SUPERVISORY LEGAL SECRETARY

DEFINITION OF CLASS:
This is multi-faceted administrative support work in the County Attorney's Office, which includes executive-level secretarial/administrative support of the County Attorney and his/her Deputy, general office management and supervision of the Legal Secretaries supporting the Office's Attorneys and Paralegal Specialists. Business contacts include professional staff and clerical/administrative support staff in the County Attorney's Office concerning the daily work of the office, managers and professionals, including court personnel, at the County and State levels concerning matters being handled by the Office, managers and professionals in the private sector concerning legal matters at issue with the County. Contacts often involve non-routine or highly sensitive matters. Utmost discretion is required. Direct service/assistance to the public is incidental in this class. This class is primarily comprised of supervision of specialized Office support by Legal Secretaries and general clerical support by others mixed with personal secretarial and administrative support of the County Attorney and his/her Deputy. Supervisory duties involve planning, scheduling, assigning and reviewing work of subordinates within the existing framework of assigned functions and making day-to-day decisions on the deployment of subordinates to get work done in support of a busy office amid changing workloads, priorities, staff available and other variables. Personal work of the incumbent involves performance of a variety of duties in support of the Office's top management and, on an as-needed basis, legal secretarial support of a team of attorneys, requiring a specialized knowledge of legal processes, documents, terminology, etc. Much of the daily work flow is linked directly to the established scheme for specialized and general clerical/administrative support of the Office, but much of the work is subject to changes in priorities, due dates and other factors. Special assignments may be made in terms of objectives, key issues, priorities, time frames and the like. Work performed by the incumbent personally or by subordinates is subject to review for overall effectiveness of office support and such factors as quality, quantity, timeliness, adherence to special instructions (if any) and customer service. Guidelines in the form of office procedures, manuals, laws, codes, and case files are available; however, some moderate degree of interpretation to specific situations is required. The incumbent ensures that work is performed in compliance with these procedures, making interpretations for subordinates or referring unusual situations to an attorney for resolution as appropriate. The incumbent also creates guides in the form of unit clerical SOPs. The incumbent, as a supervisor, ensures the efficient production of specialized support and the efficient and effective production of general administrative and clerical support. The incumbent, as a direct supporter of the County Attorney and the Deputy County Attorney, helps relieve them of their administrative burdens. Work is performed in a normal office setting and requires light physical effort.

