makes hiring recommendations to the District Attorney;
• Reviews accounts, reports and other documents for completeness, accuracy and conformity with established procedures;
• Assists in departmental budget preparation, including securing budget estimate data and performing budget estimate studies;
• Ensures maintenance of budget control in office operations;
• Prepares budgetary and grant proposals;
• Submits required fiscal and budgetary documents to monitoring state and local fiscal authorities;
• Supervises inventory of departmental supplies and equipment, including requisition, purchase, and related records;
• Assists with management of departmental funds and accounts, such as asset forfeiture, narcotics, restitution and escrow accounts;
• Performs a variety of related activities as required.

Typical Work Activities are intended only as illustrations of possible types of work that might be appropriately assigned to an incumbent of this title. Work activities that do not appear above are not excluded as appropriate work assignments, as long as they can be reasonably understood to be within the logical limits of the job.

SUGGESTED KNOWLEDGES, SKILLS, ABILITIES & PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS:  Thorough knowledge of office terminology, procedures and equipment; thorough knowledge of law office methods, legal forms, instruments and documents; thorough knowledge of legal terminology; thorough knowledge of business arithmetic and English; good knowledge of office management and administrative principles and practices; good knowledge of the principles and practices of account keeping and budget control; working knowledge of the methods and techniques of legal research; working knowledge of the functions of local government, including functions of departments and public and private agencies; ability to exercise independent judgment; ability to plan and direct the work of others; ability to understand and carry out complex oral and written directions; ability to communicate clearly and effectively, both orally and in writing; ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships; integrity; good judgment; initiative; resourcefulness; tact and courtesy.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: To Be Determined By Appointing Authority.

SUGGESTED MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

1. Associate’s degree and two (2) years of office clerical experience which must have involved producing and processing legal correspondence and documents; or
2. Graduation from high school or possession of a comparable diploma and four (4) years of office clerical experience which must have involved producing and processing legal correspondence and documents.

PLEASE NOTE: Your degree must have been awarded by a college or university accredited by a regional, national, or specialized agency recognized as an accrediting agency by the U.S. Department of Education/U.S. Secretary of Education.

3/00; 1/09; 7/14

Exempt Class

Only if no Exempt Class Chief of Staff is appointed