Supervising Attorney

The Judicial Council of California is accepting applications for the position of Supervising Attorney for the Center for Families, Children, & the Courts.
The Supervising Attorney will provide in-house counsel, legal/judicial educatioin, and legal policy analysis to the Judicial Council and justice partner (primarily the California Department of Child Support Services (DCSS).
The incumbent will provide first level supervision of two Attorney (2) positions, whose duties include interpreting and applying child support laws, codes, regulations and standards, legal research, analysis, writing, education, and interaction with internal and exteran stakeholders.
The incumbent will also provide first level supervision of one Analyst, one Associate Analyst, one Administrative Specialist, and one Administrative Coordinator.
The incumbent will serve as legal subject matter expert, providing legal services to and analyzing the most highly complex and sensitive legal issues for the Judicial Council and its advisory bodies, judges, attorneys, staff and management.
The position involves responding to questions and making presentations to branch leadership, as well as representatives from the Executive and Legislative branches of government and other key justice partners.
The incumbent will monitor legislative, statutory, regulatory and case law developments in child support.
The position is responsible for ensuring that over $60 million in federal grant funds are equitably allocated to the courts in all 58 counties and that the local court programs are in compliance with the myriad of federal and state statutory and contractual requirements established by the grant funders and the Legislature.
This position also oversees the development and delivery of the mandatory training programs for over 450 child support commissioners, family law facilitators and other child support professionals in the local courts.
The Judicial Council strives for work-life balance and includes substantial vacation and holiday time.
In addition, we offer an excellent benefits package including pension, medical, dental and vision coverage, flexible spending, $130 monthly stipend towards public transit commuting costs, and retirement savings plans.
In San Francisco, the office is only a 7-minute walk from the Civic Center BART station in downtown San Francisco.
In Sacramento, the office is located minutes from downtown, just north of Discovery Park.
The successful candidate will be expected to work in the Judicial Council’s San Francisco or Sacramento office; hybrid work options for employees who live in areas surrounding these locations may be considered.
Responsibilities Recommends the selection of staff: Trains staff and proposes internal and external training courses and workshops.
Provides for career development and planning for staff.
Approves time off requests.
Review and approves time sheets.
Evaluates employee performance and conduct performance reviews, and Administers discipline as required.
Administer $60+ million in Child Support Commissioner and Family Law Facilitator Grant Funding that is a legislatively mandated program providing for services through the courts in each of the 58 counties: Determine adequate level of statewide funding necessary to carry out program objectives and legal mandates.
Develop options for funding allocations to each local court program, confer with the Court Executives Advisory Committee AB 1058 subcommittee, Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee, Trial Court Budget Advisory Committee, and Judicial Budget Committee.
Develop reports and make presentations to obtain Judicial Council approval of funding allocations.
Conduct periodic review and court spending and projected spending and determine if funds should be reallocated among the courts during midyear adjustment process.
Provide technical assistance to the courts on legal issues, funding, and case processing: Respond directly to court executive management and supervising judge inquiries, as well as inquiries escalated to the supervising attorney by unit staff.
Inform CFCC management of sensitive and complex issues and issues that may impact other Judicial Council divisions or offices.
Delegate more routine inquiries to appropriate staff of assign research projects to staff to respond to court questions.
Confer with state Department of Child Support Services legal and executive teams when necessary to respond to the courts.
Oversee development of procedures and tools for the courts to more efficiently administer the local program and achieve policy goals.
Identify training needs of courts to ensure compliance with state and federal funding and administrative requirements: direct unit staff to develop trainings to meet those needs.
Oversee development of guidelines for unit staff to transmit program and legal informational updates received from funders and other sources to the courts upon receipt.
Provide necessary legal review and legal analysis for the unit: Assist unit staff in responding to questions from the courts that require legal interpretation or analysis.
Confer with other supervising attorneys in family law, domestic violence, or other related subject matter areas to maintain coordination of core services.
Conduct legal analysis of pending and enacted legislation related to child support and provide that analysis to office leadership.
Supervise the review and update Judicial Council rules and forms to identify necessary changes to ensure they are legally accurate.
