Introduction and Representative Duties

POSITION OVERVIEW
The United States District Court is seeking a Judicial Assistant/Paralegal. The incumbent will provide executive level administrative support and legal duties to United States Magistrate Judge Bruce G. Macdonald.

REPRESENTATIVE DUTIES
The Judicial Assistant/Paralegal assists the Judge in the daily activities of the office, performing administrative management, secretarial, legal, and related paralegal duties as assigned by the Judge. The Judicial Assistant/Paralegal also assists in the day-to-day conduct of court business. In addition, this position deals with lawyers and members of the public on behalf of the judge. Since the Judicial Assistant/Paralegal is generally the first member of a judge’s staff whom outsiders meet, the incumbent must have a pleasant and positive attitude, excellent organization skills and refined customer service skills.

The successful candidate must have the ability to work cooperatively with the other members of the chambers staff so that, as a team, they effectively assist the judge in fulfilling judicial responsibilities.

Occupational Information

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
The successful applicant must be a high school graduate or equivalent and must have two years of general experience and three years specialized experience to qualify for the lowest starting salary.

The successful applicant must speak and write in grammatically correct and professional quality English and be able to communicate clearly and professionally with the public. In addition, the applicant must be proficient in using Microsoft Outlook email/calendaring Microsoft Word, Excel spreadsheet management and Adobe. Proficiency is mission critical. General experience is progressively responsible general clerical or secretarial experience, and specialized experience is progressively responsible secretarial experience that involved responsibility as a principal office assistant to a supervisor who was dealing with law-related matters.

Education above the high school level may be substituted for experience as follows:

• Education in a college, university, or secretarial school of recognized standing may be substituted for a maximum of one year of the general experience on the basis of 30 semester (45 quarter) hours equal nine months of experience.
• A bachelor’s degree from a college or university of recognized standing may be substituted for two years of general experience. Preferably, such degree should have included courses in law, government, public or business administration, or related fields.
• Education in a legal or paralegal curriculum may be substituted for a maximum of two years of specialized experience on the basis of one full academic year (30 semester or 45 quarter hours) equals one year of experience. Less than one full year of study will be credited on a pro-rata basis.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
Preference will be given to applicants who possess:

• A four-year college degree,
• Significant legal secretarial, paralegal, and/or court clerk experience in the criminal or civil legal field, including electronic court filing,
• Or a Juris Doctor (JD) from a law school of recognized standing.

How to Apply

Applicants must submit the following:

• 
  Cover letter that supports your work experience as it relates to the position.
• Resume that includes complete work and salary history, and education.
• Your two most recent performance evaluations OR two letters of recommendation.

Go to our web site: https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/azduscourts to submit an online application, including the items listed above.

Attachments should be submitted only as Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat (PDF) documents. Other formats are not acceptable.

Applications will be considered complete when the online application and all required attachments (in proper format) are received by the Human Resources Division.

Applications and/or attachments received after the closing date may not be considered.

Applicant Information

The Court reserves the right to modify the conditions of this job announcement, or to withdraw the announcement, any of which may occur without prior written or other notice. In the event that a position becomes vacant in a similar classification, within a reasonable time of the original announcement, the court may elect to select a candidate from the applicants who responded to the original announcement without posting the position.

Only qualified applicants will be considered for this position. Employees of the U.S. District Court serve under “Excepted Appointments” and are considered “at will” employees (except for probation officers who may be removed for cause). Federal Civil Service classifications or regulations do not apply; however, court employees are entitled to substantially the same benefits as other Federal Government employees.

The initial appointment to this position is provisional pending the successful completion of the required background checks and/or investigations. The U.S. District Court is a drug-free workplace and the applicant selected will be required to participate in a drug screening test prior to employment.

All information provided by applicants is subject to verification and background investigation. Applicants are advised that false statements or omission of information on any application materials or the inability to meet the following conditions may be grounds for non-selection, withdrawal of an offer of employment or dismissal after being employed.

All promotions are subject to approval of the Judge and by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

Participation in the interview process will be at the applicants’ own expense and relocation expenses will not be provided.

The position is subject to the mandatory electronic fund transfer (EFT) participation for payment of net pay (i.e. Direct Deposit).

Non-citizens may be interviewed and considered for employment, but employment offers will only be made to individuals who qualify under one of the exceptions in 8 U.S.C. §1324b(a)(3)(B). In most cases, this means that an offer of employment cannot be made unless the candidate is a lawful permanent resident who is seeking U.S. citizenship as explained below. Under 8 U.S.C. §1324b(a)(3)(B), a lawful permanent resident seeking citizenship may not apply for citizenship until he or she has been a permanent resident for at least five years (three years if seeking naturalization as a spouse of a citizen), at which point he or she must apply for citizenship within six months of becoming eligible, and must complete the process within two years of applying (unless there is a delay caused by the processors of the application). Non-citizens who have not been permanent residents for five years will be required to execute an affidavit that they intend to apply for citizenship when they become eligible to do so.