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 anticipated vacancy at the Erie County Department of Social Services.

Examples of Duties:

A Chief Paralegal-Contracts is responsible for the preparation, review and monitoring of contracts, agreements and memorandums of understanding;

Monitors all existing service contracts and assists in the approval process;

Alerts program deputies of renewal agreements, changes in regulations and/or budgets pertaining to renewals;

Confirms availability of funds for contracts through either adopted budget or specific legislative resolution;

Prepares and reviews drafts of new and renewal contracts assuring that specific legal, local, State and Federal regulatory and County policy requirements are met;

Evaluates applicants of small business and day care contracts assisting potential vendors in meeting Department criteria and assuring legal sufficiency;

Provides necessary information for contract execution including insurance certificates program narratives and budget resolutions;

Performs budget and narrative review for compliance with Agency standards;

Attends meetings with program deputies and other various County Department Heads with regards to the preparation and monitoring of contracts;

Prepares and maintains status reports.

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 two (2) year college or university with an Associate's degree in Paralegal studies and five (5) years of experience as a Paralegal or legal secretary, two (2) years of which involved contract monitoring or contract negotiations with outside agencies or vendors; or:

B) Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered four (4) year college or university with a Bachelor's degree and completion of a course of at least 150 hours in Paralegal studies which resulted in a certificate from a regionally accredited New York State registered institution and five (5) years of experience as a Paralegal or legal secretary, two (2) years of which involved contract monitoring or contract negotiations with outside agencies or vendors; or:

C) Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered four (4) year college or university with a Bachelor's degree and 30 credit hours in an Associate's degree program in Paralegal studies and five (5) years of experience as a Paralegal or legal secretary, two (2) years of which involved contract monitoring or contract negotiations with outside agencies or vendors; or:

D) 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 of experience as a Paralegal or legal secretary, at least two (2) years of which involved contract monitoring or contract negotiations with outside agencies or vendors; or:

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

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.

A Guide for the Written Test for Legal Services is available at the New York State website:https://www.cs.ny.gov/testing/testguides.cfm. Candidates not having access to a computer or the internet may request copy of the test guide from the municipal civil service office conducting this examination using the contact information found elsewhere on this announcement.

Subjects of Examination:

Scopes / Subjects of examination: A test designed to evaluate knowledge, skills and /or abilities in the following areas.

Advising and interacting with others

These questions test for the ability to interact with other people in order to gather and present information and to provide assistance and advice in a courteous and professional manner.

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. 

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.

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.

Supervision

These questions test for knowledge of the principles and practices employed in planning, organizing, and controlling the activities of a work unit toward predetermined objectives. The concepts covered, usually in a situational question format, include such topics as assigning and reviewing work; evaluating performance; maintaining work standards; motivating and developing subordinates; implementing procedural change; increasing efficiency; and dealing with problems of absenteeism, morale, and discipline. 

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.