Closing Date: 4th June, 2026
Description:
Description:The Chief Judicial Staff Attorney is a Judicial appointed position that qualifies for City employee benefits*
Position start date of July 7, 2026
Under very limited supervision, performs high-level supervisory and professional legal services work by overseeing and coordinating all operations for the Judges of Suffolk Circuit Court. Work involves scheduling assignments/assigning work to office employees, conducting annual performance evaluations for the Chief Judge's final approval, assisting the Judges in disseminating information to employees and organizational stakeholders, and overseeing all training activities. Work requires identifying any and all operational problems and taking corrective action. Work includes, drafting and monitoring the office budget and making recommendations to the Judges.
The professional legal work includes the reviewing of civil and criminal motions, advising whether matters are properly served and noticed, conducting legal research, and drafting legal memoranda, prospective civil orders and legal opinions for the Court. The Chief Judicial Staff Attorney will work within broad policy and organization guidelines established by the Circuit Court Judges. The employee's function is necessary to ensure that the Circuit Court serves the public in an effective and efficient manner. Employee must also exercise tact, courtesy, and discretion in frequent contact with attorneys, public officials and employees, and the general public. Reports to the Chief Circuit Court Judge.
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform the essential job functions satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the primary job functions herein described. Since every duty associated with this position may not be described herein, employees may be required to perform duties not specifically spelled out in the job description, but which may be reasonably considered to be incidental in the performing of their duties just as though they were actually written out in this job description.
Essential Job Functions:
Serves as the Chief Judicial Staff Attorney for the four (4) Circuit Court Judges.
Manages and directs the overall administrative, financial, budgetary, accounting, and internal human resource operations of the Suffolk Circuit Court Judges following the established goals, objectives and policies. Helps create those policies.
Plans, assigns, supervises, and participates in all work conducted for the Circuit Court Judges.
Supervises all personnel, appraises performance in annual reviews subject to final approval by the Chief Circuit Court Judge.
Participates in the hiring process of all new employees.
Oversees that each employee is cross-trained, so no job is without a backup person.
Oversees, manages, and maintains files and leave records for all employees including following the guidelines of the Family Medical Leave of Absence (FMLA) when relevant.
Supervises, directs and manages the administrative, financial, budgetary, accounting, and human resource support functions while maintaining high standards of accuracy, exercising independent judgment, discretion, tact, confidentiality and courtesy in assisting all organizational stakeholders and fellow employees.
Manages Workforce Management (WFM) timecards, makes recommendations for personnel leave requests.
Maintains employee career files.
Serves as designated and responsible contact person for employees when a work-related injury or illness is concerned. Handles documentation & follows procedure required by the Risk Manager for the City of Suffolk.
Manages budget line items, conducts analysis of budget matters.
Advises the Circuit Court Judges regarding short-term and long-term office planning.
Responsible for legal research and analysis of legal issues for the weekly motions docket of the judges; including: 1) checking each motion for compliance with procedural legal requirements; 2) calling non-compliant lawyers/legal staff, to enable them to bring their motions into compliance before motions day; 3) providing the judges with statutes and rules, for their review, on simple legal issues; 4) writing bench briefs involving legal research and analysis on complex legal issues; 5) assisting with and attending motions arguments in court, and 6) drafting opinion letters for the judges as requested.
Reviews a variety of Orders, Petitions and Motions, submitted daily to the Judges, to ensure that they comply with statutory and other legal requirements, and responds to the parties and their counsel regarding such Orders. Examples of cases requiring such Orders are City tax sales, Church petitions for appointment of trustees and acquisition or disposition of real property, Adoptions, Orders pertaining to support, custody, visitation, and disposition of marital property, Rules to Show Cause and enforcement of prior Orders, Final divorce decrees, Name changes, Appointments of Guardians ad litem, and Garnishments.
Performs legal research and analysis of legal issues for habeas corpus petitions, including writing bench briefs, and drafting legal opinions regarding the same.
Operates a variety of office equipment such as computer, calculator, printers, fax machine, etc.
Uses a variety of general office supplies and a variety of computer software such as Microsoft Word/Excel/PowerPoint/Access.
Uses legal research search engines such as LexisNexis.
Performs general administrative/office duties as required, including typing reports and correspondence, entering and retrieving computer data, copying and filing documents, sending and receiving faxes, answering the telephone, establishing and maintaining filing systems, etc.
Prepares and/or reviews proposed responses to correspondence received by the Judges and the Clerk of the Court from prisoners and/or their counsel, including requests for sentence reconsideration, requests for approval of in forma pauperis status, requests for documents, complaints, and other miscellaneous requests.
Ability to prepare civil support guidelines for Pendente Lite hearings.
Coordinates communication and logistics between the Suffolk Circuit Court Judges and other judges/stakeholders for Committee and/or Panel assignments in which the Suffolk Circuit Court has been designated to by the Virginia Supreme Court's Chief Justice.
Performs other related duties as required.
Required Qualifications:
Juris Doctorate degree from an accredited law school.
License to practice law in the Commonwealth of Virginia and in good standing with the Virginia State Bar.
3 – 5 years in the practice of law with at least 2 years experience as a Judicial Staff Attorney; or any combination of training and experience which provides the required skills, knowledge and abilities.
Requires a valid driver's license.
Supplemental Information:
Knowledge of Virginia criminal law and procedure.
Knowledge of Virginia civil law and procedure.
Knowledge of the Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia.
Knowledge of the rules of evidence and professional responsibility.
Ability to interpret and apply laws and court decisions, and to use legal source material in technical research.
Ability to express ideas effectively, orally and in writing.
Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships as necessitated by work assignments.
Ability of speaking and/or signaling people to convey or exchange information. Includes receiving assignments and/or directions from superiors.
Ability to read a variety of reports, letters, and memos, contracts, deeds, ordinances, resolutions, legal briefs, etc.
Requires the ability to prepare correspondence, reports, legal briefs, etc., using prescribed formats and conforming to all rules of punctuation, grammar, diction, and style.
Requires proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook.
Proficiency in the use of legal research tools such as LexisNexis.
Requires the ability to speak before groups of people with poise, voice control and confidence.
Requires the ability to collect data and forecast financial needs for drafting the annual budget.
Ability to apply principles of logical or scientific thinking to a wide range of intellectual and practical problems; and to deal with a variety of abstract and concrete variables.
Ability to utilize mathematical formulas; to add and subtract totals; to multiply and divide; and to determine percentages and decimals; understand and apply the theories of algebra, geometry, trigonometry, descriptive statistics, and statistical inference.
