Paralegal

About the role

This professional assists attorneys in the preparation or review of legal documents, prepares standard documents, interviews court users, or prepares summaries of identified case issues. This classification supports the work of the Solano Legal Access Center (SLAC).

Responsibilities

• Answering questions from court users.
• Carefully examining documents presented for review.
• Interviewing court users to glean information needed to complete probate guardianship forms, dissolution judgment forms, or other forms.
• Explaining legal terms and court processes in lay terms to court users, including court users who are unfamiliar with court processes.
• Preparing Family Code 6320 searches regarding domestic violence orders.
• Determining the appropriate forms and completing the forms.
• Reviewing case files, when necessary, to determine the next step in the case and advising court users.
• Preparing pleadings and forms as directed by the Family Law Facilitator, the Assistant Family Law Facilitator, or any other attorney supervising the work of SLAC employees.

Requirements

• Knowledge of Provisions of the Family Code, Probate Code, Civil Code, Code of Civil Procedure; Rules of Court; and the local Rules of Court.
• Legal terminology and documents pertaining to family law and guardianship matters.
• Legal procedures pertaining to the filing of documents in guardianship cases, judgments in dissolution cases, domestic violence, and other cases processed in SLAC.
• Legal and general recordkeeping systems and file maintenance methods.
• Legal and medical terminology and documents.
• Word processing and spreadsheet software applications.

Skills

• Understand and accurately complete legal forms.
• Explain court forms, procedures, and processes to lay persons so that they understand the forms, procedures, and processes.
• Perform research in case management systems and in related software systems.
• Follow verbal and written instructions.
• Work independently to plan, prioritize, organize and schedule own work to meet deadlines.
• Understand and apply relevant California code sections as well as court rules and procedures.
• Communicate effectively, orally and in writing, with people of diverse socio-economic backgrounds and temperaments.
• Deal courteously and tactfully with the public, attorneys, court officials and other staff.
• Explain defects in filings clearly and concisely.
• Maintain confidentiality of information.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.
• Two (2) years of experience with:
• A court;
• A public or private law office, in a probate-related capacity;
• A public guardian or conservator or a private professional fiduciary;
• Or
• Have a paralegal certificate or juris doctor degree from an accredited educational institution.

Desirable Experience

• Prior experience in a court as a probate examiner or working in the family law facilitator’s office in a trial court.
• Trust or accounting experience.