The City of Chicago's Department of Law is seeking individuals who are interested in working as a part-time Law Clerk. This is the ideal position for an attorney licensed to practice law in Illinois or a law student who is looking for experience preparing cases for litigation, prosecuting violations, and administrative review of the Chicago Municipal Code in Circuit Court or at the Department of Administrative Hearings; collecting debts owed to the City of Chicago, prosecuting violations of the Illinois Vehicle Code in Circuit Court.

• 
  Researches questions of law and conducts factual investigations for assigned cases
• Summarizes and presents findings of legal research and factual investigations in written and oral reports
• Prepares and responds to discovery requests
• Interviews witnesses
• Assists attorneys in preparing legal cases for court or administrative hearings
• Represents the City or its agents in various court systems (e.g., Circuit Court of Cook County, Department of Administrative Hearings) and in labor relations proceedings, as required
• Assists in serving as a liaison between the department and respondents, other City departments, and other agencies to facilitate information exchange, as required

Law Clerks will be assigned to work in one of the following Divisions:

Building & License Enforcement (BLE) - This Division handles fire, building, health, and zoning code violations as well as licensing issues.

Legal Information & Prosecutions (LIP) - The Prosecutions unit within this Division handles cases that may include fatal and multiple-vehicle traffic accidents, routine traffic citations and other Chicago Municipal Code violations punishable by a jail time penalty and/or fine. This division requires the applicant to be eligible to practice pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 711 or a licensed attorney at the time of application .

This position does not require a test or interview. Applicants who successfully apply for the position, meet the minimum qualifications, and possess the qualifications best suited to fulfill the responsibilities of the position will be hired in a lottery/random order ,

AND

Preference will be given to applicants who meet the following criteria:

• Possession of a cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) of 2.5 or above on a 4.0 scale or 3.5 or above on a 5.0 scale from an American Bar Association (ABA) accredited Law School.
• Possession of a 711 license.

For Information on our employees benefits please visit our benefits website at:

For Information on our salary and title structure visit our classifications website at:

APPLICATION EVALUATION: Initial evaluation will be based on information provided on the application and the documents submitted. Department of Human Resource staff will review applications after the final posting date. Staff will follow any and all required Employment/Hiring Plan provisions, federal, state and local laws, and Collective Bargaining Agreements when applicable. Staff will apply hiring preferences as required by the municipal code. Placement on an eligibility list is not an offer or guarantee of an interview nor employment with the City of Chicago.

COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY: To further our commitment to hiring applicants with diverse experience the City of Chicago has adopted the following ordinances 2-74-020 and 2-74-075. The ordinances provide a preference to applicants who meet minimum qualifications and who are veterans of the Armed Forces, and/or residents of Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Areas (SEDA) and/or Chicago Public School (CPS) high school graduates to be referred to departments for consideration. These hiring preferences do not apply to bidders, as Collective Bargaining Agreements define the hiring process for bidders. For positions covered by a collective bargaining agreement, bidders will be considered before external candidates. To learn more about our hiring practices click here.