EXAMPLES OF DUTIES: (Illustrative Only)
Plans, schedules, assigns and reviews the work of the Office's Legal Secretaries and most of its other clerical/administrative staff.
Redeploys human resources and redistributes work as deemed necessary to assure complete, seamless support.
Performs a full range of first level supervisory human resource functions, including but not limited to development of Office support staffing schedules, training/coaching/mentoring and performance management of subordinates, and full participation in selection/placement, recognition, conduct/discipline and all other common human resource actions.
Provides input on, or writes portions of, SOPs for Legal Secretaries, coordinates work, fills-in for Legal Secretaries, as needed, and performs related functions, such as: prioritizes, prepares, and types a variety of legal documents including complaints, answers, motions, discovery, memoranda of law, letters, orders and briefs using word processing equipment.
Researches files and records for legal precedents, referenced case law or review of County Code references.
Reviews various legal documents to assure that all relevant materials are complete, and conform to pertinent laws, rules, regulations, and office requirements; submits legal documents to the court in a timely manner, assuring that appropriate filing procedures have been followed.
Prepares and signs correspondence of a non-legal nature.
Screens incoming correspondence for subject matter content and team assignment, and enters information into the work management system.
Receives and screens telephone calls pertaining to a variety of legal inquiries, including those requiring some research and/or referral.
Assures the update of law books and manuals, County Code, Administrative Procedures, etc., as necessary.
Provides administrative assistance to the County Attorney and Deputy County Attorney, such as:
Advises the principals on administrative aspects of key programmatic issues and initiatives based on knowledge of key stakes and stakeholders.
Manages the organization's correspondence control system; monitors and tracks correspondence prepared by staff for the principals', Chief Administrative Officer's, or County Executive's signature; develops and/or modifies automated systems for tracking correspondence to meet departmental needs; develops and revises the Office correspondence manual, including procedures and forms for use by all staff; reviews incoming correspondence addressed to the principals, the Chief Administrative Officer and the County Executive; prepares reply or assigns action to appropriate staff; reviews outgoing correspondence to ensure correspondence is responsive to initiator's concern and meets County standards in terms of tone, format, mechanical accuracy, and timeliness; monitors the organization's performance (quality and timeliness) in responding to inquiries and shares results with officials.
Researches issues and drafts correspondence in response to inquiries and complaints that do not fall within the area of responsibility of a specific subset of the organization; writes administrative correspondence such as commendations, congratulations, and invitations to speakers.
Develops and conducts or coordinates training and development programs for all department support staff; identifies training needs through focus groups with staff and/or observation; identifies and makes arrangements for speakers and trainers or conducts training sessions; may administer a support staff training and development budget.
Through on-going communications and special programs, ensures that support staff understands Office goals and objectives and their role in meeting objectives in such areas as customer service, written and oral communication standards and expectations, and administrative procedures; recommends employee recognition and other programs to enhance a sense of teamwork among support staff.
Evaluates Office-wide administrative work processes such as inter- and intra- departmental communications, and recommends changes to improve efficiency and effectiveness, including the use of modern office technology and methods; confers with information technology staff and others to coordinate the development and implementation of automation changes; develops procedure manuals, forms and similar materials as necessary; and monitors effectiveness of changes.
Manages and coordinates high profile events such as media events and regional conferences; makes arrangements for speakers, entertainment, catering services, transportation, and lodging; administers participant registration; administers or monitors event budget; ensures all materials and equipment are provided; resolves problems encountered during the event.
Transmits and explains organizational policies, directives, and instructions to staff members, management of other County organizations, outside organizations, and the public.
Manages the principals' calendars; schedules and coordinates meetings and appointments; receives requests to speak with the principals and determines, based on knowledge of organizational priorities and operations, whether issue needs immediate attention by the County Attorney or Deputy County Attorney or can be deferred or handled by others within the Office.
Researches and develops materials for use in official engagements.
Prepares formats for staff papers and reports.
Collects and organizes data and information from a variety of sources for preparation of reports, budgets and other documents.
Acts as liaison between the County Attorney and his/her key staff, other government employees, outside organizations, elected officials, and the public.
Responds to inquiries from County employees and the public regarding the Office's programs and services.
Receives calls from the general public, organizational staff, and staff and executives in other departments and agencies; responds to inquiries and/or refers to appropriate staff.
Uses a variety of office automation equipment and computer applications to track and monitor documents and activities and to generate correspondence, reports, databases, and other documents including confidential reports required by the principal; identifies opportunities to use new technology to benefit the principals and Office-wide administrative processes.
Provides staff support to designated committees and task forces including, but not limited to, development of agenda and preparation of minutes or summaries.
Keeps abreast of developments in the field of administrative support, key County programs, issues and initiatives, and related State, federal and private programs, issues and initiatives needed to provide initial response or referral and follow through.
Performs various office management duties, such as: oversees the mail and receptionist functions; serves as back-up on equipment issues; provides input on, or writes portions of, Office administrative SOPs; performs other administrative and clerical support work and other related duties as required.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
Experience: Seven (7) years of administrative aide experience, which must have included at least three (3) years of legal secretarial experience.
Education: Completion of high school or High School Certificate of completion recognized in the State of Maryland or a high school certificate of completion recognized in the State of Maryland.
Equivalency: An equivalent combination of education and experience may be substituted for administrative aide experience and legal secretarial experience; however, there must be substantive education or experience in both domains - administrative aide and legal secretary.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
Considerable knowledge of County Government operations, procedures, policies, organization and personnel. This includes knowledge of key issues and initiatives, stakes and stakeholders concerning the functions, programs, operations and priorities of the County Attorney's Office and of other key offices within and outside County government as pertinent to administrative support functions.
Considerable knowledge of Legal Secretary functions and practices. This includes knowledge of standard legal terminology, legal procedures, legal forms/documents and Office-specific procedures and practices.
Knowledge of County personnel regulations as they apply to first-level supervision of assigned staff.
Skill in problem solving to select, organize and logically process relevant information (verbal, numerical or abstract) to solve a problem. This includes ability to recognize problems and indentify relevant information and skill in prioritizing, planning, scheduling and attending to various administrative support assignments, such as supervising others at the first level (including Legal Secretaries) and performing executive-level secretarial functions.
Skill in oral communication to understand verbal information (including instructions, descriptions and ideas) and to express such information verbally so that others will understand. This includes the ability to encourage verbal communication by others. Examples of oral communication include the daily exchange of work information with subordinates and the professionals and managers served or in other departments and agencies, as well as encouraging open verbal communication by subordinates.
Skill in written communication to understand written information (including instructions, descriptions and ideas) and to express such information in writing so that others will understand. This includes skill in reading and writing procedures, correspondence, administrative reports and standard legal documents of the type produced by subordinates and in reviewing the similar written work of others.
Skill in interpersonal contacts to interact effectively with business contacts in a customer service-oriented, businesslike manner.
Skill in using a computer, modern office software suites and specialized databases to communicate, plan, schedule, word process, manipulate data (in spreadsheets and databases), and perform other applications.

PROBATIONARY PERIOD:
The probationary period must be 12 months for a full-time or part-time employee appointed to a merit system position, and 6 months for a promoted employee, during which time performance will be carefully evaluated. Continuation in this class will be contingent upon successful completion of the probationary period.

MEDICAL PROTOCOL: Medical History Review with drug/alcohol screen.

Class Established: September 2009
Revised: April, 2010