Senior Legal Assistant/Legal Assistant (10770, Grade 24/20)

Looking for Legal Assistant/Senior Legal Assistant Extraordinaire!  The Montgomery County Land Use Team of the Office of General Counsel of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, a national leader in public parks, recreation, and the regulation of real estate development, is searching for a Legal Assistant or Senior Legal Assistant to join our in-house Legal Department.  We need someone who can manage office operations and is organized, reliable, flexible and detail oriented.  You will join a team of lawyers and legal assistants who provide legal advice and support to the Montgomery Planning Board and Planning Department.  

This position supports professional legal work within the Montgomery County Land Use Team by performing a range of administrative and legal duties.  This position is focused on: (1) reviewing, tracking and processing of Planning Board resolutions; (2) supporting attorneys in filing documents in circuit and appellate courts; (3) docketing and distributing agreements for review among office attorneys; (4) processing conference attendance, professional memberships and reimbursement requests; (5) reviewing inventory and ordering office supplies; (6) routing documents for proper signatures; (7) scheduling meetings as requested; (8) assuring proper handling and retention of legal office files; and (9) interacting with the public and others within the Commission.  Performs other duties as assigned.
 
Work is often highly confidential or highly sensitive and requires accuracy and completeness. The Legal Assistant interacts with people inside and outside the organization to exchange information, coordinate, instruct, guide, and advise. The successful candidate will be a team player and problem-solver with excellent computer skills, and be comfortable using MS Office programs, Adobe, enterprise software, and internet search engines.    If you are a detail oriented, customer service-focused, reliable legal support professional looking to join a great team, this is your next job.

Legal Assistant Range $ 56,358 - $99,814 Annually
Senior Legal Assistant Range $ 63,891 - $113,151  Annually  

Our ideal candidate for Legal Assistant has:

• Knowledge of document management, version tracking and experience working with complex   agreements and documents.
• Knowledge of, and substantial skill in using, a complete system of technical processes for providing substantive and procedural legal support to the Land Use Team.
• Experience dealing with the public and government agencies in a professional and courteous manner.
• Knowledge of legal concepts, legal terminology, and a variety of general and specializedlegal processes, particularly related to regulatory bodies and/or real estate.
• Knowledge of contract processing, administrative functions and office protocols.* 
• Knowledge of process for filing court documents in Maryland courts.*
• Technical writing skills in order to provide back up at Planning Board meetings.*
• Knowledge of Commission and Planning Board organization, policies, and procedures.*

1. Administrative Support for Legal Office. Organizing, tracking and coordinating office operations to aid in productive output from the Montgomery County Land Use Team legal office in support of the Montgomery County Planning Board and Montgomery County Planning Department.
2. Document Management. Reviewing, distributing, tracking and editing Montgomery County Land Use agreements, resolutions and other documents submitted for legal review, maintaining electronic files and office library materials.  
3. Public Communications. Responding and communicating with the public as well as other agency and department staff, including in person coverage of reception area, managing telephones and mail.

• Knowledge of document management, version tracking and experience working with complex agreements and documents.
• Advanced knowledge of, and substantial skill in using, a complete system of technical processes for providing substantive and procedural legal support to the Land Use Team.
• Substantial experience dealing with the public and government agencies.
• Experience with reviewing, critiquing and suggesting changes to processes and procedures to increase efficiency.
• Experience and knowledge of filing documents in Maryland courts.
• Experience training others on processes and procedures.
• Knowledge of legal concepts, legal terminology, and a variety of general and specialized legal processes, particularly related to regulatory bodies and/or real estate.
• Knowledge of contract processing, administrative functions and office protocols. * 
• Technical writing skills in order to provide back up at Planning Board meetings. *  
• Knowledge of Commission and Planning Board organization, policies, and procedures. *

1. Legislative Support. Leads coordination of litigation support work which includes tracking of the litigation caseload, developing monthly reports, and providing as-needed support to the Montgomery County Land Use Office of the General Counsel. Prepares drafts of legal briefs, motions and memoranda; and ensures editing and proofreading of litigation documents. 
2. Understands and trains attorneys or other staff on new court rules and procedures as needed. Remains up to date on policies and procedures of the Land Use Maryland courts. Suggests policy or procedure adjustments as needed to comply with new Maryland Rules, Land Use Codes and Zoning laws.
3. Legal and Policy Research.  Leads research (various internal and external sources), compilation and analysis of a broad array of legal and policy topics such as labor law, Montgomery County land use law, and recent court decisions, and development of existing corporate policies and regulations knowledge. Confirms compliance with Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA) requests and ensures corporate record sources and retention cycles are followed. Trains and provides policy recommendations regarding internal policies and procedures related to MPIA and Open Meetings Act issues.  
4. Montgomery County Land Use Support.  Leads support of litigation, hearings and other legal and general administrative duties associated with the Montgomery County Land Use Team’s representation of the Planning Board. Ensures the review of legal documents including regulatory agreements and Planning Board resolutions that implement Planning Board decisions for conformance with templates and conditions imposed by the Board before assignment to attorney. Prepares drafts of briefs, motions or other court documents for attorney review. Incumbent is registered with Maryland courts electronic filing system and independently files approved documents as required by the courts. Prepares documents and assures completion of forms required for closed sessions in compliance with Open Meetings Act. 
5. Transactions Support.  Leads support of contracting and procurement process; which includes preparing, editing and proofreading documents. Ensures tracking of contracts and other procurement matters handled by the Transactions Team and that work is assigned and managed. Trains other Legal Assistants and staff in the Office of the General Counsel related to transactional matters and proposes policies and procedures to improve the system and ensures it is in compliance with laws, cases and regulations.  
6. Executive Legal Support.  Leads executive legal support, which includes tracking of work program, and provides general and project specific support to Montgomery County attorneys. Ensures management of attorneys’ calendars, screening of correspondence and telephone inquiries and coordinating and scheduling of meetings. Confirms the execution of approved purchasing transactions and the preparation of travel and expense reports for Montgomery County attorneys.  Supports answering of phones and participating in shared office support responsibilities. Confirms the development and maintenance of content for the Legal Department’s intranet website(s) and the format and graphical content for various internal and published reports. Manages the online legal management system and the maintenance of the law library. 

Senior Legal Assistant

1. Bachelor’s Degree in Legal Studies, Legal Support and Services or any related field.
2. Two (2) years of progressively responsible legal support experience in substantive and procedural law that includes substantive work in the range of duties and responsibilities in this class specification.
3. An equivalent combination of education and experience may be substituted, which together total six (6) years.

1. An Associate's Degree in Legal Studies, Legal Support and Services or any related field.
2. Four years of progressively responsible legal support experience in substantive and procedural law that includes substantive work in the range of duties and responsibilities in this class specification.
3. An equivalent combination of education and experience may be substituted, which together total 6 years.

Class/Specification: Senior Legal Assistant/Legal Assistant

Working Conditions:
Works in an office setting; may work outdoors briefly on an incidental basis. Work is primarily
sedentary and requires very light to light physical effort. May be subject to various job demands such as high volume of work and tight deadlines.

May be subject to drug and alcohol testing.
 

The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate a workplace culture of diversity, equity and inclusion without discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, gender identity, or any other non-merit factor.  

Applicants with Disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

If you require accommodations or special arrangements due to a qualifying disability, please notify the Recruitment & Selections Services Unit at the time of applications at or 301-454-1411 (Maryland Relay 7-1-1)

M-NCPPC will make all efforts to reasonably accommodate you.