Legal Office Assistant (Non-Permanent) – HQ Production Center, Spokane Valley

Description

Duties

Process and publish notices and orders:

• Draft, process and publish notices received from the Legal Assistant 2 team.
• Process and publish orders received from Administrative Law Judges.
• Ensure all documents are processed and published timely according to caseload specifications and utilizing correct templates.
• Perform electronic quality checks on all notices and orders to ensure documents meet proofing standards.
• Ensure notices and orders are accurately uploaded to PRISM.
• Ensure all outgoing documents include appropriate exhibits and/or supplemental materials.
• Review and manage the PRISM dashboard to ensure all orders have been published and mailed.
• Ensure that the case management system reflects the current status of the case, and close out cases when complete.

Outgoing USPS mail and electronic delivery of notices and orders:

• Operate all Production Center equipment and related software. 
• Bulk-print, insert and add postage to notices, orders and other documents.
• Send secure email notices and orders to agency departments and other relevant parties on a daily basis, following established protocol.
• Ensure all notices, orders and other documents are mailed to the correct parties.
• Deliver mail to the building mail by designated pick-up time. 

Process incoming USPS mail:

• Retrieve mail from the building mailroom.
• Open and date stamp both outer envelope and contents
• Scan to appropriate caseload folder location.
• Rename UI scanned files using established naming conventions.

Document management and input/exhibiting:

• Assist the Legal Assistant team with supplemental document management when requested. Prepare and accurately upload to Prism documents received from various sources; portal, e-fax, secure email, USPS, delivered in person.
• Assist the LA2 team with UI case input (case set up) and exhibiting when needed.

Provide back-up coverage for other support team members and for the OAH Adjudicative Support Center as needed.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

• Option 1: High School diploma or equivalent AND two (2) years of clerical experience, including a minimum of six (6) months of experience in a legal or professional office environment (e.g., medical office, court clerk, bank or accounting firm).
• Option 2: One (1) year of legal office experience.
• Option 3: A combination of two (2) years of college education and/or relevant experience.

Successful candidates will also possess the following knowledge and skills:
Demonstrated skills in keyboarding/typing, filing, proofreading, grammar, spelling, and use of office equipment.

Statewide Equity Competencies:

• Take action to learn and grow: Curious about self and others. Takes responsibility for knowing own strengths and weaknesses. Uses their learning to make government programs and processes more efficient and effective to serve all of Washington.
• Take action to meet the needs of others: Flexible, adaptable, and customer service focused. Willing and able to empathetically respond to the unique needs of the people they work with and serve.

OAH Core Competencies:

• Accountability and dependability: Accepts personal responsibility for quality work and actions. Meets productivity standards and timeliness standards. Produces accurate and timely work with minimal supervision. Uses professional judgment to balance quality of work with ability to meet timeliness standards. Informs supervisor or appropriate others of problems, identifies issues and offers solutions. Gives and accepts constructive feedback. Focuses on the situation, issue, or behavior rather than the person. Punctual and regular work attendance with minimal unplanned/unauthorized absences.
• Adaptability and flexibility: Adapts to changing business needs, conditions, priorities and work responsibilities. Uses customer feedback and evaluations as a measure of quality, and makes adjustments to reach goals. Uses problem solving and analytical skills to improve processes. 
• Attention to detail: Diligently attends to details and pursues quality in accomplishing tasks. Performs tasks with care; is thorough. Makes few errors. Checks work to ensure accuracy and completeness. Compares observations or finished work to what is expected to find inconsistencies. Remains aware and takes care of details that are easy to overlook or dismiss as insignificant.
• Communication effectiveness: Effectively receives and conveys ideas and information both verbally and in writing, and exhibits active listening skills.  Participates in meetings in an active, cooperative, and courteous manner. Uses “plain talk” both orally and in writing. Responds timely to email, phone messages, mail, and faxes. Composes clear, straightforward, and technically correct documents. Chooses the most effective and meaningful written form to express information. States information as simply as possible and organizes information logically. Proofreads and edits according to accepted rules of English language. Writes effectively for the intended audience.
• Ethics and integrity: Earns others’ trust and respect by demonstrating consistent honesty, forthrightness and professionalism in all interactions. Protects privileged and confidential information. Uses work time, equipment, and resources efficiently and effectively. Follows policies, rules and procedures. Avoids situations and actions considered inappropriate or which present a conflict of interest. Tells the truth and is honest in all dealings. Follows through on commitments.
• Relationship and team building: Builds constructive working relationships that reflect acceptance, cooperation, and mutual regard. Earns the trust, respect and confidence of co-workers and customers through consistent respectful, professional, transparent interactions. Promotes cooperation and commitment within a team to achieve goals. Maintains an open, approachable manner, and treats others fairly and respectfully. Preserves others’ self-confidence and dignity, and shows regard for their opinions and perspectives. Sees the value of cultural, ethnic, gender and other individual differences in people. Seeks to resolve disagreements constructively and avoids engaging in gossip and rumors.
• Self-awareness and commitment to growth: Understands own personal identity and cultural background. Realizes all lived experience are not the same. Explores and identifies own biases. Understands how own values and biases impact communication, working relationships, and communities served. Examines own perspectives as they relate to own personal and professional growth goals.

