Legal Clerk I - First Filing & Judgements and Petitions - Municipal Court, Civil Division

Position Summary

There is a position available in both the First Filing and Judgements & Petitions Unit of the Philadelphia Municipal Court Civil Division.

This is entry level clerical legal work.  It differs from the nonlegal clerical classes by the constant work with legal documents and the degree of consequence of error and accountability involving the abstraction of pertinent information from legal documents in summary form to a docket which may serve as a basis for possible legal activity by counsel and the judiciary.  Work is performed according to clearly defined rules and procedures under direct supervision in a training mode.

In order to apply and be considered for this position please visit to complete an application and upload a resume.

Essential Functions

The following duties are normal for this position.  These are not to be construed as exclusive or all-inclusive.  Other duties may be required and assigned.

• Ability to give information clearly and concisely.
• Ability to extract and summarize pertinent information from applicant interviews.
• Thorough knowledge of applicable rules regulations and procedures as they apply to the assigned function in Municipal Court i.e. Municipal Court Civil Rules PA Rules of Civil Procedure etc.
• Examines legal instruments to determine information for posting to dockets.
• Abstracts summarizes and records filing dates types of legal instruments and in some cases substance of legal documents into dockets.
• Returns incorrect documents for appropriate action if necessary.
• Processes documents in accordance with standard procedures.
• Examines legal instruments to determine applicability of posting into indexes of judgments and liens.
• Extracts pertinent information onto work sheets for indexing purposes into a variety of registers.
• Searches dockets and indexes in order to serve the public with information.
• Accepts filings from staff judges attorneys and other interested parties and exemplifies and certifies essential documents for legal or personal transactions.
• Processes incoming official and essential legal documents for inclusion into a system of court records according to procedural rules.
• Checks court documents for errors and serves as a quality control check.
• Performs terminal or PC data entry on legal filing turnaround documents from hand written or coded material.
• Maintains a court record filing system with adequate controls standards and access restrictions.
• Processes outgoing records to microfilm.
• Resolves and responds to inquiries concerning court documents or actions especially scheduling.
• Prepares legal documents for dissemination or appropriate legal action by signature.
• Distributes documents to correct destinations and may hand deliver legal documents or records.
• May verify the location of defendants.
• Instructs others on proper procedural steps.

MARGINAL FUNCTIONS

Performs related duties as required.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS

Standard office/courtroom conditions.

Direct contact with diverse court clientele.

In order to apply and be considered for this position please visit to complete an application and upload a resume.

Competencies Knowledge Skills and Abilities

• General knowledge of court system purpose and record keeping processes.
• Ability to write legibly.
• Ability to provide information clearly and concisely both orally and in writing.
• Ability to recognize different types of civil documents and legal instruments necessary to effectively perform the docketing function.
• Ability to learn to extract and summarize information from legal instruments in order to fulfill the requirements for docketing and indexing legal information.
• Ability to learn and comply with applicable rules regulations and procedures as they apply to posting information into dockets and indexes pertinent to the assigned function.
• Ability to give extract and summarize information from interviewed applicants clearly and concisely.
• Ability to reason apply common sense and understand and carry out instructions furnished in writing or orally.
• Ability to resolve problems arising from standard situations.
• Thorough knowledge of applicable rules regulations and procedures as they apply to the assigned function.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with the public superiors and coworkers.
• Ability to correctly complete Small Claims Landlord and Tenant and Nuisance complaint forms.
• Knowledge of computers and their applications.

OPTIONAL KNOWLEDGE SKILLS AND ABILITIES

• Possession of a Philadelphia Municipal Court Mediator certificate.

In order to apply and be considered for this position please visit to complete an application and upload a resume.

Qualifications :

1. High school diploma or equivalent and one to two years of progressively responsible clerical experience processing legal instruments and documents.

                                                          OR

1. Equivalent combinations of training and experience providing the characteristics required to perform the essential functions of the class may substitute.
2. Computer application skills needed to utilize the CLAIMS system.
3. Successful completion of a criminal background investigation.
4. Ability to perform the essential functions of a position in this class.
5. Covid-19 Vaccination is recommended.
6. Must work on site (not remote).

Additional Information :

In order to apply and be considered for this position please visit to complete an application and upload a resume.

Salary Range: $38342 - $41676 

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Effective May 22 2023 vaccinations are no longer required for new employees that work in non-medical non-emergency or patient facing positions with the City of Philadelphia. As a result only employees in positions providing services that are patient-facing medical care (ex: Nurses doctors emergency medical personnel) must be fully vaccinated.

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