Legal Secretary (Exempt)

THE POSITION

With supervisor approval, incumbents may be eligible for intermittent remote work; however, they must physically reside within the Sacramento region or have the ability to regularly report to a City of Sacramento physical worksite with little notice.

IDEAL CANDIDATE STATEMENT

Litigation Division
The ideal candidate will have experience as a civil litigation legal secretary. Candidates will be comfortable and competent to handle civil litigation from inception to conclusion, including any post-trial motions and appeals. Candidates with strong litigation experience with Sacramento Superior Court are greatly desired. Experience with federal and appellate courts are also ideal.

Community Advocacy Public Safety Division
The ideal candidate will have experience as a legal secretary. Experience in criminal law is preferred but not required. Litigation experience is strongly desired.

DEFINITION

Under general supervision, Legal Secretary performs a variety of confidential and responsible clerical, secretarial, and paraprofessional duties in the City Attorney’s Office; transcribes and processes documents; compiles data and prepares reports; creates and maintains files and maintains law library.

DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS

This is a journey-level classification populated with multiple incumbents. The Legal Secretary performs the full range of complex legal secretarial work. Incumbents perform assignments with only occasional instruction or assistance, exercise judgment and discretion in the performance of duties and work is normally reviewed only on completion.

SUPERVISION RECEIVED AND EXERCISED

General supervision is provided by the administrative staff or staff attorneys in the City Attorney’s Office. Incumbents may provide technical supervision of other clerical positions and temporary personnel.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

TYPICAL DUTIES

- Types a variety of correspondence and legal documents from draft, oral dictation, or tapes, including resolutions, ordinances, legal opinions, contracts, briefs, leases, and agreements.
- Assists attorneys in the preparation of motions, discoveries, intakes of new cases, calendaring, scheduling of hearings, and trials and depositions; copies and serves (by mail) pleadings and discovery documents; indexes, and files legal documents.
- Assists the Office Administrator with various tasks including accounts payable, information gathering for budget purposes, preparation of requisitions/purchase orders for office supplies, maintenance of personnel records.
- Works with various public agencies to facilitate the processing of City code violations; contacts and works with other City departments, agencies, courts, and law offices in the performance of duties; answers and screens telephone calls and requests for information, routes to proper attorney, department, or agency; responds if appropriate.
- Compiles information and data for statistical and financial reports; maintains a variety of records; checks and tabulates data; prepares simple statistical reports; creates, maintains, and organizes case files; conducts research as necessary concerning various litigation cases.
- Maintains law library and updates loose-leaf binders, manuals, and resource materials.
- Performs other or related duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS

Knowledge of:

- Standard legal references, legal terminology, forms and documents used in legal clerical work.
- Municipal legal procedures, and procedures and practices involved in composing, processing, and filing a variety of legal documents.
- English usage, spelling, grammar, and punctuation; business letter writing.
- Modern office practices, procedures, and equipment.
- Criminal and civil procedures.
- Municipal organization and local governmental agencies.
- Structure of the California court system.
- Various computer software such as Excel, WordPerfect, Microsoft Word, and Abacus.
- Department procedures and precedents.

Skill in:

- Use of computers, computer applications and software.

Ability to:

- Perform complex legal clerical work involving considerable initiative and judgment.
- Prepare routine legal documents without the assistance of or advice of an attorney.
- Understand the organization and operation of the City and of outside agencies.
- Follow State and local codes that are involved with individual cases in determining timelines and dates to follow to calendar various filings and responses.
- Use computers and various computer applications.
- Establish and maintain effective working relationships with others.
- Comprehend and apply complex legal terms, rules, and procedures.
- Read, interpret, and apply laws, rules, and instructions.
- Type 60 net words per minute.
- Take dictation at a rate of 100 net words per minute (may be required).
- Set priorities in a legal environment that is dependent on strict timelines.

EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION

Any combination of education and experience that would provide the required knowledge and abilities is qualifying. A typical way to obtain the knowledge and abilities would be:

Experience:

Four years of increasingly responsible complex clerical work, including some paralegal or legal clerical experience (preparation of various pleadings, motions, discoveries, and calendarings).

Education:

Legal secretarial certificate and/or paralegal certificate highly desirable.

PROOF OF EDUCATION

Should education be used to qualify for this position, then proof of education such as, but not limited to, university/college transcripts and degrees should be submitted with your application and will be required at the time of appointment. Unofficial documents and/or copies are acceptable.

