Deputy Clerk Duties- Legal Career Starter Kit

Deputy clerk duties are a marvelous spearheader for a great legal career. The duties expose a candidate to the law in real-life by giving him/her a chance to work side by side with chief court clerks, lawyers, and judges.

Although it’s a learner job, the deputy clerk position requires precision, accuracy, and hard work. It is definitely not a job for the faint-hearted.

Deputy clerk duties

Deputy clerks perform several duties at various administrative levels including the city, county, and state. Working under the direct supervision of the chief court clerk, they are also required to perform several duties in federal courts.

Here are the duties of a deputy clerk:

• Scheduling of tasks

To avoid confusion, court proceedings and petitions must be scheduled properly. It is the duty of the deputy clerk to plan out the dates for all the pending cases on the calendar.

After maintaining the docket, he/she must then follow up to ensure that the schedule is adhered to. This is done by forwarding the schedule to all the parties involved in the cases and also issuing direct jury summons where necessary.

• Keeping documents organized

Court proceedings involve the constant retrieval, preparation, and forwarding of documents to lawyers and judges. Keeping the documents organized is very critical. It is the duty of the deputy clerk to help with all document handling tasks.

• Response

The deputy clerk assumes the role of a state’s spokesperson in various avenues. Often, he/she will be required to respond to inquiries made by judges, lawyers, law enforcement, or even the general public.

• Filling out forms

Lots of forms relating to petitions, warrants, and hearings require to be filled. It is the duty of the deputy clerk to ensure that these forms are filled out correctly. The clerk might also be required to record names on marriage certificates, business licenses, birth certificates, adoption cards, and also take note of legal name changes.

• Analyzing legal documents

One of the characteristics of legal documents is that they must have the ability to persuade. For this reason, the deputy clerk must analyze and approve legal documents such as pending motions and orders.

• Accounting duties

People who come to the court are expected to forward payments for fines, bonds, charges, or fees levied to them by the court.  The deputy clerk receives and issues receipts for these payments. After that, he/she might be required to reconcile and make adjustments for all the receipts.

• Oaths

Before making a statement before the court, parties are required to take oaths. It is the duty of the deputy clerk to administer these oaths.

• Secretarial duties

Secretarial duties such as taking minutes during trials and reading out the progress of previous court proceedings might be assigned to the deputy clerk.

These are some of the duties carried out by deputy clerks. Important to note, the duties of a deputy clerk can vary from one court environment to another. Mastering all the duties of a deputy clerk could earn you a higher position as a chief court clerk or even higher when you advance your studies.

How do you become a deputy clerk?

To help ensure that only the best candidates apply for the job, most deputy clerk positions require a high school diploma or any of its equivalents. Previous work experience in a similar work environment is a huge plus.

Which skills should a deputy clerk have?

A deputy clerk must possess certain skills to successfully execute deputy clerk duties. These skills include good legal diction, evidence handling, record handling, math, grammar, multitasking, good communication, teamwork, and jury management.

Deputy clerk interview questions

The following are some of the questions to expect during a deputy clerk interview:

• Tell us about yourself?
• Where do you see yourself in the next five years and why?
• What do you know about this position?
• What is integrity?
• How would you solve a conflict? (They might have real-life case scenarios for this question)
• What is the effect of the media in the courtroom?

How much does a deputy clerk make?

The salaries of a deputy clerk can vary from one environment to the other. Annual salaries typically range from $25000-$40000. Although the salaries might be too little in some cases, especially when there are several deputy clerks, deputy clerk duties are a stepping stone for higher ranking jobs both at the court and elsewhere.