The Superior Court of California, County of San Mateo is seeking qualified and experienced candidates for Court Staff Attorney I/II (Family Law Facilitator) – Limited Term. Limited term employees work in assignments not to exceed three years. They receive medical and dental benefits, similar to regular employees, and a defined contribution retirement plan. The eligible or hiring list created from this recruitment will be used to fill these limited term vacancies and could also be used to fill future full-time, part-time, limited term and extra-help vacancies.

Court Staff Attorneys assigned to the Self Help/Family Law Facilitator’s office assist in the implementation and coordination of programs within the Superior Court of San Mateo County; designed to assist Self-Represented Litigants (SRL) in area of Family Law, Civil, Probate, Small Claims and other area of law pertaining to SRL.

This position is funded by the Firearms Relinquishment Grant from the Judicial Council of California. This funding is dedicated to ensuring the consistent and safe removal of firearms from individuals who become prohibited from owning or possessing firearms or ammunition pursuant to a court order. Grant funds will be utilized to ensure that protected parties and restrained parties are aware of the existing law and its requirements. Potential protected parties will be assisted in applying for a variety of civil restraining orders. Restrained parties will be assisted with voluntary compliance.

The ideal candidate will be a member of the California State Bar (required) and will possess extensive working knowledge of California civil law and procedure, as well the functions of a California Superior Court. In addition, the ideal candidate will possess:

• 
  Proven experience with family law cases.
• Superior analytical skills and writing ability.
• The ability to work independently and with minimal supervision.
• The ability to coordinate multiple projects and consistently meet deadlines.
• A strong understanding of the importance of and the ability to maintain confidentiality.
• Excellent problem-solving skills.
• Exemplary verbal and written communication skills.

This is a limited term, at-will position. Limited Term Employees are assigned to assignments not to exceed three years. They receive medical and dental benefits, similar to regular employees, and a defined contribution retirement plan. The eligible list generated from this recruitment may be used to fill future extra-help, term, unclassified, and regular classified vacancies.

Please visit https://www.sanmateocourt.org/ for more information on our organization.

Examples Of Duties

Essential duties may include, but are not limited to the following:

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  Provide direct assistance to self-represented litigants.
• Oversee direct assistance provided by interns and non-attorney staff in the Family Law Facilitator’s office.
• Provide in-court assistance to the judges and commissioners of the County of San Mateo Superior Court bench;
• Prepare clear, concise and accurate reports, documents, correspondence, procedures and other written materials.

Qualifications

Education and Experience:
Any combination of education and experience that would likely provide the required knowledge, skills and abilities is qualifying for Court Staff Attorney I/II:

Required Knowledge of:

• 
  General legal principles and application to civil law, particularly family law.
• General knowledge of the Civil Code, the Code of Civil Procedure, Evidence Code, California Rules of Court, and local rules.
• Evidentiary principles, pre-trial, hearing and trial procedures.
• Legal research techniques, including the use of case law, statutory law, secondary sources and legal indices and digests.
• Office practices and procedures, including filing and operation of standard office equipment.
• Business data processing principles and the use of automation tools for retrieval and analysis.
• Business letter and legal document formatting, and related office applications such as Word.
• Correct use of English, including grammar, spelling and punctuation.

Required Skill/Ability to:

• Interpret, evaluate, make decisions in accordance with, and explain complex laws, regulations, policies and procedures.
• Make sound, independent decisions within established legal, policy and procedural guidelines.
• Communicate effectively, both orally and in writing.
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with those contacted in the course of the work.

Application/Examination

This is a limited term recruitment. Anyone may apply. Responses to the supplemental questions must be submitted in addition to our regular employment application form. A resume will not be accepted as a substitute for the required employment application and supplemental questionnaire.

The examination process will consist of an application screening (pass/fail) based on the candidate's resume and responses to the supplemental questions. Candidates who pass the application screening will be invited to a panel interview (weight: 100%). Depending on the number of applicants, an application appraisal of education and experience may be used in place of other examinations, or further evaluation of work experience may be conducted to group applicants by level of qualification. Applicants who meet the minimum qualifications are not guaranteed advancement through any subsequent phase of the examination. All examinations will be given in County of San Mateo, California, and applicants must participate at their own expense.

IMPORTANT: Applications for this position will only be accepted online. If you are currently on the County's website, you may click the "Apply" button. If you are not on the County's website, please go to https://jobs.smcgov.org/ to apply. Online applications must be received by the Human Resources Department before midnight on the final filing date.

Complete application packets will consist of:

• 
  A resume.

County of San Mateo Human Resources Department
Attn: Sedrick Dixon
455 County Center - 1st Floor
Redwood City, CA 94063
Telephone: 650-363-4303
Email: sdixon@smcgov.org

TENTATIVE RECRUITMENT SCHEDULE
Final Filing Date: Monday, May 8, 2023, 11:59 PM PST
Application Screening: Week of May 15, 2023
Civil Service Panel Interview: June 8, 2023

The County of San Mateo may require that all employees provide proof of COVID-19 vaccine or comply with weekly COVID-19 testing. Employees hired into specified health care facilities and other high-risk settings where there is potential for frequent COVID-19 exposure to staff and highly vulnerable patients are required to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination. For more specific information, please refer to the County's COVID-19 Vaccine and Testing Policy .

The Superior Court of California, County of San Mateo is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and we encourage applications from candidates who will contribute to our diversity.

Note: Although the County is conducting the recruitment with the Superior Court, this position is not a County position.

Analyst: Sedrick Dixon (041723) (Court Staff Attorney I/II - X434/X435)