An applicant with a college degree obtained outside the United States must have education records evaluated by a credentials evaluation service. Evaluation of education records will be due at time of appointment.

THE SELECTION PROCEDURE

Please note, the City of Sacramento's preferred method of communication with applicants is via e-mail. As such, please ensure you verify the e-mail address on your application, and check your e-mail frequently, including your spam and junk folders. All e-mail notifications can also be accessed through the governmentjobs.com applicant inbox.

1. Application: (Pass/Fail) - All applicants must complete and submit online a City of Sacramento employment application by the final filing deadline ;

• Employment applications must be submitted online; paper applications will not be accepted.
• Employment applications will be considered incomplete and will be disqualified:
  • If applicants do not list current and past job-related experience in the duties area of the "Work Experience" section. Note: Qualifying experience is based on full-time experience (40 hours per week). Qualifying experience is calculated to the full-time equivalent (pro-rated if less than 40 hours/week).
  • If "see resume" is noted in the "Work Experience" section; a resume will not substitute for the information required in the "Work Experience" section.
• Position/job titles will not be considered in determining eligibility for meeting the minimum qualifications for this position.
• Proof of education such as, but not limited to, university/college transcripts and degrees should be submitted online with your application. Proof of education will be required at time of appointment.

2. Supplemental Questionnaire: (Pass/Fail) - In addition to the City of Sacramento employment application, all applicants must complete and submit online responses to the supplemental questionnaire to the City of Sacramento Employment Office by the final filing deadline ;

• Responses to the supplemental questionnaire must be submitted online; paper questionnaire will not be accepted.

• Incomplete supplemental questionnaire will not pass the review process; omitted information cannot be considered or assumed.
• A resume will not substitute for the information required in the supplemental questionnaire.
• Possession of the minimum qualifications is not necessarily a guarantee for further advancement in the selection process.

3. Screening Committee: (Pass/Fail) - All applications received by the final filing deadline will be forwarded to the hiring department for review. The hiring department will select the most competitive applications for further consideration. Human Resources will only evaluate employment applications for the minimum qualifications, as stated on the job announcement, for applications selected by the hiring department.

4. Interview Process: Human Resources will forward applications to the hiring department. Those determined to be the most qualified candidates will be invited to participate in an interview process.

5. Conditional Hire: Upon receipt of a conditional offer, the selected candidate must complete and pass Live Scan/fingerprinting . If applicable, candidates may also need to pass a pre-employment medical exam, controlled substance and/or alcohol test, and possess any required licensure or certification prior to receiving a start date from the Department. Failure to meet these prerequisites will be grounds for withdrawal of your conditional offer of employment.

QUESTIONS:
For questions concerning this job announcement and the application process:

• Please visit https://www.governmentjobs.com/Home/ApplicationGuide for a comprehensive, step-by-step guide to the application process.
• For technical support between 6 AM - 5 PM PT, contact Live Application Support at 855-524-5627.
• Visit the City of Sacramento Human Resources Department website at https://www.cityofsacramento.gov/HR/employment ;
• Send an email to employment@cityofsacramento.org ; or
• Call the Human Resources Department at (916) 808-5726

Bilingual Pay
Did you know that the City offers bilingual pay? That's right, most labor agreements offer the option of providing employees with bilingual pay if the department deems it to be operationally necessary.

Pension Reform Act
The City of Sacramento is covered by the California Public Employees' Retirement System, and as such, must adhere to the California Public Employee's Pension Reform Act (PEPRA) of 2013. Please note that the provisions within this act may affect or impact an applicant's eligibility and/or selection for open vacancies at the City of Sacramento.

Equal Opportunity Employer
The City of Sacramento is an equal opportunity employer to all, regardless of age, ancestry, color, disability (mental and physical), exercising the right to family care and medical leave, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, military or veteran status, national origin, political affiliation, race, religious creed, sex (includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and related medical conditions), and sexual orientation.

Additional Information

Civil Service Rules: https://www.cityofsacramento.gov/content/dam/portal/hr/documentlibrary/CivilServiceBoardRules62012.pdf

Union Contracts: https://www.cityofsacramento.gov/HR/labor-agreements.html

Salary Schedule: https://www.cityofsacramento.gov/content/dam/portal/hr/documentlibrary/SalarySchedule.pdf

Closing Date/Time: 11/20/2025 11:59 PM Pacific

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• City of Sacramento

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