Legal Assistant - Staunton

Title: Legal Assistant - Staunton

State Role Title: Admin and Office Specialist I

Hiring Range: $40,917.00 + State Benefits

Agency: Indigent Defense Commission

Location: STAUNTON 301

Agency Website: www.vadefenders.org

Recruitment Type: General Public - G

Job Duties

The Virginia Indigent Defense Commission (VIDC), a Commonwealth of Virginia Independent Agency, is dedicated to protecting and defending the rights of our clients through zealous, compassionate, high-quality legal advocacy. The Staunton Public Defender Office is committed to providing dedicated, compassionate, client-based, and community-embedded representation for our indigent clients. The Staunton Public Defender Office is now accepting applications for the administrative position of Legal Assistant. The qualified candidate will provide administrative and clerical support for attorneys, investigators, and mitigation specialists in the Public Defender office. The Legal Assistant position reports to the Public Defender of the Staunton Office and is employed at-will.

Duties:

• Greeting persons entering the Public Defender Office and operating a multi-line telephone system.
• Screening and forwarding calls, providing information to callers, taking messages, and scheduling appointments.
• Typing, editing, and reviewing memos, letters, and various types of legal documents.
• Maintaining a filing and record-keeping system.
• Collecting, sorting, distributing, and preparing mail.
• Communicating and interacting with public defender office colleagues, clients, and judicial system personnel.

The IDC is committed to inclusive hiring and dedicated to diversity in our workforce. We encourage and welcome qualified applicants of all identities, cultures, backgrounds, and experiences.

Minimum Qualifications

• The position requires a working knowledge of office practices and procedures to include creating and editing letters, memos, and legal documents.
• The position requires experience using Microsoft applications, specifically Word and Excel.
• The position requires familiarity with Google Suite applications, including Gmail, Google Docs, etc.
• The qualified candidate will have experience creating and managing an electronic and manual filing system and skills in keyboarding.
• The qualified candidate will effectively communicate both orally and in writing and work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced, team-driven environment.
• The Legal Assistant position also requires the ability to communicate both effectively and compassionately with clients as well as their support networks and other participants in the legal system.

Additional Considerations

Prior experience with the criminal justice system will be strongly considered.  The ideal candidate is composed under pressure, solution-oriented, and maintains a professional demeanor at all times.

Key Qualities We’re Looking For:

• Able to handle sensitive and sometimes stressful subject matter with professionalism and discretion;

• Able to maintain a positive, resilient attitude in a high-demand work environment;

• Comfortable receiving and responding to constructive feedback;

• Able to work in a collaborative environment and contribute to a strong, team-oriented culture.

Special Instructions

Applications for this position require a cover letter and resume. Failure to submit both may disqualify you from further consideration.

You will be provided a confirmation of receipt when your application and/or résumé is submitted successfully. Please refer to “Your Application” in your account to check the status of your application for this position.

While creating an account through the state system will save your basic information (please remember your username and password), applications are NOT saved for future openings. We encourage you to apply to any and all of the positions you may be considering within the IDC.

Employment is contingent upon the successful comp