Legal Secretary -Conflict Defender Division

Job Overview

The Legal Secretary is instrumental in ensuring the effective operations of Public Defender offices by performing a variety of high level administrative and legal office support activities. This position ensures the smooth and effective operations of the office, maintaining files, scheduling appointments, providing correspondence, assisting clients and staff with information requests, and ensuring all court requirements are met. The Legal Secretary provides exceptional customer services to all clients, courts and internal customers in support of Public Defender Offices and reports to the Administrative Support Manager.

• Manages and provides information regarding requests from clients, courts, and office staff.
• Arranges meetings, conferences, and schedules appointments for clients, staff and management; coordinates office functions with other government offices.
• Creates, reviews, and maintains court calendars and provides complete and factual court calendars to appropriate parties, ensuring attorneys are notified.
• Receives and screens office visitors and telephone calls.
• Formats, drafts, and prepares a wide variety of time sensitive and official legal documents such as pleadings, affidavits, warrants, motions and orders, summonses, subpoenas, correspondence, briefs, complaints, appeals, and pretrial agreements and related documents in criminal cases and other public defender cases in accordance with policies and procedures.
• Reads and analyzes incoming correspondence, faxes, e‑mail, memos, submissions, and reports to determine significance and plan distribution.
• Reviews and distributes mail, including mailing, faxing or arranging delivery of legal correspondence to clients, witnesses, and court officials.
• Prepares open cases and submits referrals to the Conflict Defender Office.
• Establishes and maintains case files and ensures such files are complete, up to date, and in proper format for criminal, dependent neglect, mental, and juvenile cases; retrieves legal documents, records, and reports.
• Inputs data into Case Management System concerning all clients, case information, closes cases and runs reports.
• Scans or copies correspondence, documents, evidence, and other printed material and enters into Case Management System.
• Prepares invoices, reports, memos, letters, financial statements and other routine documents and inquiries.
• Maintains filing system and records for criminal, dependent neglect, mental, and juvenile cases, opens files, closes files, and files documents.
• Assists attorneys in collecting information such as employment, medical, and other records.
• Provides various administrative services to management staff and clients such as order placement or case information.
• Proofreads documents, records or other files to ensure accuracy.
• Organizes, prepares, and maintains documents, evidence, trial notebooks, and exhibits for Public Defenders to use at depositions, motions hearings, and during court.
• Gathers and compiles information for exhibits and appendices, and discovery requests received from Public Defenders and investigators, including requests from other agencies.
• Retrieves and copies all documentation that relates to a particular case, subject, event, or person as requested.
• Receives, resolves, and/or refers complaints to appropriate individuals.
• Attends legal meetings such as client interviews or depositions and takes notes.
• Assists with legal research by reviewing publications and performing database searches to identify laws and court decisions relevant to pending cases.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Typical office environment utilizing computer, telephone system, and other office equipment. Minimal travel may be required approximately 5% of the time.

• Knowledge of office administrative processes and procedures.
• Knowledge of bookkeeping and recordkeeping.
• Effective written and oral communication skills.
• Ability to operate personal computer and general office equipment, including spreadsheets, word processing, database, email, internet, and other programs.
• Ability to develop and maintain cooperative working…