State of Maryland

A Legal Secretary is the full performance level of work providing legal secretarial support as a personal assistant to one or more Attorneys.  Employees in this classification  prepare legal documents and correspondence pertaining to the conduct of administrative hearings or court cases.  Employees in this classification do not supervise other positions.

Employees in this classification receive general supervision from an Attorney.

Positions in this classification are evaluated by using the classification job evaluation methodology.  The use of this method involves comparing the assigned duties and responsibilities of a position to the job criteria found in the Nature of Work and Examples of Work sections of the class specification.

The Legal Secretary is differentiated from Paralegal in that the Legal Secretary has primarily responsibility for the performance of secretarial services but may occasionally perform some paralegal duties under explicit direction while the Paralegal provides support work to an Attorney involving legal research, application of Maryland case law and prepare various legal documents.  The Legal Secretary is differentiated from Administrative Aides that function as a Legal Secretary in that Administrative Aides serve as personal assistants to Attorneys in charge of substantial staff of attorneys and have duties involving administrative tasks that are auxiliary to the supervisor’s organizational and administrative responsibility, higher level and purpose of personal contacts, greater knowledge of the organization and result in greater scope and effect of work than the Legal Secretary.

Provides legal secretarial support to one or more Attorneys;

Keyboards legal briefs, pleadings, affidavits, subpoenas and other legal documents and correspondence pertaining to the conduct of court cases from corrected copy, rough draft or oral instructions using a computer;

Reviews legal references and other sources in order to verify that legal citations and references are accurate and complete;

Extracts information from a variety of sources and assembles the material for use by the Attorney in case preparation;

Files routine court motions and composes correspondence requesting records needed for case preparation;

Maintains schedules and logs for attorneys in order to maximize the efficient use of time and to meet court imposed deadlines;

Contacts court clerks and other court personnel, State agency personnel, Attorneys, clients and the public regarding the scheduling of hearings and meetings;

Greets visitors and screens telephone calls in order to provide routine information or to direct callers to the appropriate individuals for assistance;

Attends meetings in order to record minutes and transcribes minutes using a computer;

Opens, reviews and distributes incoming mail and proofreads outgoing mail to ensure that correspondence is accurate, complete and appropriate;

Prepares expense accounts and trip itineraries for Attorneys and makes travel arrangements for case witnesses;

May open, record, update, transfer and close case files by posting docket entries on a computer;

May take and transcribe dictation;

Performs other related duties.

Knowledge of office equipment, office procedures, business English, spelling, punctuation, grammar, office procedures and equipment;

Knowledge of legal terminology and its proper usage;

Skill in keyboarding at a minimum speed of 40 words per minute;

Skill in keyboarding legal briefs, pleadings, affidavits, subpoenas and other legal documents and correspondence;

Skill in verifying legal citations and references;

Skill in maintaining case files, schedules and logs;

Ability to maintain the confidentiality of case files, records, testimony, minutes and other evidence;

Ability to communicate effectively with court personnel, government officials, attorneys, clients, the general public and co-workers;

Ability to plan, organize and prioritize work assignments under strict time constraints;

Ability to follow instructions.

Education:   Graduation from an accredited high school or possession of a high school equivalency certificate.

Experience: One year of experience as a legal secretary to include keyboarding legal briefs, pleadings, affidavits, subpoenas and other legal documents; maintaining case files, schedules and logs and verifying legal citations and references.

Notes: 

1. Candidates may substitute additional secretarial or other clerical experience on a year-for-year basis for the required education.

2. Candidates may substitute U.S. Armed Forces military service experience as a non-commissioned officer in Legalman classifications or Paralegal specialty codes in the administrative support field of work on a year-for-year basis for the required experience.

Class specifications are broad descriptions covering groups of positions used by various State departments and agencies. Position descriptions maintained by the using department or agency specifically address the essential job functions of each position.

This is a Skilled Service classification in the State Personnel Management System.  All positions in this classification are Skilled Service positions.  Some positions in Skilled Service classifications may be designated Special Appointment in accordance with the State Personnel and Pensions Article, Section 6-405, Annotated Code of Maryland.

This classification is assigned to Bargaining Unit B- Administrative, Technical and Clerical classes.  As provided by State Personnel and Pensions Article, Section 3-102, special appointment, temporary, contractual, supervisory, managerial and confidential employees are excluded from collective bargaining.  Additionally, certain executive branch agencies are exempt from collective bargaining and all positions in those agencies are excluded from collective bargaining.

Employees in this classification are eligible to receive overtime compensation.  An employee who works more than the normal workweek is entitled to be compensated for that overtime, as provided by the State Personnel and Pensions Article, Section 8-305.