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The County of San Mateo District Attorney's Office is accepting applications for the position of Paralegal.
About the Agency
The San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office mission is to prosecute adult and juvenile offenders, provide services to support victims, enforce consumer and environmental laws, provide legal and investigative support to public safety partners and to remain committed to the principles of equity and transparency in seeking justice and greater public safety. To that end, we are committed to ensuring that no member of our office will seek or obtain a criminal conviction or seek or obtain a sentence of any individual based on race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, or disability. To learn more about the District’s Attorney’s Office please visit: https://www.smcgov.org/da.
The Position
Paralegals perform a wide range of complex legal support work, such as conducting legal research, preparing legal memoranda, motions and other documents, responding to discovery requests, corresponding with attorneys, and assisting attorneys in all aspects of case preparation. Incumbents may receive general direction regarding the scope and approach to projects or assignments, but procedures and techniques are discretionary, and incumbents are expected to possess the initiative to operate with a significant degree of independence.
The ideal candidate for this position will be able to handle several projects and assignments simultaneously, have experience with complex legal support work, strong oral and written communication skills, well developed computer skills, as well as proficiency with the full range of Microsoft products (including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook) in addition to legal case management software. The ideal candidate will work collaboratively with office management, attorneys, support staff, and other County departments, and will be able to accept assignments outside of their prior work experience. The abilities to independently conduct legal research, use initiative, exercise sound judgment, set priorities and meet critical deadlines are also strongly desired. In addition, the ideal candidate will have experience in processes and procedures related to the field of criminal law.
There is currently one vacancy to be filled.
NOTE: The eligible list generated from this recruitment may be used to fill future extra-help, term, unclassified, and regular classified vacancies.
Examples Of Duties
Duties may include, but are not limited to, the following:
QUALIFICATIONS
Education and Experience:
Any combination of education and experience that would likely provide the required knowledge, skills and abilities is qualifying. A typical way to qualify is:
Knowledge of:
Skill/Ability to:
APPLICATION / EXAMINATION
Open & Promotional. Anyone may apply. Current County of San Mateo and County of San Mateo Superior Court of California employees with at least six months (1040 hours) of continuous service in a classified regular, probationary, extra-help/limited term positions prior to the final filing date will receive five points added to their final passing score
Responses to supplemental questions are required and must be submitted in addition to the standard County of San Mateo employment application. A resume or reference to a resume will not be accepted as a substitute for your responses to these questions or the employment application.
The examination process will consist of an application screening (weight: pass/fail) based on the candidate's application 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.
All applicants who meet the minimum qualifications are not guaranteed advancement through any subsequent phase of the examination. All examinations will be given in the 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.
TENTATIVE RECRUITMENT SCHEDULE
Final Filing Date: June 12, 2025, at 11:59 PM
Application Screening: June 17-18, 2025
Panel Interviews: June 25-26, 2025
About the County
San Mateo County is centrally located between San Francisco, San Jose, and the East Bay. With over 750,000 residents, San Mateo is one of the largest and most diverse counties in California and serves a multitude of culturally, ethnically, and linguistically diverse communities.
The County of San Mateo is committed to advancing equity to ensure that all employees are welcomed in a safe and inclusive environment. The County seeks to hire, support, and retain employees who reflect our diverse community. We encourage applicants with diverse backgrounds and lived experiences to apply. Eighty percent of employees surveyed stated that they would recommend the County as a great place to work.
The County of San Mateo is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering diversity, equity and inclusion at all levels.
Analyst: Chet Overstreet (05292025) Paralegal (E008)
The Department:
The responsibilities of the City Attorney's Office broadly consist of representing and advising the City Council, City officials, and employees of all City departments in all matters of law pertaining to their offices and departments. This includes appearing on behalf of the City in legal actions or proceedings, providing the City Council with information and advice on wide range of legal matters including litigation and new legislation, and staffing City Council and City Board and Commission meetings as necessary. The City Attorney's Office provides legal advice and support on matters initiated by the City Council, City Manager's Office, and all City departments. Typical work includes research and opinion on various issues; review and negotiation of contracts, leases, or permits; drafting employee policies; review and drafting of resolutions, ordinances, and agenda reports; and preparation of responses to Public Records Act requests.
The Position:
The City is recruiting to fill one (1) Assistant City Attorney position. Ideally, the position will be assigned to act as the primary advisor to the City’s Human Resources Department, with additional general municipal areas of work for other departments including but not limited to finance, governance, conflicts of interest, open meetings, and public records.
