In a legal or judicial setting, serves as the principal assistant to a judge, division chief or Attorney General’s Office section chief in a regional office or equivalent. In addition, positions in this class also supervise legal support staff positions that assist attorney(s), judge(s) or equivalent and perform expert level legal support and administrative functions.

Performs administrative, expert legal support and supervisory functions.

Primary administrative functions include: serving as the primary administrative support of an office, division or equivalent and is responsible for its day-to-day operations; participating in the development and implementation of agency and divisional strategic plans; developing and monitoring division budgets. Positions at this level also have delegated decision making authority on specified matters in the supervisor’s absence.

In addition to supervising legal assistants, primary legal support functions include: applying specialized knowledge of various court rules related to legal practice subject matter and court filing procedures; reviews work product of lower level legal staff for accuracy, completeness and compliance using expert knowledge of agency legal procedures and court rules.

Performs the duties of the Legal Assistant 4;

Ensures compliance with agency policies and procedures;

Develops and monitors division budget in coordination with division chief or equivalent;

Participates in development of the strategic plan;

Acts as liaison between division/section and client agency(s);

Coordinates with building manager for general maintenance, repairs and other needs;

Develops, updates and implements division/office policies and procedures;

Reviews performance plans of division/office staff for timeliness, consistency and applicability;

Audits division/section employee leave records;

Schedules regular division/section meetings, prepares agenda, takes and distributes meeting minutes;

Prepares and distributes various reports, graphs and presentations;

Assists staff in obtaining necessary equipment, furniture, supplies, etc. to complete job duties;

Participates in regularly scheduled leadership meetings;

Interviews prospective professional staff and makes hiring recommendations to appointing authority;

Provides new staff with orientation;

Supervises, trains, coaches, mentors, counsels and provides leadership to staff in the performance of their duties and completion of their performance development plan;   

Writes position descriptions and performance development plans;

Conducts timely interim and annual reviews;

Ensures personnel issues are handled properly and in a timely manner by contacting Human Resources for guidance;

Determines the distribution of work and resolves workload conflicts to meet deadlines and minimize overtime;

Ensures staff completes mandatory training;

May supervise legal assistants who have supervisory duties;

Performs other duties as assigned.

Knowledge of:  office organization and management principles; current legal office management procedures, practices and techniques; project management; budget preparation and monitoring; state government organization and administrative procedures; local, state and federal government functions; research methods and data collection; personnel policies; supervisory techniques; performance management; strategic planning.

Bachelor’s degree in public administration or allied field and three years of supervising, leading, mentoring, coaching or training staff in a legal or judicial setting

                                                                OR

One year as a Legal Assistant 4;

                                                                OR

A combination of seven years of legal office experience and three years of supervising, leading, mentoring, coaching or training staff in a legal or judicial setting.

Note: Candidates may be required to demonstrate skills in keyboarding, filing, proofreading, grammar, spelling and use of office equipment through agency specific skills testing.