UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
Specification for Class
LEGAL SECRETARY 1
UW CODE AND REPRESENTATIVE GROUP
7240 (SEIU Local 925 Clerical Nonsupervisory)
2240 (CLASSIFIED NON-UNION – Confidential Exclusion)
BASIC FUNCTION
Serve as principal legal secretary to Assistant Attorney(s) General. Prepare documents and correspondence; screen and/or respond to inquiries regarding legal proceedings and related matters. Act as liaison between Assistant Attorney(s) General and campus personnel, opposing counsel, court and/or judicial department personnel and/or members of the general public.
DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS
Under general supervision, perform complex legal secretarial duties; take and transcribe dictation, draft documents and correspondence using legal, medical and/or other technical terminology; check legal citations and references. Independently prepare materials requiring specialized knowledge of attorney's functional area(s) of responsibility (e.g., garnishment, litigation, guardianship, incident reports, etc.). Prepare and/or obtain proper forms, gather data and incorporate information into documents; monitor and facilitate adherence to deadlines governed by federal, state and/or local court rules.
TYPICAL WORK
Act as liaison between Assistant Attorney(s) General and members of the campus community, opposing and co-counsel, clients and/or other interested parties to facilitate the completion of case-related tasks or processes;
Independently initiate and draft correspondence to courts and/or other attorneys, legal notices and forms; maintain records regarding status of legal matters in process;
Maintain and apply knowledge of current institution policies and procedures, federal, state and local court rules and other agency requirements;
Monitor progress of cases assigned to the attorney(s) in order to facilitate adherence to deadlines, which if not met, could result in adverse actions such as dismissals of motions, mistrials, etc.;
Initiate action to obtain documents; coordinate scheduling of and arrangements for depositions; prepare trial notebooks; organize exhibits; draft a variety of pleadings for attorney's review;
Coordinate cases, reports and other matters with the State Attorney General's Office by preparing and updating litigation and case preparation reports; maintain statistical data;
Screen mail, draft correspondence for attorney's signature, call attention to items needing immediate attention; serve notices and other forms through legal messenger;
Schedule appointments and maintain attorney's calendar for court and motion deadlines;
Within established guidelines, respond to requests for information, copies of documents, statutes and/or cases; answer questions regarding non-legal matters and/or status of cases;
Format and keyboard/type manuscripts for journal articles, speeches, handouts and minutes; keyboard/type proposed legislation in code reviser format;
Perform complex word processing tasks such as merging and sorting, integrating text with graphics, spreadsheet and data base files, uploading/downloading, and creating footnotes and outlines;
Direct the work of law clerks and work study students;
Make travel arrangements and process travel documents;
May order supplies, material, furniture and/or assist with payroll;
May organize and maintain office law library;
Perform related duties as required.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS - UW Contract Classified
High School graduation or equivalent AND two years of legal secretarial experience requiring keyboarding/typing, dictaphone usage, and working knowledge of legal citations and statutes
OR
equivalent education/experience.
New Class: 7-12-73
Revise Class: 7-1-91
CSR Class Conversion (mc): 06-01-05
Revise Class Series: 7-1-14