The position is expected to perform a wide variety of legal services ranging from litigation (or litigation management) of administrative matters (such as internal disciplinary appeals, PERB UPC charges, and CalPERS determinations) to collective bargaining and MOU review/drafting; legal research and drafting opinions; negotiating contracts; drafting disciplinary documents; drafting resolutions and ordinances; providing on-call legal support to all divisions of the Human Resources Department (records, benefits, testing, classification, labor, workers compensation, recruitment, safety, risk management, etc.); and, staffing commission meetings such as the Civil Service Commission and Salary Setting Commission. This position is also expected to perform other duties as assigned.
The ideal candidate will have superior legal analytical ability and excellent research, writing and oral communication skills and the ability to deal effectively with City employees, opposing counsel, elected and appointed officials, and members of the public.
The ideal candidate will also have experience defending allegations of misconduct in personnel matters, significant experience advising on human resource issues, including Fair Labor Standards Act, Meyers-Milias-Brown Act, labor negotiations, California Public Employees’ Retirement Law, state and federal benefits/leave laws, state and federal employment-related tax laws, and experience providing training in laws, regulations, policies and best practices in personnel management and workplace misconduct
This is a professional position in the Unclassified Service, is an “at-will” position, and the incumbent serves at the discretion of the City Manager. This position is responsible for performing a broad range of duties, which deal with more complex issues. An incumbent in this classification must exercise independent judgment and discretion; manage, control, and direct employees; and formulate administrative policies for the effective use of assigned personnel. The position requires a demonstrated ability to work well with management, professional and administrative support employees in the Office; with clients, professionals, managers, City’s executive management team and all City Departments and elected and appointed officials from the City and various boards, commissions, and committees. An incumbent in this classification must demonstrate strong ethical, professional, and service-oriented leadership and interpersonal skills, set a good example; and correctly apply and abide by the tenets of the City’s Code of Ethics and Values.
This recruitment may be used to fill multiple positions in this, or other divisions or departments. If you are interested in employment in this classification, you should apply to ensure you are considered for additional opportunities that may utilize the applicants from this recruitment.
Additional Information:
Applications must be filled out completely (e.g. do not write “see resume, NA, or personnel file.”). To receive consideration for the screening process, candidates must submit a 1) Cover Letter 2) Resume, and 3) Writing Sample of maximum 5 pages (appropriate examples would be a staff report, public legal memo, redacted memo). Incomplete applications will not be considered.
Application packets may be submitted online through the “Apply Now” feature on the job announcement at www.santaclaraca.gov. This job posting is open until filled: Applications will be reviewed on a monthly basis. If you are interested in applying you are encouraged to apply as soon as possible, before the posting is closed, which may happen at any time.
THIS RECRUITMENT MAY BE USED TO FILL MULTIPLE POSITIONS IN THIS, OR OTHER DIVISIONS OR DEPARTMENTS BESIDES THE POSITIONS LISTED BELOW. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN EMPLOYMENT IN THIS CLASSIFICATION, YOU SHOULD APPLY TO ENSURE YOU ARE CONSIDERED FOR ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES THAT MAY UTILIZE THE APPLICANTS FROM THIS RECRUITMENT. MEETING THE MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS DOES NOT GUARANTEE ADMITTANCE INTO THE EXAMINATION PROCESS. ONLY THE MOST QUALIFIED CANDIDATES WHO DEMONSTRATE THE BEST COMBINATION OF QUALIFICATIONS IN RELATION TO THE REQUIREMENTS AND DUTIES OF THE POSITION WILL BE INVITED TO TEST OR INTERVIEW.
The annual salary range for this position is $213,185.04 - $275,895.96. This position will be filled at or near the minimum of the salary range.
Minimum Qualifications
EXPERIENCE
• J.D. or L.L.B. from an accredited law school;
• Six (6) years recent experience in the general practice of law. Four (4) years of the qualifying experience must include dealing with municipal, county or state governmental agencies in the State of California;
• One year of supervisory experience is desirable; and
• Trial experience is highly desirable.
CERTIFICATION
• Active member in good standing of the State Bar of California is required;
• Admission to the Federal District Court and Federal Appeals Court Bar is desirable.
LICENSE:
Possession of an appropriate California driver's license is required.
OTHER REQUIREMENTS
Must be able to perform all of the essential functions of the job.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
Incumbents in this position are required to file a Conflict of Interest statement upon assuming office, annually and upon leaving office, in accordance with City Manager Directive 100.
