Attorney III District Attorney

The Job: Under direction, perform professional legal work for the County of Santa Cruz through the District Attorney's Office; prepare and prosecute criminal cases in the courts; perform special or supervisory assignments on a rotational basis; and do other work as required. Incumbents will generally be expected to handle a misdemeanor, juvenile, or appellate caseload and a complex felony caseload with only occasional guidance. Incumbents may be assigned ongoing administrative responsibility for a functional area. Extensive jury trial experience and expertise is highly desirable. The ideal candidate will possess expertise and familiarity with legal research and writing, including researching or developing new areas of law, and drafting arguments to be presented in writs, appeals, motions, and briefs before the trial and appellate courts. The list established will be used to fill the current vacancy and it may also be used to fill other vacancies during the life of the eligible list.

Any combination of training and experience that would provide the required knowledge and abilities is qualifying. A typical way to obtain these knowledge and abilities would be:

Two years of experience as an attorney practicing criminal law. Applicable experience must have been gained after admission to a State Bar. Experience in the practice of civil law may be substituted for criminal law for positions assigned to Consumer Affairs.

Special Requirements: Membership in the California State Bar.

Knowledge: Thorough knowledge of legal principles and their application; legal research methods; principles and practices of criminal law; principles and practices of civil law required for positions assigned to Consumer Affairs; California Criminal Law; rules of the courts, procedures and policies of the District Attorney's Office; and principles of supervision and administrative practices may be required for some positions.

Ability to: Analyze and apply legal principles and precedents to legal problems; present statements of fact, law and argument clearly and logically in written and oral form; act as an effective trial advocate; establish and maintain effective working relationships with those contacted during the course of work; adhere to ethical standards; analyze and appraise a variety of legal documents and instruments; and administer afunctional program area of the District Attorney's Office may be required for some positions.

The Examination: Your application and supplemental questionnaire will be reviewed to determine if you have met the education, experience, training and/or licensing requirements as stated on the job announcement. If you meet these criteria and are one of the best qualified, you may be required to compete in any combination of written, oral and/or performance examinations or a competitive evaluation of training and experience as described on your application and supplemental questionnaire. You must pass all components of the examination to be placed on the eligible list. The examination may be eliminated if there are ten or fewer qualified applicants. If the eligible list is established without the administration of the announced examination, the life of the eligible list will be six months and your overall score will be based upon an evaluation of your application and supplemental questionnaire. If during those six months it is necessary to administer another examination for this job class, you will be invited to take the examination to remain on the eligible list.