Closing Date: 18th January, 2026
Description:
Description:Definition:
Under direction, Senior Staff Attorney performs a variety of complex professional legal work, including research and consultation for Court staff and self-represented litigants. This position provides legal and administrative support related to self-help legal services and/or mediation and advisory services programs. Senior Staff Attorney provides legal assistance and education services to self-represented litigants and assists them in gaining effective access to the legal system. This position facilitates the effectiveness of, and expedites proceedings by assisting and/or teaching self-represented litigants how to plan and prepare matters for Court hearings.
Distinguishing Characteristics
This professional level attorney classification is responsible for assisting in the operation of the self-help legal services and/or mediation and advisory services programs and for providing day-to-day administrative support and ensuring efficient delivery of program services. The incumbent is responsible for providing legal assistance to self-represented litigants and for providing lead direction to and training paralegals, interns, volunteers and other Court staff.
Examples of Duties:
Duties may include, but are not limited to the following:
- Plans, develops, recommends and implements operational procedures ensuring maximum utilization of available staff, financial resources and compliance with grant requirements.
- Reviews court files, documents and related materials to assess cases; drafts legal correspondence and/or documents necessary to effectuate legal resolutions.
- Researches legal authorities and statutory and case law; examines legal documents for compliance with legal and procedural requirements.
- Advises self-represented litigants on the status of cases; provides legal and procedural information, answers inquiries and explains processes; assists individuals in locating materials and information.
- Meets with self-represented litigants and provides assistance in the preparation of forms, complex orders and judgments; reviews paperwork and examines documents to ensure cases are prepared for Court.
- Holds pre-hearing conferences for the settlement or simplification of issues; assists parties to develop a shared understanding of the conflict and to work toward building a practical and lasting resolution; offers multiple and flexible possibilities for resolving a dispute.
- Coordinates the activities of the program with related court programs and other community resources.
- Develops, updates and maintains educational and instructional materials; provides legal information on specific areas of the law through workshops, clinics and educational material.
- Provides procedural instructions, legal information and referrals to other court-based services, legal service providers and community agencies.
- Establishes and maintains quality working relations with community agencies and resources that provide services for parties involved.
- Reviews the work completed by paralegals.
- Provides lead direction and trains paralegals, interns, volunteers and other Court staff.
- Performs administrative functions including tracking and collecting daily, monthly and yearly statistics on services provided.
- Performs related duties as assigned.
Minimum Qualifications:
A typical way of obtaining the required knowledge and abilities is equivalent to:
Education: Graduation from an accredited school of law.
And-
Experience: One (1) year of full-time equivalent experience as a licensed attorney.
And-
Active membership in the State Bar of California.
Knowledge of:
Civil procedures; rules of evidence; scope and role of local court rules and procedures; specialized legal knowledge in the area of work to be performed; legal terminology; conduct of proceedings in trial courts; legal ethics; the California judicial system, and local court operations and procedures; principles and practices relating to providing legal self-help services; research methods and principles of program evaluation; resources and community agencies providing services relevant to program clientele; principles and techniques of preparing effective oral presentations and written reports; problem solving, mediation and other conflict resolution methods and techniques; principles of interviewing and interpersonal communication.
Ability to:
Analyze problems and legal issues and identify solutions; research statutes and case law; conduct independent research of legal issues; apply legal principles to case facts; advise self-represented litigants, paralegals, interns, volunteers and Court staff on procedural and substantive legal issues; handle sensitive matters with tact and discretion; conduct mediations in an impartial manner; empathetically assist individuals who are in stressful situations; establish and maintain professional working relationships with those contacted in the course of the work; listen to arguments/discussions and understand underlying problems/questions; apply problem solving and conflict resolution methods and techniques; recognize and respect limit of authority and responsibility; work in an environment with conflicting priorities; use computer for legal research, word processing, spreadsheets, forms completion and communication.
Other Information:
Must be able to pass a criminal history information background check.
And-
Experience: One (1) year of full-time equivalent experience as a licensed attorney.
And-
Active membership in the State Bar of California.
Knowledge of:
Civil procedures; rules of evidence; scope and role of local court rules and procedures; specialized legal knowledge in the area of work to be performed; legal terminology; conduct of proceedings in trial courts; legal ethics; the California judicial system, and local court operations and procedures; principles and practices relating to providing legal self-help services; research methods and principles of program evaluation; resources and community agencies providing services relevant to program clientele; principles and techniques of preparing effective oral presentations and written reports; problem solving, mediation and other conflict resolution methods and techniques; principles of interviewing and interpersonal communication.
Ability to:
Analyze problems and legal issues and identify solutions; research statutes and case law; conduct independent research of legal issues; apply legal principles to case facts; advise self-represented litigants, paralegals, interns, volunteers and Court staff on procedural and substantive legal issues; handle sensitive matters with tact and discretion; conduct mediations in an impartial manner; empathetically assist individuals who are in stressful situations; establish and maintain professional working relationships with those contacted in the course of the work; listen to arguments/discussions and understand underlying problems/questions; apply problem solving and conflict resolution methods and techniques; recognize and respect limit of authority and responsibility; work in an environment with conflicting priorities; use computer for legal research, word processing, spreadsheets, forms completion and communication.
Other Information:
Must be able to pass a criminal history information background check.