Provide oversight to staff attorneys to make necessary changes to the rules and forms.
Participate in liaison activities with external stakeholders and justice partners to represent judicial branch interests and coordinate policy, procedures: Participate in monthly meeting with the executive and legal teams at Department of Child Support Services.
Monthly meetings require weekly activities to prepare for the meeting, gather appropriate materials, and complete post-meeing action items.
Present quarterly updates at the Child Support Directos Association Membership Meetings to apprise local directors on issues of concern of interest regarding the judicial branch Child Support Commissioners and Family Law Facilitators program.
Follow-up with individual county directors on local agency-local court issues reaised at the meeting/ Quarterly meetings require monthly activities to prepare for meeting and post meeting action items and follow-up.
Conduct various contract, procurement and invoicing review and approval activities, for $60M+ grants, pursuant to supervising attorney’s assigned authority: Review and provide supervising attorney’s approval for 110+ monthly invoices from the local courts.
Provide the courts with legal/regulatory authority for rejection of any invoice.
Confer with Judicial Council Branch Accounting and Procurement office regarding any additional actions necessary.
Review and provide supervising attorney’s approval for 110 contracts with the local courts and approximately 40-50 midyear contract amendments.
Contracts are executed annually but may be modified at mid-year.
To achieve the annual and midyear deliverable daily activities may be required over the span of a month.
Oversee the Quadrennial Statewide Review of the Child Support Guidelines including negotiating the contract for funding, developing a budget for the review of the study, obtaining an approval from the Judicial Council, and submitting the report to the Legislature.
Oversee the technical certification of child support guideline calculator software developed by vendors and other state agencies to ensure that the software properly applies the child support guidelines statutes and meets other technical requirements as required by statute and California Rule of Court.
The frequency of this duty is based upon the number of applications for certification received each year.
Annual recertification evaluation is completed annually for 7 previously certified systems.
Qualifications Juris doctor, and four (4) years of post-bar experience as a practicing attorney, which includes one (1) year of supervisory experience.
After passing a state bar, work experience as a Law Clerk to a federal or state judge prior to formal bar admission will be considered qualifying experience.
OR Two years as an Attorney, in the assigned area, with the Judicial Council of California or two years of experience performing the duties of a class comparable in the level of responsibility to that of an Attorney in a California Superior Court or California state-level government entity and a) completion of training courses on topics related to effective supervision within 6 months of promotion; or b) one year of previous supervisory experience.
LICENSING AND CERTIFICATIONS Current membership with the State Bar of California prior to hire.
Other Information Please note, if you are selected for hire, verification of employment authorization to work in the United States will be required.
How To Apply This position will remain Open Until Filled and requires the submission of our official application, a resume and a response to the supplemental questions.
To complete an online application, please click the Apply for Job button.
The Judicial Council provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities who request such accommodation.
Reasonable accommodation needs should be requested through Human Resources at (415) 865-4260.
Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (415) 865-4272.
Supplemental Questions To better assess the qualifications of each applicant, we will review your responses to the following questions.
Please indicate for which employer you performed these functions.
Your answers should not exceed a total of three pages.
Please describe your experience managing federal grants including managing an administrative budget and developing and implementing funding allocations.
Please describe your experience in developing and managing a large training event for stakeholders, including managing a budget, developing an agenda and developing and delivering legal content.
Pay and Benefits $13,593.
00 - $16,313.
00 per month (Starting Salary: $13,593.
00 per month) Some highlights of our benefits package include: Health/Dental/Vision benefits program 14 paid holidays per calendar year Choice of Annual Leave or Sick/Vacation Leave 1 personal holiday per year Up to $130 per month reimbursement for qualifying commuting costs CalPERS Retirement Plan 401(k) and 457 deferred compensation plans Employee Assistance Program Basic Life and AD&D Insurance Flex Elect Program Pretax Parking Long Term Disability Program (employee paid/optional) Group Legal Plan (employee paid/optional) Equal Employment Opportunity The Judicial Council of California Is an Equal Opportunity Employer.