Position-Specific Competencies:

• Active Listening Skills: Effectively listens, asks questions, and confirms understanding when receiving information. Listens and responds with empathy.
• Customer Focus: Builds and maintains internal and external customer satisfaction with the products and services offered by the organization. Provides products and services that consistently meet the needs and expectations of customers.
• Self-awareness and commitment to growth: Understands own personal identity and cultural background. Realizes all lived experience are not the same. Explores and identifies own biases. Understands how own values and biases impact communication, working relationships, and communities served. Examines own perspectives as they relate to own personal and professional growth goals.
• Initiative: Demonstrate a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges. Able to determine and act upon the appropriate course of action in supervisor’s absence, demonstrate good judgment, and work independently in a complex environment, and as a team member.
• Interpersonal Skills: Ability to develop, maintain, and strengthen partnership and work cooperatively with others, inside or outside the organization, who can provide information assistance and support. Build constructive working relationships characterized by a high level of acceptance, cooperation, and mutual regard. Adapts to and works effectively with a variety of situations and people.
• Knowledge Retention: Ability to learn and retain new or changing information and processes regarding caseloads, office procedures, and policies. Take initiative to use personalized methods based on own learning style to learn and retain information that has been presented. Ability to learn, retain and apply WACs, RCWs, and other rules to OAH procedures and processes.
• Organizational Skills and Records Management: Ability to collect, organize, store, maintain, and retrieve accurate records, documents, and information. Maintain files to ensure smooth, efficient operation and knowledge of work product. Attention to detail in coordinating and scheduling events related to office operations or scheduling of hearings.
• Prioritization: The ability to effectively organize multiple assignments of a complex nature or involving competing priorities to produce work products that are accurate, thorough, and timely.
• Regular and Reliable Attendance: Has minimal unplanned, unnecessary absences, has reliable attendance, and gets the job done.
• Tact and Diplomacy: Responds to difficult, stressful, or sensitive interpersonal situations in ways that reduce or minimize potential conflict and maintains good working relationships among internal and external customers. Tactfully presents information in an objective and neutral manner. Remains calm, patient and with self-control when responding to resistance or conflict. Seeks to learn and demonstrates respect for other perspectives. Keeps conversations positive, focusing on options, benefits, and sources of assistance.
• Technology Skills: Ability to use computer and case management system to effectively process assigned cases. Ability to independently produce electronic legal documents. Ability to use email, telephone, and conference call systems to communicate with others. Proficiently uses personal computers and Microsoft Applications such as Word, Excel, Outlook email and calendar, and PowerPoint to produce timely and accurate work products that fully satisfy the demands of the assignment. Accurately enters data into a computer in a prompt and timely manner.
• Workload Management: Accurately, effectively, and independently handles workload assigned. Engages in timely and effective problem solving. Effectively plans and organizes multiple assignments, sometimes of a complex nature or involving competing priorities, to produce work products that are accurate, thorough, and on time. Manages one's time and resources effectively. Sets high standards of performance for self and others. Assumes responsibility and accountability for successful completion of assignments or tasks. Self-imposes standards of excellence rather than having standards imposed. Consistently produces accurate work within assigned timelines.

Supplemental Information