Legal Assistant

Duties Description

The Legal Assistant 1, Trainee 1 or 2 will work under the supervision of an attorney (General/Deputy Counsel, Associate Attorney, or Senior Attorney) within the Office of Counsel and have the responsibility of assisting the Office in legal case management and preparation of materials, evidence, and research related to Administrative Hearings and litigation. The candidate’s duties will include, but are not limited to:

• Provide extensive assistance to Attorneys in a busy professional legal office that handles administrative hearings and litigation.
• Conduct legal research using Westlaw, Federal Court Pacer, NY Courts E-Filing and legal source materials such as statutes, rules and regulations.
• Assist in the review and redaction of documents pursuant to FOIL.
• Review litigation documents such as summons and complaints, motions, affidavits and agency determinations; draft and assemble legal documents (stipulations of settlement, hearing exhibits, legal correspondence, judgments, subpoenas, etc.).
• Respond to inquiries from agency division staff and the public.
• Provide administrative/clerical support (such as processing mail, scanning, copying, scheduling meetings, answering phone calls and taking messages, typing, and filing).
• Develop and create project plans to manage and facilitate agency legal activities related to work on budget, legislative and regulatory reviews.

Minimum Qualifications

This title is part of the New York Hiring for Emergency Limited Placement Statewide Program (NY HELPS). Appointments will be dependent upon qualifications of candidate selected. At a future date, it is expected employees hired under NY HELPS will have their non-competitive employment status converted to competitive status, without having to compete in an examination.

• Non-Competitive Qualifications for appointment under the NYHELPS Program:
• Legal Assistant Trainee 1: High school or high school equivalency diploma AND one year of clerical, administrative, or paraprofessional experience. Substitution: An Associates degree (or higher) in any field, where the degree was granted from a regionally accredited college or university, or one approved by the American Bar Association (ABA).
• Legal Assistant 1: Two years of full-time experience as a Paralegal/Legal Assistant. 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; researches, compiles, and uses information from legal materials to proceed both written and verbal comments on their findings; and analyses and handles routine procedural problems independently with minimal attorney oversight. 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 ABA.
• Competitive Minimum Qualifications:

You must be currently reachable on the appropriate eligible list for this title, eligible under the 55 b/c program, or eligible to transfer to this title under Section 70.1 or 70.4 of the Civil Service Law.

• Special Minimum Qualifications for transfer to Legal Assistant 1:

Possession of an associate's degree (or higher) in a paralegal/legal assistant program OR a certificate in a paralegal/legal assistant program where either the degree or certificate was granted from a regionally accredited college or university, or college or university accredited by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS), or one approved by the ABA.