Occ. Code 2602200

LAW DEPARTMENT DOCUMENT SPECIALIST, GRADE 9

New York State Department of Civil Service

Classification Standard

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF CLASS

Law Department Document Specialists support the work of attorneys, paralegal and investigative staff by independently producing the legal documents that are required to support judicial actions. Law Department Document Specialists also produce general legal correspondence, perform case file management and may provide general office support to line attorneys. These positions are only found in the Department of Law.

DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS

LAW DEPARTMENT DOCUMENT SPECIALISTS: serve as legal document preparation assistants to those attorneys within the Department of Law who are involved in litigation before the courts and other venues overseen by judges. Incumbents must possess knowledge of legal terminology and court formatting requirements, and they must be able to verify legal citations and perform other paralegal functions related to the production of legal papers for filing with the courts and opposing counsel, such as assembly of documents and exhibits, and creation of a table of contents page. This work requires the skilled use of keyboarding and information processing equipment.

RELATED CLASSES

Clerks 1 process transactions and monitor records in a variety of organizational settings.

Data Entry Machine Operators spend the majority of work time keying information into the database of mainframe and microcomputers by means of an alphanumeric keyboard and using a variety of screen formats for data entry.

Keyboard Specialists 1 typically spend the majority of their time operating equipment which requires the manipulation of an alphanumeric keyboard in accordance with acceptable levels of production to prepare correspondence, reports, charts and other material. They also perform entry-level clerical and office support tasks.

Keyboard Specialists 2 perform the more difficult and complex clerical processing and records maintenance activities, perform a variety of office support activities, and/or may supervise staff assigned to keyboarding and clerical activities. All of these functions require skilled use of keyboarding and information processing equipment and systems.

Clerks 2 perform complicated clerical activities requiring an understanding of the purpose of transactions and are found in program areas characterized by a number of procedures, rules, regulations, or guidelines that require interpretation or are subject to frequent change. Incumbents must understand the activities and purposes of their program area to answer questions and explain or clarify procedures and use independent judgment to make decisions where clear precedent may not exist.

Secretary 1 incumbents serve as the principal administrative support position in an organizational unit and organize and coordinate its administrative activities, such as handling incoming correspondence and drafting responses; reviewing outgoing correspondence; researching background information; transmitting instructions to staff and following up; handling telephone calls and visits and responding to questions; coordinating and arranging meetings; designing office filing systems; implementing policies and procedures; resolving day-to-day operational problems; expediting and following up on projects; and maintaining efficient work flow.

Legal Assistants 1 perform a variety of paralegal activities that require formal education and certification as a paralegal. The preponderance of duties performed by Legal Assistants is legal work, such as research and analysis, rather than office management or keyboarding activities.

Collection and Civil Prosecution Specialists 1 attempt to collect payment of debts and perform related paralegal work, such as monitoring files in which legal process has been served, drafting papers for review by attorneys, performing occasional legal research, closing files, and monitoring enforcement of judgment.

ILLUSTRATIVE DUTIES

LAW DEPARTMENT DOCUMENT SPECIALIST

Under the direction of an Assistant Attorney General or other litigating attorney in the Department of Law:

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Successful performance on a job-related examination. There is an 18-month traineeship. Appointees serve one year at the Law Department Document Specialist Trainee 1 level before progressing to the Trainee 2 level. Successful completion of six months at the Trainee 2 level results in advancement without further examination to the full journey level of Law Department Document Specialist, G-9. Appointment to Law Department Document Specialist Trainee 1 is usually from the Keyboard Specialist 1 open-competitive eligible list.

 

 

NOTE: Classification Standards illustrate the nature, extent and scope of duties and responsibilities of the classes they describe. Standards cannot and do not include all of the work that might be appropriately performed by a class. The minimum qualifications are those which were required for appointment at the time the Classification Standard was written.

Date: 12/01

Date: 12/01