**This recruitment has reopened for additional applications. If you have previously applied, you do not need to submit another application.**

THIS IS A CITYWIDE EXAM

• Application Opening: September 19, 2022
• Application Filing Deadline: Could close at any time, but not before September 23, 2022. Closed October 7, 2022. Reopened October 28, 2022 through October 31, 2022 for additional applications.
• Annual Salary:  $90,636 to $118,612
• Recruitment ID:  C00136

San Francisco is a vibrant and dynamic city, on the forefront of economic growth & innovation, urban development, arts & entertainment, as well as social issues & change. This rich tapestry of culture and ideas is sustained by our City's commitment to heighten the quality of life for the diverse population of San Franciscans and residents of the greater Bay Area. Our employees play an important role not only in making our City what it is today, but also in shaping the future of San Francisco.

Under supervision of an attorney, performs a variety of paraprofessional legal duties for one of the legal departments of City government; engages in legal research assignments; interviews clients; assists in the preparation of legal documents and instruments; and performs related duties as required.

Essential functions include:

• Investigates, collects and compiles case materials and documentary evidence in contract and personal injury litigation.
• Drafts Complaints, Affidavits, Motions, Interrogatories and other pleadings connected with trial preparation and discovery; interviews witnesses and assists the attorney at trial or at depositions.
• Performs legal research and assists in the preparation of contracts, leases, briefs and legal opinions; may perform statistical research required for litigation.
• Assists in the preparation of legislation, including research of existing statutes and regulations, review of existing legislation for possible conflicts with proposed legislation and analysis or digesting of proposed legislation.
• As assigned, maintains a tracking system for adjusting claims against the City, coordinates investigation and departmental review of claims and communicates with members of the public and departmental representatives relative to claims against the City.
• Corresponds and communicates with attorneys, representatives of other governmental agencies and the general public.
• As assigned, analyzes depositions, exhibits, and pleadings to extract facts pertinent to issues argued on brief; may assemble exhibits, affidavits and other legal documents for use in preparing a trial.
• Interviews citizens with complaints and obtains information for appropriate City legal department; may observe a variety of legal conferences and proceedings; when assigned, attends and observes court room activities.
• Performs related duties and responsibilities as assigned.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

Completion of a certificated Paralegal Studies curriculum approved by the American Bar Association

Substitution: The education as described above may be substituted by one of the following:

• Possession of an associate (AA) degree from an accredited college or university AND six (6) months of law-related work experience; OR
• Completion of thirty (30) semester or forty-five (45) quarter units of law-related courses from a postsecondary institution that has been accredited by the American Bar Association or by a national/regional accrediting organization or approved by the Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education; OR
• Two (2) years of paralegal or law-related work experience under the direct supervision of an attorney

Notes:

1. Applicants must meet the minimum qualifications by the final filing date unless otherwise noted.

2. One year full-time experience is equivalent to 2000 hours. (2000 hours of qualifying work experience is based on a 40 hours work week.). Any overtime hours that you work above forty (40) hours per week are not included in the calculation to determine full-time experience.

Verification: Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process. If education verification is required, information on how to verify education requirements, including verifying foreign education credits or degree equivalency, can be found at https://sfdhr.org/how-verify-education-requirements

Note: Falsifying one’s education, training, or work experience or attempted deception on the application may result in disqualification for this and future job opportunities with the City and County of San Francisco.

All work experience, education, training and other information substantiating how you meet the minimum qualifications must be included on your application by the filing deadline. Information submitted after the filing deadline will not be considered in determining whether you meet the minimum qualifications.

Resumes will not be accepted in lieu of a completed City and County of San Francisco application.

Applications completed improperly may be cause for ineligibility, disqualification or may lead to lower scores.

One year of full-time employment is equivalent to 2000 hours. (2000 hours of qualifying work experience is based on a 40 hours work week.) Any overtime hours that you work above forty (40) hours per week are not included in the calculation to determine full-time employment.

SELECTION PROCEDURES:

After application submission, candidates deemed qualified must complete all subsequent steps to advance in this selection process, which includes the following:

Minimum Qualification Supplemental Questionnaire (MQSQ): Candidates will be required to complete a MQSQ as part of the employment application. This MQSQ is designed to obtain specific information regarding an applicant's experience in relation to the Minimum Qualifications (MQ) for this position. The MQSQ will be used to evaluate if the applicant possesses the required minimum qualifications.

Written Exam (100%): Applicants who meet the minimum qualifications will be invited to take a multiple-choice exam to determine your relative knowledge, skill and ability level in one or more of the following job related areas.  These areas may include, but not be limited to:

• Knowledge of legal procedures, legal terminology, and legal research techniques
• Ability to manage large databases and information
• Ability to write effectively and prepare legal documents and forms
• Ability to analyze legal problems ability to perform legal research with accuracy
• Ability to deal tactfully with attorneys, office and court personnel, representatives of other governmental entities and the general public.

This is a standardized written multiple-choice examination. In accordance with Civil Services Rule 111.11.4, inspection privileges do not apply to the questions and answers in this examination.

This Secretary Exam will be administered remotely. This computer-administered exam  can be taken at home. Candidates must have access to a computer and reliable internet connection to participate in this exam. Candidates will be scheduled for a specific time and date to complete the examination. Requests for alternative dates and times will be considered on a limited basis under limited circumstances.

