Legal Assistant 2

* This title is part of the New York Hiring for Emergency Limited Placement Statewide Program (NY HELPS).

Current New York State employee with one year or more permanent, contingent-permanent or 55b/c service as a Legal Assistant 2 and are interested in reassignment; OR current New York State employees with one year or more of permanent, contingent-permanent or 55b/c service in a Senior Attorney position and eligible for transfer under section 70.1 of the Civil Service Law.

Provisional Appointment:
If a viable eligible list does not exist, a provisional appointment may be made in accordance with Civil Service Law. Candidates who accept a provisional appointment must take the next competitive examination and be reachable on the resultant eligible list in order to be considered for permanent appointment to the position. Please visit https://(Use the "Apply for this Job" box below). for additional information on state examinations.

The minimum requirements for Legal Assistant 2 are: one year of permanent competitive or 55b/c service as Legal Assistant 1, SG-14.

Non-Competitive Promotion:
If there are no more than three qualified candidates in the promotion field for this position, the agency will request approval from the Department of Civil Service to fill this position via a non-competitive promotion (NCP) examination, pursuant to Section 52.7 of the Civil Service Law. In order to be eligible for the NCP, candidates must be in the direct promotion field, a current NYS Justice Center employee, and have one year of permanent competitive service as a Legal Assistant 1, SG-14 and must not have failed, or failed to take the last holding of the promotion examination for the title listed above.

Non-Competitive Minimum Qualifications (NY HELPS) :
Three years of full-time experience as a Paralegal/Legal Assistant (see "definition" below).

Definition: a Paralegal/Legal Assistant is someone who applies knowledge of the law and legal procedures in rendering direct assistance to lawyers, clients, and courts; prepares and interprets legal documents and forms; research, compiles, and uses information from legal materials to provide both written and verbal comments on their findings; and analyzes and handles routine procedural problems independently with minimal attorney oversight.

Examples of non-qualifying experience: receptionist, records clerk, bookkeeper, office manager.

Substitution:
An associate degree (or higher) in paralegal/legal assistant/legal studies program or a certificate in a paralegal/legal assistant program where the degree was granted from a regionally accredited college or university, or one approved by the American Bar Association (ABA) AND one year of experience as a Paralegal/Legal Assistant (see definition in MQs) OR an associate degree in any field where the degree was granted from a regionally accredited college or university, or one approved by the American Bar Association (ABA) AND two years of experience as a Paralegal/Legal Assistant (see definition in MQs) OR graduation from an accredited (ABA approved) law school with a degree required for NYS Bar will be accepted AND two years of full-time experience as a Paralegal/Legal Assistant (see definition in MQs).

For the duration of the NY HELPS Program, this title may be filled via a non-competitive appointment, which means no examination is required but all candidates must meet the minimum qualifications of the title for which they apply. At this time, agencies may recruit and hire employees by making temporary appointments. In May 2024, if a temporary NY HELPS employee is satisfactorily performing in the position, the appointment will be changed from temporary pending Civil Service Commission Action to permanent non-competitive and the official probationary period will begin.

At a future date (within one year of permanent appointment), it is expected employees hired under NY HELPS will have their non-competitive employment status converted to competitive status, without having to complete an examination. Employees will then be afforded with all of the same rights and privileges of competitive class employees of New York State. While serving permanently in a NY HELPS title, employees may take part in any promotion examination for which they are qualified.

NOTE:

This vacancy posting is for the purposes of notifying individuals about transfer opportunities. Employees on the Civil Service eligible list will be considered and should not respond to this posting. If you are on the…