Supervisory Attorney Advisor

Summary

The Supervisory Attorney Advisor position is located in the Self-Help Center of the Probate Division of the District of Columbia Courts. The incumbent advises division leadership, judicial officers, and court staff on legal and procedural matters; prepares legal memoranda, opinions, administrative orders, policies, procedures, forms, and public guidance; and evaluates the impact of legislation, court rules, and operational initiatives.

Duties

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Brief Duties of the Position:

• Advises Probate Division leadership, judicial officers, and court staff on probate laws, court rules, legal decisions, and other legal matters affecting division operations.
• Supervises assigned staff by directing and evaluating work, providing technical guidance, managing performance and workload, and ensuring timely and accurate work in accordance with applicable laws, court rules, policies, and procedures.
• Conducts legal research, interprets laws and court rules, and applies independent legal judgment to develop analyses, recommendations, and proposed courses of action.
• Prepares form legal memoranda, legal opinions, briefs, and written recommendations regarding complex, procedural, operational matters affecting the Probate Division.
• Evaluates legislation, court rules, orders, and judicial decisions to assess their impact on division operations and recommends necessary changes to policies, procedures, forms, and case processes.
• Reviews and revises administrative orders, procedures, forms, public guidance, and other operational documents to ensure legal compliance, accuracy, and consistency.
• Evaluates technology and modernization initiatives, including electronic filing, case management systems, artificial intelligence, and records management, to identify legal and operational impacts.
• Develops and delivers training to judicial officers, managers, supervisors, and court staff on legal requirements, court rules, policies, procedures, and changes affecting division operations.
• Analyzes operational and performance data to identify trends, evaluate program effectiveness, and recommend improvements to division processes and procedures.
• Manages employee performance by establishing performance expectations, providing coaching and feedback, recognizing accomplishments, addressing performance and conduct issues, and completing performance evaluations in accordance with court policies and procedures.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• A background and security investigation is required.
• A probationary period of one (1) year must be successfully completed.
• Must possess and maintain active D.C. Bar membership in good standing.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:

• A Juris Doctor (J.D.) from an accredited law school
• A minimum of three (3) years of legal experience, including at least one (1) year of experience conducting negotiations in a legal setting, such as a civil, criminal, or family law matter
• Two (2) years of supervisory experience in an office, public service agency, court system, or legal environment.
• Must possess an active D.C. Bar membership in good standing or be eligible to waive into the D.C. Bar

One (1) year of experience dealing with probate matters or administration of the estates of deceased persons is preferred.

Graduation from the Courts' Management Training Program may substitute for one (1) year of supervisor experience (You must provide documentation of your management training (i.e., a copy of certificate) with your application.

The incumbent should be an enthusiastic and engaged professional who enjoys working with a diverse group of Court personnel and customers and lives the DC Courts' values of Accountability, Excellence, Fairness, Integrity, Respect, and Transparency.

Education

You must upload a copy of your college transcript or degree for consideration. The transcript must show the name of the college or university, your name, degree conferred date, a list of courses with credit hours, major(s), and grade-point average or class ranking.

Foreign Education: If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must upload a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript at the time of application to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/

Additional information

This job is being filled by an alternative hiring process and is not in the competitive Federal civil service.

Please note there is a mandatory one-year probationary period for all new court employees.

All required information must be received by the vacancy announcement closing date.

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Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

Benefits

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This is not a federal position.

The District of Columbia Courts is an independent branch of the District of Columbia Government and is not under the authority of the City Mayor or the D. C. Council. DC Courts' appropriation comes directly from Congress. All DC Courts non-judicial employees receive federal benefits for the following programs: Life Insurance, Retirement Benefits, Health Insurance and Workers Compensation.

Please click on the following for more information about these benefits: http://www.opm.gov/Insure/health/enrollment/new_employees.asp

The DC Courts leave policy is as follows:

Annual Leave: New full-time employees earn four (4) hours of annual leave biweekly. After three years of service this increases to six (6) hours biweekly, and at 15 years it increases to eight (8) hours biweekly. Most military, federal and District of Columbia government service counts toward the time required to go into the next higher annual leave category. Employees can carry over no more than 240 hours of annual leave into the next leave year.

Sick Leave is used for personal medical needs, care of a family member, or adoption related purposes. Full-time employees earn four (4) hours of sick leave biweekly. This leave can be accrued without limit.

In addition to the federal health plans, the DC Courts offer employees supplemental vision and dental plans as well as a commuter transit benefit subsidy, for a maximum of $150 a month. There are 26 pay periods in the year.