Legal Assistant

Starting Wage Range: $32.74/hr. - $42.16/hr.

Job Summary:

Provides a full range of legal and litigation support services for the Tribal Attorney’s Office, including administrative tasks which contribute to the efficient delivery of legal services to Tribal Council, Tribal administration and Tribal businesses. 

Essential Functions:

• Prepares, edits, proofreads and processes a variety of general and legal documents from transcription, rough draft or verbal instruction.
• Examines legal pleadings for accuracy, completeness and consistency, and formats legal pleadings and other written materials to conform to the applicable style and format rules for the particular court or other venue.
• Files pleadings, whether in hard copy or electronic form, with courts and other venues.
• Assists with legal research, case management, and litigation preparation including development of trial notebooks, production of documents, witness lists, etc. as requested.
• Keeps abreast of applicable laws, court rules, procedures and citation guidance.
• Maintains, tracks, and updates materials in Tribal law library.
• Maintains accurate office accounting records using general bookkeeping principles; including but not limited to, tracks expenses and enters data into tracking spreadsheets and reconciles expenses with financial records on a regular basis and adjusts as needed.
• Schedules meetings and appointments as necessary.
• Coordinates travel arrangements, event and training registrations, expense advances and reimbursements, etc. as necessary.
• Provides miscellaneous support services including copying, scanning, and faxing documents.
• Provides backup coverage for receptionist/clerical duties as needed including; but not limited to, answers telephone, screens calls, greets visitors, etc., opens, logs, and distributes mail in a timely manner, creates, updates, and maintains files, file lists, binders, logs, etc., and prepares and processes various forms for payments to vendors.
• Maintains strict confidentiality on all matters handled by the office.
• Performs a variety of other miscellaneous administrative duties as assigned.

Education, Experience, and Licenses:

• Requires a high school diploma or GED and eighteen (18) months or more legal training such as an Associate’s degree in legal studies or paralegal certification training. Bachelor’s degree preferred.
• Requires a minimum of five (5) years of work experience performing legal assisting duties in a legal office environment, preferably working for multiple attorneys. Experience must include working knowledge of basic legal documents, e.g., pleadings, memoranda, etc.
• Requires advanced experience in the use of a personal computer for word processing and data entry operations, with demonstrated excellence in the use of the Microsoft Office suite of applications – Work, Excel, and Outlook in particular.
• Must be commissioned by the Oregon Secretary of State as a Notary Public, or become commissioned within six (6) months of becoming employed with the Tribal Attorney’s Office.

Qualifications, Registrations, and Certifications:

• Requires advanced knowledge of legal office procedures, filing systems, and legal documents.
• Requires excellent oral and written communication skills and working knowledge of the English language, including correct punctuation, spelling and sentence structure, and the ability to draft correspondence, pleadings and other legal documents.
• Requires ability to operate standard office equipment.
• Requires ability to perform word processing and data entry accurately.
• Requires demonstrated ability to type 40 words per minute. An assessment may be completed as part of application review process.
• Requires ability to alphabetize accurately.
• Requires ability to prioritize and complete multiple tasks quickly and accurately in a fast-paced and stressful environment.
• Requires ability to work with angry or disgruntled clients in a cooperative and effective manner.
• Requires ability to work with minimum supervision; as well as the ability to work collaboratively as part of a team.
• Requires knowledge of and sensitivity to Native American culture.

Environmental Factors and Conditions/Physical Requirements:

• Continually requires the ability to express or receive detailed information or important instructions through oral communication.
• Continually requires working with fingers rather than the whole hand or arm. Requires repetitive movement of wrists, hands and/or fingers. Often requires walking or moving about to accomplish tasks.
• Requires standing and/or sitting for sustained periods of time, raising objects from a lower to a higher position and/or moving objects horizontally.
• Occasionally requires lifting of up to 40 pounds.
• Due to the nature of the interactions with other employees and the public we serve, employees may be required to provide documentation of, or receive, certain health vaccinations.
• This position is frequently subject to inside environmental conditions which provide protection from weather conditions, but not necessarily from temperature changes, and is occasionally subject to outside environmental conditions.
• May be called upon to serve as a Disaster Reservist during Emergencies, or when the Tribal Emergency Operations Center is opened.
• Local travel is occasionally required. Travel outside of the state is infrequently required.

Background Check:

Candidates for this position will be subject to criminal and character background checks and may be subject to fingerprinting.