GENERAL INFORMATION BULLETIN No. 19-03
TO: Department and Agency Directors of Human Resources
FROM: James Galvin, Director of Staffing Services
SUBJECT: Appointments to New Legal Specialties Traineeship Titles
DATE: January 17, 2019
In a memorandum from the Department of Civil Service's (DCS) Director of Classification and Compensation, dated December 27, 2018, agencies were notified of a restructuring of the Legal Specialties Traineeship. This General Information Bulletin provides information about the selection plan and appointment process for the Legal Specialties Traineeship going forward.
Changes to the Appointment Levels
Entry level appointments can be made to all levels of the Senior Attorney, Senior Attorney (Realty), Senior Attorney (Financial Services), Hearing Officer, Unemployment Insurance Referee and Motor Vehicle Referee traineeships, including the journey level. All appointments must be made to the highest level for which a candidate is qualified.
DCS will be reissuing the continuous recruitment, open competitive announcement for Legal Specialties soon. In addition to new salaries, that announcement will also contain the following changes:
New Titles |
Appointment Level Chart |
|---|---|
Assistant Attorney 1 |
Law school graduation and/or eligibility for NYS Bar Admission |
Assistant Attorney 2 |
Admission to NYS Bar |
Assistant Attorney 3 |
12 months as an Assistant Attorney 2, or Admission to the NYS Bar and 12 months of subsequent satisfactory legal experience |
Assistant Attorney 3 (Financial Services) |
12 months as an Assistant Attorney 2, or Admission to the NYS Bar and 12 months of subsequent satisfactory legal experience |
OR |
|
Assistant Hearing Officer |
12 months as an Assistant Attorney 2, or Admission to the NYS Bar and 12 months of subsequent satisfactory legal experience in the trial of issues in courts of record or in the conduct or trial of adversary proceedings, quasi-judicial in nature, before a governmental department or agency |
Assistant Motor Vehicle Referee / Assistant Motor Vehicle Referee (Spanish Language) |
12 months as an Assistant Attorney 2, or Admission to the NYS Bar and 12 months of subsequent satisfactory legal experience in the trial of issues in courts of record or in the conduct or trial of adversary proceedings, quasi-judicial in nature, before a governmental department or agency |
Assistant Unemployment Insurance Referee /Assistant Unemployment Insurance Referee (Spanish Language) |
12 months as an Assistant Attorney 2, or Admission to the NYS Bar and 12 months of subsequent satisfactory legal experience in the trial of issues in courts of record or in the conduct or trial of adversary proceedings, quasi-judicial in nature, before a governmental department or agency |
Senior Attorney |
12 months as an Assistant Attorney 3, or Admission to the NYS Bar and 24 months of subsequent satisfactory legal experience |
Senior Attorney (Realty) |
12 months as an Assistant Attorney 3, or Admission to the NYS Bar and 24 months of subsequent satisfactory legal experience |
Senior Attorney (Financial Services) |
12 months as an Assistant Attorney 3(Financial Services), or Admission to the NYS Bar and 24 months of subsequent satisfactory legal experience |
OR |
|
Hearing Officer |
12 months as an Assistant Hearing Officer, or Admission to the NYS Bar and 24 months of subsequent satisfactory legal experience in the trial of issues in courts of record or in the conduct or trial of adversary proceedings, quasi-judicial in nature, before a governmental department or agency |
Motor Vehicle Referee/Motor Vehicle Referee (Spanish Language) |
12 months as an Assistant Motor Vehicle Referee/Assistant Motor Vehicle Referee (Spanish Language), or Admission to the NYS Bar and 24 months of subsequent satisfactory legal experience in the trial of issues in courts of record or in the conduct or trial of adversary proceedings, quasi-judicial in nature, before a governmental department or agency |
Unemployment Insurance Referee/Unemployment Insurance Referee (Spanish Language) |
12 months as an Assistant Unemployment Insurance Referee/Assistant Unemployment Insurance Referee (Spanish Language), or Admission to the NYS Bar and 24 months of subsequent satisfactory legal experience in the trial of issues in courts of record or in the conduct or trial of adversary proceedings, quasi-judicial in nature, before a governmental department or agency |
Impact on Current Procedures
Until a new examination is announced, agencies will continue to use the current Legal Specialties managed placed continuous recruitment examination process to fill positions:
LISTS: The profile submission process has not changed.
LERTS: LERTs will look the same, with the candidates' appointment levels remaining as follows:
- Law school graduation or equivalent, but not admitted to NYS Bar��
- NYS Bar admitted�� or
- NYS Bar admitted and 12 months or more subsequent satisfactory legal experience.
The selection process will also remain the same. The final appointment level will depend on the candidate's eligibility and must be made to the highest level for which the eligible qualifies, up to and including the journey level.
Title Structure Change (TSC) of Current Trainees
Effective January 17, 2019, new appointees to the Legal Specialties Traineeship will follow the Title Structure Change chart below.�� New appointees must be notified prior to their appointment how their progression through the traineeship follows the new Title Structure.
Previous Titles |
TSC Titles |
|---|---|
Attorney Trainee 1, Attorney Trainee 2 |
Assistant Attorney 1 |
|
|
Assistant Attorney 1, Assistant Attorney 2 |
Assistant Attorney 2 |
|
|
Attorney 1, Attorney 2 |
Assistant Attorney 3 |
Attorney 1 (Financial Services), Attorney 2 (Financial Services) |
Assistant Attorney 3 (Financial Services) |
Assistant Hearing Officer 1, Assistant Hearing Officer 2 |
Assistant Hearing Officer |
Motor Vehicle Referee Trainee 1, Motor Vehicle Referee Trainee 2 |
Assistant Motor Vehicle Referee |
Motor Vehicle Referee Trainee 1 (Spanish Language), Motor Vehicle Referee Trainee 2 (Spanish Language) |
Assistant Motor Vehicle Referee (Spanish Language) |
Assistant Unemployment Referee 1, Assistant Unemployment Referee 2 |
Assistant Unemployment Insurance Referee |
No Previous Language Parenthetic. |
Assistant Unemployment Insurance Referee (Spanish Language) |
|
|
Journey Level Titles remain the same. |
Journey Level Titles remain the same. |
Probation for Converted Employees
Normally, the probationary period for a trainee is the same length as the traineeship. In some cases, conversion of current trainees directly to the journey level could result in employees serving a probationary period less than the required minimum (26 weeks) for appointment from an open-competitive list.�� Agencies should advise such employees that they will continue in probationary status in accordance with classified service rule 4.5(c) which states, in part:
The probationary term for a trainee appointment or trainee promotion shall coincide with the term of training service, except where an appointment from an open-competitive list can be made to either the trainee or journey level position; in that case, the probationary period for the trainee appointment will be from 26 to 52 weeks or the length of the training period, whichever is greater.
As a result, there may be some cases where an employee may continue to be on probation although the traineeship has been completed.
Under separate cover, agencies will be notified of their current employees' Legal Specialties Traineeship appointment level, probationary status, and the advancement steps for those specific employees.
If you have any questions regarding the details of this General Information Bulletin, please contact Patricia Barrett, Staffing Section 1, at (518) 473-9388.