Legal Assistant

Nestled in the scenic foothills of the Cascade Mountains, the City of Snoqualmie is a vibrant and growing community known for its exceptional quality of life, strong sense of community, and stunning natural surroundings. The City is perhaps best known for the iconic Snoqualmie Falls, which attracts visitors from around the world and serves as a centerpiece of the region’s natural beauty. Snoqualmie blends small-town charm with forward-thinking development, offering a balance of residential neighborhoods, thriving local businesses, and outdoor recreation opportunities. With continued growth and development, the City is committed to thoughtful planning, economic vitality, environmental stewardship, and maintaining the character that makes Snoqualmie unique. City leadership is dedicated to providing high-quality public services, fostering community engagement, and building strong partnerships across the region.

Equity Statement:
The City of Snoqualmie strives to be a diverse workforce that is representative of the community we serve. We value a variety of perspectives and life experiences and encourage people of all backgrounds to apply. Applicants are considered for employment without regard to race, color, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, national origin, marital status, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, or any other protected status under federal, state and local laws. We believe diversity and inclusion among our teammates is critical to the success of our City operations.

Summary:
This is an at-will management/professional position that performs a variety of confidential and administrative tasks to support the City Attorney. The ideal candidate will have excellent customer service and communication skills, exercise sound judgment, and ability to balance competing priorities, detailed projects, and daily tasks. An individual in this position will have a positive attitude, be self-motivated, a team player, have a willingness to learn, and be able to build and maintain good working relationships with elected officials, City staff, and members of the public. An individual in this position will assist in providing legal services for the City, including labor relations, researching law, investigating facts, and preparing legal documents.

•Perform basic legal research under the direction of attorneys
•Draft, review, and proof basic contracts, ordinances, agenda bills, and other legal documents for review and approval by attorneys. 
•Assist the attorneys in preparing for trial and preparing responses to requests for legal opinions. 
•Prepare drafts of initial pleadings, discovery documents, and other legal pleadings and papers relating to litigation.
•Assist with end-to-end discovery response process, including coordinating document collection, ensuring timely and accurate production, and maintaining compliance with legal and procedural requirements.
•Prepare and maintain accurate and complete case files; arrange for filing and service of legal documents.
•Prepare graphic aids, tables, slides, and other audio/visual devices for attorneys.
•Establish and maintain a fully indexed and cross-referenced bank of briefs, memoranda, and other research documents previously produced by the department.
•Oversee the organization and maintenance of materials in the City Attorney’s Office’s electronic research database and determines the need for new/updated materials.
•Assist with investigations and interviews with City employees and others to gather information relating to legal issues and/or litigation.
•Assist attorneys in managing workloads and meeting deadlines through reminder systems, organizational assistance, client communication, and assistance with research and drafting.  
•Track, monitor and report department projects, attorney availability and project status and deadlines to City Attorney.
•Track legal matters and maintain related legal and technical files and records, including case files, contract files, tracking spreadsheets, and legal templates, and interdepartmental intranet client resources. 
•Complete a broad variety of administrative tasks including but not limited to: scheduling meetings and managing calendars, preparing and managing confidential documents, processing invoices for payment and monitoring budget expenditures, and providing support and communication to management and staff.
•Assist with analyzing the Legal Department needs for budget preparation. Gather data and assist in compiling and preparing budget documents. Compile statistics and research projected expenditures; prepare status reports, charts and graphs as requested.
•Maintain confidentiality of department operations and information including all labor-management affairs, collective bargaining negotiations, grievances and disciplinary matters.
•Attend frequent evening and occasional weekend meetings as assigned to provide support to legal staff.
•Manage supplies and office equipment.
•May be assigned to support critical City priorities during disasters or other emergencies.
•Other related work as assigned.

This is not designed to be a comprehensive listing of all activities, duties and responsibilities required of the job. Other duties may be assigned and/or performed.

•U.S. Citizen or legally eligible to work in the United States.
•Associate degree  with course work focused in criminal law, pre law, law, business, records management, library science, public administration, or closely related field preferred. 
•Three years of increasingly responsible legal and administrative support experience.
•Any combination of education and experience which would provide the applicant with the desired skills, knowledge and abilities required to perform the job.
•Notary license or ability to obtain one within 6 months of hire.
•Successfully pass a pre-employment background check.

Knowledge of
•General knowledge of basic municipal government and a City Attorney’s Office.
•General knowledge of laws, ordinances and code regulations governing areas of assignment including but not limited to Open Public Meetings Act, Public Records Act, and Mayor-Council form of government.
•Knowledge of legal research, legal publications, and ability to keep publications organized and up to date.
•Knowledge of principles, practices and the laws, ordinances, rules, and regulations affecting basic records management.
•Knowledge of correct English usage, spelling, grammar, and punctuation.  
•Knowledge of basic accounting skills.

 Ability to
•Deal tactfully and effectively with city officials, employees, court officials, and the general public.
•Strong verbal communication skills, strong customer service skills, and the ability to communicate professionally, clearly, and effectively with elected officials, City staff, and the public.
•Effective interpersonal skills using professionalism, tact, patience, and courtesy.
•Maintain confidentiality and handle confidential information with discretion.
•Be adaptable to various competing demands and demonstrate the highest level of customer service and response.
•Work with minimal supervision on projects, from conception to completion, prioritize work, and meet deadlines with a high level of accuracy and attention to detail.
•Use independent, sound, judgment to solve problems and collaborate to accomplish tasks.
•Demonstrated proficiency in use of a personal computer and Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, Access, PowerPoint, and Outlook) and Adobe products, and ability to learn other computer program applications as required by the job, as well as standard office equipment.
•Maintain regular, predictable, and reliable attendance.
•Attend evening or occasional weekend meetings. 
•Be coachable. 
•Collaborate on a regular basis. 
•Demonstrate accountability. 
•Work in a team and work independently with little oversight and without frequent reminders. 
•Adhere to the job site safety plan. 

The physical demands and work environment described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 

Work is performed in an office or conference room environment setting.  Work involves sitting for prolonged periods of time, walking, talking, hearing, using hands to handle, feel or operate objects, tools or controls and reach with hands and arms.  Vision abilities required by this position include close vision and the ability to adjust focus. Hand-eye coordination and fine manipulation skills are necessary to operate computers and office equipment. Good listening skills and occasional lifting of up to 50 pounds.  The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.