Staff Attorney-District Court-Devils Lake

Staff Attorney – District Court – Devils Lake

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Interested applicants must submit a cover letter, resume, writing sample, and copy of law school transcript.

The North Dakota Court System offers employment opportunities that provide a rewarding career in public service working together to deliver justice. The Court System offers an excellent benefits package including employer-paid family health insurance premiums, retirement contributions and generous vacation and sick leave accruals.

If you are drawn to and want to play an integral role in supporting a judge or judicial referee by providing extensive legal research and analysis of legal issues and cases to make recommendations on the proposed disposition of cases, this opportunity may be right for you.

• Easily engages and communicates with others orally and in writing.
• Enjoys researching, analyzing, and writing.
• Obsesses with detail ensuring accuracy of work.
• Deliberately and thoroughly organizes and analyzes information.
• Demonstrates an ability to provide sound judgment including the ability to think critically, identify, break down, evaluate, and write information in a concise and logical manner.
• Thrives on having a constant workload and organizing, planning, and prioritizing work priorities.
• Finds it rewarding to be highly dependable.
• Seamlessly works as part of the courtroom team in providing necessary trial preparations including court recording.

• Juris Doctor degree from an accredited law school.
• 2 years of related experience conducting legal research, preparing or presenting cases in state courts. Any combination of education, training, or experience which demonstrates the ability to successfully complete the major responsibilities and essential functions may be substituted for the experience requirement.
• North Dakota law license or ability to obtain within one year of job entry.
• Valid driver’s license or evidence of equivalent mobility.
• If assigned recording duties, then requires AAERT (American Association of Electronic Reporters and Transcribers) CER (Certified Electronic Court Reporter) certification or the ability to obtain within six months of job entry. A comparable certification by another state court or federal court may be substituted for the AAERT certification.

• Conduct in-depth legal research and analysis of legal precedents, statutes, regulations, and legislative history for all judges and judicial referees in the district.
• Draft findings and orders for the district court judges and judicial referees on complex cases in all areas of the law, including civil, criminal, juvenile, family law, and administrative appeals.
• Review and edit draft opinions prepared by other law clerk staff, judges, and judicial referees.
• Provide background research and analysis on the law and facts; suggest possible resolutions and alert judges to any concerns or appealable issues.
• Draft jury instructions and special verdict forms for upcoming trials, conduct necessary research, and draft closing instructions.
• Assist judges during complex trials, including providing legal analysis, objections, motions, and on-the-spot research.
• Draft orders after complex bench trials, attend bench trials if requested, analyze testimony and evidence presented.
• Supervise term law clerk(s) as assigned by the presiding judge, including reviewing resumes, conducting interviews, hiring, training, and mentoring.
• Accurately record, transcribe, and certify the record of court and jury trial proceedings; take court notes during hearings.
• Perform clerking duties in courtroom, administer oath, mark documents, maintain logs, and transfer storage devices to the clerk of district court.
• Perform other duties of a comparable level or type as assigned.

• Extensive knowledge of federal and state constitutional laws, statutory law, and court case precedent.
• General knowledge of court…