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.  Preference may be given to successful candidates who have been residents of the municipality in which the appointment is to be made for one month preceding the date of the certification of the eligible list and who are residents of the municipality at the time of appointment.  Non-residents may be required to become a resident of the appointing municipality if local law so states.

There is one current vacancy in the Town of Cheektowaga and the salary range is $21.00-$27.00 per hour.  (*Salaries may vary at other municipalities or agencies.)  The eligible list resulting from this examination will be used to fill this vacancy and other appropriate vacancies which may occur in municipalities or districts under the jurisdiction of Erie County Civil Service while this list is active.

Examples of Duties:

A Municipal Administrative Assistant Legal performs administrative, paralegal and office managerial duties for the attorney of a municipality;

Performs budget review and analysis for accuracy and compliance with agency standards;

Maintains a contract log of all pending status contracts and amendments both new or renewal;

Prepares monthly status report to Town Attorney and Town Supervisor;

Reviews completed contracts with legal staff before forwarding for staff and executive signatures;

Supervises paralegal and clerical staff;

Assists with preparation of rough drafts of briefs and various legal documents as assigned and prepares digest of selected decisions and opinions;

Incorporates legal references and includes an analysis of precedents involved in relation to the case or matter under discussion;

Searches legal reference files and other sources for information and data required by the Town Attorney in preparing reports and answering correspondence;

Assembles exhibits, affidavits, legal documents, etc. for the use of attorneys in the preparation for trial of cases, and collects any additional information which is needed;

Verifies citations and statutory references contained in legal documents against original sources such as legal texts, reports, etc. making certain they are correct and in complete conformance with the source material;

Prepares drafts of motions and responses to motions, takes complaints, determines status of cases and responds to inquiries;

Represents Town Attorney at administrative hearings or meetings;

May act as a liaison between Town Attorney and community groups and individuals in legal matters;

May represent Town Attorney at Town Board Work Sessions;

Assists the Coordinator of  Employee Relations in preparation of contract negotiations, grievance procedures, interest arbitration and PERB hearings;

May attend contract negotiation sessions, as well as grievance, arbitration, or PERB hearings as requested by the Town Attorney or Coordinator of Employee Relations.

Qualifications:

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

A)    Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered four (4) year college or university with a Bachelor's  degree and six (6) years experience as a legal administrative secretary or paralegal; or:

B)    Graduation from high school or possession of a high school equivalency diploma and ten (10) years of experience as a legal administrative secretary or paralegal; or:

C)     An equivalent combination of training and experience as defined by the limits of (A) and (B).

Notes:

1. Verifiable part-time and/or volunteer experience will be pro-rated toward meeting the experience requirements.

2. Your degree and/or college credit must have been awarded by a regionally accredited college or university or one recognized by the New York State Education Department as following acceptable educational practices. A grade of "D" or better is necessary for a course to be credited as successfully completed. If your degree and/or college credit was awarded by an educational institution outside of the United States and its territories, you must provide independent verification of equivalency. You can write to this Department for a list of acceptable companies providing this service; you must pay the required evaluation fee.

Notice to Candidates: Transcripts will now be accepted by the Department of Personnel ONLY at time of application.
All subsequent transcripts must be submitted at time of interview.

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:

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

1. 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.

2. 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 calculator function of your cell phone.

3. Preparing written material

These questions test for the ability to present information clearly and accurately, and to organize paragraphs logically and comprehensibly. For some questions, you will be given information in two or three sentences followed by four restatements of the information. You must then choose the best version. For other questions, you will be given paragraphs with their sentences out of order. You must then choose, from four suggestions, the best order for the sentences.

4. Understanding and interpreting written material

These questions test for the ability to understand and interpret written material. You will be presented with brief reading passages and will be asked questions about the passages. You should base your answers to the questions only on what is presented in the passages and not on what you may happen to know about the topic.   

NOTICE TO CANDIDATES: Unless otherwise noted, candidates are permitted to use quiet, hand held, solar or battery powered calculators. Devices with typewriter keyboards, "Spell Checkers", “Personal Digital Assistants", "Address Books", "Language Translators", "Dictionaries", or any similar devices are prohibited. You may not bring books or other reference materials.

**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.