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Job Description
Job Summary
Santa Monica City Attorney’s Office seeks a legal secretary with 5-10 years of experience to join its Criminal Unit. The ideal candidate will assist the Deputy City Attorneys in the Criminal Unit. The position requires criminal and or legal experience.
Duties include scanning/editing case files, and requesting, uploading, and tracking discovery, updating daily Court calendar, tracking Court cases including Mental Health and Criminal courts, and processing restitution. Duties also require processing custody police reports, custody rejections from the District Attorney’s office, and citations. Duties could also include formatting, editing, proofreading, and finalizing documents, including, but not limited to, filing criminal complaints, probation violations, and appeals. Candidate should be familiar with all Microsoft software, SharePoint, and either TCIS or The Justice Portal as well as can adapt to changing data management systems in house and with the Courts. General administrative duties are also done on a regular basis, such as answering and screening phone calls, creating letters, filing documents at the Courthouse as well as interacting with City personnel, other government agencies, police departments and the public.
Qualifications:
*Must have at least 5+ years of criminal and or legal experience, ideally in a prosecuting agency or mid-sized or large law firm. Experience as a legal secretary in the areas of criminal law preferred.
*Must have knowledge of criminal court filing requirements and deadlines, including experience with e-filing in state and federal courts.
*Strong software skills and knowledge with use of legal software and macros, preferably including MS Office Suite, Outlook, SharePoint, and Westlaw.
*Exceptional communication skills to communicate with attorneys, staff, the public, police agencies, and Court staff. Position reports to the Chief of the Criminal Prosecution Unit.
* Must possess strong organizational skills.
*Represents basic qualifications for this Legal Assistant position. To be considered for this position you must at least meet the basic qualifications.
The hours of the position are 6:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 6:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on alternate Fridays. The office is closed to the public every other Friday. Hybrid work schedule is currently available. Salary dependent on experience; excellent benefits. The salary range is steps 1-5, $92,208-$113,832 annually. A background check will be required prior to beginning employment. Santa Monica is an equal opportunity employer. Interested applicants should submit a cover letter, resume, and the names of three references. These materials should be submitted in a single pdf document by email to CAO.Opportunities@santamonica.gov with the subject line: “Application - Legal Assistant - Criminal Unit”; closing date Friday, December 12, 2025, by COB.
The City's liberal fringe benefits for full-time employment include sick leave, holiday and vacation pay, the Public Employees Retirement System, medical, dental and vision insurance, credit union, deferred compensation, tuition reimbursement, Dependent Care Assistance Plan and priority enrollment consideration at Hill & Dale Family Learning Center, Marine Park Child Development Center, and Santa Monica Early Childhood Lab School.
Closing Date/Time: 12/12/2025 5:00 PM Pacific -
Special Instructions
Please mention you found this employment opportunity on the CareersInGovernment.com job board. -
ABOUT THE COMPANY
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City of Santa Monica
Show moreSanta Monica is a beachside city of 8.3 square miles on the westside of Los Angeles County. Offering an environment of unparalleled natural beauty, the city is home to a mix of residential communities, commercial districts, and recreational venues. Recently named by National Geographic as one of the Top "10 Beach Cities in the World" and by TIME as one of the "Best Places to Live", Santa Monica features three miles of Pacific beaches and the Santa Monica Pier. Santa Monica’s residential population is approximately 93,000, increasing to an estimated 250,000 during the day with tourists, shoppers, and employees. Tourism attracts over 8 million visitors annually.
The City of Santa Monica was incorporated on November 30, 1886 and subsequently adopted a City Charter in 1945. In 1947, a City Council-City Manager form of government was established. The City Council consists of seven members elected by the community at large to four year terms.
The City of Santa Monica is a full-service city. City departments provide police, fire, a regional transportation network, water, refuse and recycling, streets, parking, planning, building, engineering, free public wifi, a high speed fiber optic network, parks, affordable housing, economic development, library, rent control, recreational, cultural, and educational services to the community.
The City-operated Big Blue Bus regional bus service provides over 16.5 million rides for customers each year, all powered by renewable natural gas. Breeze Bike Share was Southern California's first bike share system with 500 bikes at 85 locations. In 2016, the Metro Expo Line opened connecting Santa Monica to Downtown Los Angeles in under an hour.
The City of Santa Monica is a national leader in environmental, economic and social sustainability. The City is working toward aggressive climate action goals including: water self-sufficiency by 2020, zero waste by 2030, and carbon neutrality by 2050.
The highly-rated Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District serves both Santa Monica and Malibu residents. Santa Monica College (SMC), one of the state's top two-year community colleges, serves over 30,000 full-time and part-time students on several campuses and offers more than 90 fields of study. Santa Monica's strong education institutions are complemented by the 5-star rated Santa Monica Public Library system.
Public safety is a top priority in the City of Santa Monica. Santa Monica Fire Department continues to maintain a Class 1 ISO rating, the highest possible rating.
Santa Monica has a strong and diverse economy. Known as “Silicon Beach,” local businesses are at the leading edge of the nation’s creative economy and startup scene.
Sana Monica is also home to three renowned and respected health facilities, Providence Saint John’s Health Center, Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Kaiser Permanente.
Connect with the City of Santa Monica by visiting www.santamonica.gov, follow @santamonicacity on Twitter, or sign up for the City's newsletter and emergency alerts at www.smgov.net/newsletter.
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