Chief Judicial Staff Attorney

About the role

The Chief Judicial Staff Attorney is a Judicial appointed position that qualifies for City employee benefits*. Under very limited supervision, this position performs high-level supervisory and professional legal services work by overseeing and coordinating all operations for the Judges of Suffolk Circuit Court.

Responsibilities

• Serves as the Chief Judicial Staff Attorney for the four (4) Circuit Court Judges.
• Manages and directs the overall administrative, financial, budgetary, accounting, and internal human resource operations of the Suffolk Circuit Court Judges following the established goals, objectives and policies.
• Helps create those policies.
• Plans, assigns, supervises, and participates in all work conducted for the Circuit Court Judges.
• Supervises all personnel, appraises performance in annual reviews subject to final approval by the Chief Circuit Court Judge.
• Participates in the hiring process of all new employees.
• Oversees that each employee is cross-trained, so no job is without a backup person.
• Oversees, manages, and maintains files and leave records for all employees including following the guidelines of the Family Medical Leave of Absence (FMLA) when relevant.
• Serves as designated and responsible contact person for employees when a work-related injury or illness is concerned.
• Handles documentation & follows procedure required by the Risk Manager for the City of Suffolk.
• Manages budget line items, conducts analysis of budget matters.
• Advises the Circuit Court Judges regarding short-term and long-term office planning.
• Responsible for legal research and analysis of legal issues for the weekly motions docket of the judges; including: 1) checking each motion for compliance with procedural legal requirements; 2) calling non-compliant lawyers/legal staff, to enable them to bring their motions into compliance before motions day; 3) providing the judges with statutes and rules, for their review, on simple legal issues; 4) writing bench briefs involving legal research and analysis on complex legal issues; 5) assisting with and attending motions arguments in court, and 6) drafting opinion letters for the judges as requested.
• Reviews a variety of Orders, Petitions and Motions, submitted daily to the Judges, to ensure that they comply with statutory and other legal requirements, and responds to the parties and their counsel regarding such Orders.
• Examples of cases requiring such Orders are City tax sales, Church petitions for appointment of trustees and acquisition or disposition of real property, Adoptions, Orders pertaining to support, custody, visitation, and disposition of marital property, Rules to Show Cause and enforcement of prior Orders, Final divorce decrees, Name changes, Appointments of Guardians ad litem, and Garnishments.
• Performs legal research and analysis of legal issues for habeas corpus petitions, including writing bench briefs, and drafting legal opinions regarding the same.
• Operates a variety of office equipment such as computer, calculator, printers, fax machine, etc.
• Uses a variety of general office supplies and a variety of computer software such as Microsoft Word/Excel/PowerPoint/Access.
• Uses legal research search engines such as LexisNexis.
• Performs general administrative/office duties as required, including typing reports and correspondence, entering and retrieving computer data, copying and filing documents, sending and receiving faxes, answering the telephone, establishing and maintaining filing systems, etc.
• Prepares and/or reviews proposed responses to correspondence received by the Judges and the Clerk of the Court from prisoners and/or their counsel, including requests for sentence reconsideration, requests for approval of in forma pauperis status, requests for documents, complaints, and other miscellaneous requests.
• Able to prepare civil support guidelines for Pendente Lite hearings.
• Coordinates communication and logistics between the Suffolk Circuit Court Judges and other judges/stakeholders for Committee and/or Panel assignments in which the Suffolk Circuit Court has been designated to by the Virginia Supreme Court’s Chief Justice.

Requirements

• Juris Doctorate degree from an accredited law school.
• Licenses to practice law in the Commonwealth of Virginia and in good standing with the Virginia State Bar.
• 3 – 5 years in the practice of law with at least 2 years of experience as a Judicial Staff Attorney; or any combination of training and experience which provides the required skills, knowledge and abilities.
• Valid driver's license.

Qualifications

• Knowledge of Virginia criminal law and procedure.
• Knowledge of Virginia civil law and procedure.
• Knowledge of the Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia.
• Knowledge of the rules of evidence and professional responsibility.
• Ability to interpret and apply laws and court decisions, and to use legal source material in technical research.
• Ability to express ideas effectively, orally and in writing.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships as necessitated by work assignments.
• Ability of speaking and/or signaling people to convey or exchange information.

Skills

• Legal research and analysis.
• Writing legal memoranda, prospective civil orders and legal opinions.
• Legal research and analysis of legal issues for habeas corpus petitions.
• Interpreting and applying laws and court decisions.
• Expressing ideas effectively, orally and in writing.
• Establishing and maintaining effective working relationships.
• Speaking and/or signaling people to convey or exchange information.

Benefits

Full Time Employees are eligible for the following benefits; Retirement (Virginia Retirement System employer) for employees hired on or after 1/1/14 - Hybrid Members Hybrid plan members contribute 4 percent of creditable compensation to the defined benefit plan and 1 percent to the defined contribution plan each month. Members may voluntarily contribute up to an additional 4 percent in 0.5 percent increments to the defined contribution plan each month. Members can increase or decrease their voluntary contributions on a quarterly basis. With the mandatory and voluntary contributions to the defined contribution component of the plan, members can contribute a maximum of 5 percent with a 3.5 percent match from the employer. Members invest in various investment options that best fit their needs. Vested after 5 years in the defined benefit part of the plan. Vested in phases based on years in the Defined Contribution part of the Plan. The retirement eligibility for a full or reduced retirement pension in the Hybrid Plan is very detailed. Please contact the Virginia Retirement System or the Human Resources Department for details. Paid Time Off (PTO) Yearly earnings 120 Hours (1-59 months), 144 Hours (60-119 months), 168 Hours (120- 179 months), 192 Hours (180 and over) Sick Leave Part Time employees earn 4 hours per month Sick leave accrues at the end of the month and may be accrued with no ceiling. Personal Leave All regular full time employees are granted 24 hours of personal leave each calendar year. Personal leave must be preapproved and is not cumulative. Health Insurance Coverage available for you and your eligible dependents using pre-tax payroll deductions if elected. Supplemental Insurances Employees may purchase the following supplemental insurance policies: short term and long term disability, cancer, accident, supplemental hospitalization, and group universal life insurance. Employer Sponsored Short Term and Long Term Disability Provides disability coverage for employees work and non-work related disabilities. Work related disabilities are covered starting on day one (1). Non work related disabilities are covered starting on day eight (8), after you have been employed for one year. Flexible Spending Accounts Employees may participate in the Health Reimbursement, Dependent Care Reimbursement and Premium Reimbursement Accounts. All deductions are made on a pre-tax basis and will reduce your taxable income. Life Insurance The city pays the entire premium for life insurance coverage in the amount of 2 times annual salary for natural death and 4 times annual salary for accidental death. Optional Life Insurance Employees have the option of electing additional life insurance coverage in the amount of 1, 2, 3 or 4 times their annual salary. Employees may only purchase optional life insurance on spouses and children if they are enrolled in optional life insurance for themselves. Funeral Leave 24 hours of paid leave of absence in case of death in immediate family. Holidays Suffolk follows the Virginia State holidays.