Legal Secretary

COUNTY OF ERIE - DEPARTMENT OF PERSONNEL
invites applications for the position of:

66-551 - Open Competitive (open to the public)

Salary:	$30,395.00 - $38,222.00 Annually
Opening Date:	December 31, 2015
Closing Date:	January 27, 2016
Application fee:	$20.00

Residence Requirements:

RESIDENCE REQUIREMENTS: CANDIDATES MUST HAVE BEEN LEGAL RESIDENTS OF ERIE COUNTY FOR AT LEAST ONE MONTH IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE DATE OF THE WRITTEN TEST AND MUST BE LEGAL RESIDENTS OF ERIE COUNTY AT THE TIME OF APPOINTMENT. There is one vacancy at the Erie County Department of Law and one vacancy at the Erie County District Attorney's Office.

Examples of Duties:

A Legal Secretary is responsible for performing legal secretarial duties, which require a high degree of skill, clerical tasks involving varied civil, criminal and legislative matters;

Transcribes dictation in connection with criminal and/or civil matters, i.e. subpoenas, affidavits, motions, orders, briefs, warrants, extraditions, indictments, etc.;

Takes and transcribes dictation in connection with legislation, i.e. drafts of legislation, drafts of legal opinions and drafts of papers used in litigation;

Prepares databases and spreadsheets as needed to assist in the smooth operation of a law office;

Prepares varied legal documents and forms as directed by attorneys;

Types and uses word processing at a computer work station to prepare legal papers;

Performs related clerical activities associated with office activities, i.e. answering telephone and personal inquiries, arranging interviews and appointments with legal staff, maintaining office files, making copies, making routine tabulations, scans documents, etc.;

Manipulates and creates pdf files;

Electronically files documents with courts and other agencies.

Qualifications:

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: Candidates must meet one of the following requirements on or before the date of the written test:

Graduation from high school or possession of a high school equivalency diploma supplemented by courses in typing and three years of office clerical experience, at least one year of which must have involved legal secretary duties and word processing.

Notes:

NOTES: 1. Completion of a two year post high school secretarial program with a major in legal secretarial courses may be substituted for the required one year of legal experience. 2. Verifiable part-time and/or volunteer experience will be pro-rated toward meeting the experience requirements.

Examination date:

March 5, 2016

Applications Must Be Postmarked or Hand Delivered By:

January 27, 2016

The New York State Department of Civil Service has not prepared a test guide for this examination. However, candidates may find information in the publication "How to take a written test" helpful in preparing for this test. This publication is available on line at: www.cs.ny.gov/testing/localtestguides.cfm

Subjects of Examination:

A written test designed to evaluate knowledge, skills and /or abilities in the following areas:

1. Grammar/Usage/Punctuation

The grammar and usage questions test for the ability to apply the basic rules of grammar and usage. The punctuation questions test for a knowledge of the correct placement of punctuation marks in sentences. You will be presented with sets of four sentences from each of which you must choose the sentence that contains a grammatical, usage, or punctuation error.

2. Keyboarding practices

These questions test for a knowledge of preferred practices in such areas as letter format, capitalization, hyphenation, plurals, possessives, word division, word and figure style for numbers, and common proofreading marks. In addition, there will be a passage to proofread followed by questions on how to correct the errors in the passage.

3. Legal terminology, documents and forms

These questions test for the ability to recognize definitions of specific common legal terms or the term which fits a certain description. The questions are presented in various forms such as simple definitions, examples of terminology, and the use of this terminology within documents and forms related to the legal field.

4. Office practices

These questions test for a knowledge of generally agreed-upon practices governing the handling of situations which typists, stenographers, secretaries, and office assistants encounter in their work, as well as a knowledge of efficient and effective methods used to accomplish office tasks. The questions cover such topics as planning work flow; setting priorities; dealing effectively with staff, visitors, and callers; filing and retrieving information; safeguarding confidentiality; using office equipment; and making procedural decisions and recommendations which contribute to a well-managed office.

5. Office record keeping

These questions test your ability to perform common office record keeping tasks. The test consists of two or more "sets" of questions, each set concerning a different problem. Typical record keeping problems might involve the organization or collation of data from several sources; scheduling; maintaining a record system using running balances; or completion of a table summarizing data using totals, subtotals, averages and percents. You should bring with you a hand-held battery- or solar-powered calculator for use on this test. You will not be permitted to use the calculatorfunction of your cell phone.

6. Spelling

These questions test for the ability to spell words that are used in written business communications.

**IMPORTANT APPLICATION FEE - READ CAREFULLY**

A $20.00 filing fee is required for this exam. The required fee must accompany your application. Send or bring check or money order made payable to Erie County Personnel Department and write the examination number(s) on your check or money order. Do not send or bring cash, as the County cannot be responsible for cash payment. As no refund will be made, you are urged to compare your qualifications carefully with the requirements for admission and file only for those examinations for which you are clearly qualified.