The score you achieve on this examination shall be valid and "banked" for three years, starting from the date of the examination. This means that, during this three-year time period, you will not be required to take this test again should you apply and be found eligible for a future announcement for which this particular test is used. If the test for this future announcement is held within one year of the date of this examination, your score will be automatically applied to that announcement. However, after one year, you have the option to either (a) apply your test score to the other announcement or (b) re-take the test. Re-testing is permitted no sooner than one year from the date of the examination and only in association with your eligibility for another announcement for which this test is used. Please note that, should you re-test, your re-test score would become your official score since it is the most recent (even if it turns out to be lower than your original score).

If a significant modification is made to this exam in the future, the application of “banked” scores may no longer be appropriate. In such a rare circumstance, candidates with “banked” scores would be required to re-take the exam sooner than the three year period specified above.

Candidates must achieve a passing score on the examination in order to be placed on the resulting eligible list.

Candidate scores on this examination may also be applied to other announcements involving other job titles, when directed by the Human Resources Director.

Exam Preparation Materials: Candidates may review the following guide prior to the exam:

Multiple-Choice Test Preparation Manual, available at the following link: https://sfdhr.org/multiple-choice-test-preparation-manual.

Date(s) of Examination: Only those applicants who meet the Minimum Qualifications will be notified of the exact date, time and place to report to the examination. Invited applicants must bring a photo ID to be admitted to the exam. All materials and supplies for applicant use during the test will be provided. Devices such as cell phones, smart watches, and cameras are prohibited from the test room and will be collected prior to the test.

Requests for an alternative test date may be considered in limited circumstances, with proper documentation, and must be submitted to the analyst within five (5) calendar days of the announcement of the test date.

Eligible List/Score Report: A confidential eligible list of applicant names that have passed the civil service examination process will be created, and used for certification purposes only. An examination score report will be established, so applicants can view the ranks, final scores and number of eligible candidates. Applicant information, including names of applicants on the eligible list, shall not be made public unless required by law. However, an eligible list shall be made available for public inspection, upon request, once the eligible list is exhausted or expired and referrals resolved. The eligible list/score report resulting from this civil service examination process is subject to change after adoption (e.g., as a result of appeals), as directed by the Human Resources Director or the Civil Service Commission.

The duration of the eligible list resulting from this examination process will be of 12 months, and may be extended with the approval of the Human Resources Director.

To find Departments which use this classification, please see https://sfdhr.org/sites/default/files/documents/Forms-Documents/Position-Counts-by-Job-Codes-and-Department-FY-2021-22.pdf .

Certification: The certification rule for the eligible list resulting from this examination will be Rule of Ten (10) Scores. Additional selection processes may be conducted by the hiring department prior to making final hiring decisions.

Terms of Announcement and Appeal Rights: Applicants must be guided solely by the provisions of this announcement, including requirements, time periods and other particulars, except when superseded by federal, state or local laws, rules or regulations. [Note: The correction of clerical errors in an announcement may be posted on the Department of Human Resources website at https://careers.smartrecruiters.com/CityAndCountyOfSanFrancisco1/.] The terms of this announcement may be appealed under Civil Service Rule 110.4. Such appeals must be submitted in writing to the Department of Human Resources, 1 S Van Ness Avenue, 4th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103-5413 by close of business on the 5th business day following the issuance date of this examination announcement. Information concerning other Civil Service Commission Rules involving announcements, applications and examination policies, including applicant appeal rights, can be found on the Civil Service Commission website at http://sfgov.org/civilservice/rules.

Additional Information Regarding Employment with the City and County of San Francisco:

• Information About The Hiring Process
• Conviction History
• Employee Benefits Overview  
• Equal Employment Opportunity 
• Disaster Service Worker
• ADA Accommodation
• Veterans Preference
• Seniority Credit in Promotional Exams
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement

HOW TO APPLY

Applications for City and County of San Francisco jobs are only accepted through an online process. Visit https://careers.smartrecruiters.com/CityAndCountyOfSanFrancisco1/ and begin the application process.

• Select the “I’m Interested” button and follow instructions on the screen

Applicants may be contacted by email about this recruitment and, therefore, it is their responsibility to ensure that their registered email address is accurate and kept up-to-date. Also, applicants must ensure that email from CCSF is not blocked on their computer by a spam filter. To prevent blocking, applicants should set up their email to accept CCSF mail from the following addresses (@sfgov.org, @sfdpw.org, @sfport.com, @flysfo.com, @sfwater.org, @sfdph.org, @asianart.org, @sfmta.com, @sfpl.org, @dcyf.org, @first5sf.org, @famsf.org, @ccsf.edu, @smartalerts.info, and @smartrecruiters.com).

Applicants will receive a confirmation email that their online application has been received in response to every announcement for which they file. Applicants should retain this confirmation email for their records. Failure to receive this email means that the online application was not submitted or received.

Exam Analyst Information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the exam analyst, Casey Botkin, by email at [email protected]

CONDITION OF EMPLOYMENT:  All City and County of San Francisco employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment. Someone is fully vaccinated when 14 days have passed since they received the final dose of a two-shot vaccine or a dose of a one-shot vaccine. Any new hire must present proof of full vaccination status to be appointed. Any new hire who will be routinely assigned or occasionally enter High-Risk Settings, must provide proof of having received a COVID-19 booster vaccine by March 1, 2022, or once eligible.

The City and County of San Francisco encourages women, minorities and persons with disabilities to apply. Applicants will be considered regardless of their sex, race, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition (associated with cancer, a history of cancer, or genetic characteristics), HIV/AIDS status, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, military and veteran status, or other protected category under the law.