Operations Clerk

U.S. District Court

Norfolk, VA

 Workplace Summary

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia is part of the judicial branch of the federal government. There are 94 U.S. District Courts in the country with at least one in every state and in all U.S. territories. Virginia is bifurcated geographically and consists of two Districts - the Eastern District and the Western District. The Eastern District of Virginia has four divisions: Alexandria, Norfolk, Newport News, and Richmond. There are approximately 6.5 million residents within the Eastern District of Virginia's jurisdiction. Federal courts hear cases involving the constitutionality of laws, disputes between states, and criminal cases originating from various federal agencies with law enforcement authority.

 Position Overview

This position is located in the Norfolk Division Clerk’s Office of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The Operations Clerk performs various operational and technical duties in accordance with approved internal controls, procedures, and federal and local rules. The incumbent performs duties which include providing procedural information and customer service, performing case initiation and associated docketing, performing records management and reproduction, and collecting court fees. The Operations Clerk may assist with operational activities, as required.

 Duties and Responsibilities

• Provide frontline customer service by answering and routing incoming phone calls and assisting customers at the public counter. Provide appropriate procedural information to litigants, the public, chambers, and clerk’s office staff. Assist the public in the use of computerized databases. 
• Receive, stamp, and review incoming paper case-related documents to determine conformity with appropriate rules, practices, and court procedures. Examine all pleadings and accept those that conform to federal and local rules of practice. Check for prior or prohibited filing(s).
• Verify attorneys’ authority to practice before the court. Serves as primary for pro hac vice applications. Accepts and processes attorney admission applications.
• Open civil cases in the Case Management/Electronic Case Files system (CM/ECF) upon receipt of initiating documents, such as complaints. Assign case numbers to new cases, randomly assign cases to judges, and prepare case files, by scanning, entering data, and uploading documents into CM/ECF. Route to appropriate case manager.
• Perform cashier duties. Collect appropriate fees and issue receipts. Secure funds in cash register and balance cash drawer at end of the day. Process credit card payments.
• Enter judgments into JIFMS financial system.
• Serves in a support role, including backup, by assisting the local interpreter coordinator with securing qualified interpreters for court hearings and trials. Provides outstanding customer service to the members of the interpreter community and builds a solid rapport with regularly utilized interpreters. Executes all associated functions associated with contracting interpreters and notifies appropriate court staff when services are arranged.
• Sort, classify, and file case documents and records, including state court records. Retrieve, scan, and/or copy files for the public, court personnel, attorneys, and others. Certify court documents.
• Maintain integrity of the filing system by monitoring proper access to sealed records. Ensure records maintained in secure areas meet audit guidelines, by updating and maintaining the sealed log in a timely manner.
• Prepare and ship records to the appropriate Federal Records Center and retrieve records from center when required.
• Prepare FedEx and UPS shipments in a timely manner. Post outgoing mail. May scan mail and electronically deliver to other divisions. Operate postage and other equipment, such as the mail meter, and update the meter log, as needed.
• Utilize various computer programs, various electronic databases, and information systems to obtain case information to respond to inquiries, track the movement of files and records, generate bar labels, and perform word processing. Operate personal computer, mailing, copying, records, and scanning equipment.
• Perform other operational, administrative, or technical support duties as assigned.

This is a full-time position with benefits.  Please review the full job announcement and application procedures at www.vaed.uscourts.gov/jobs