Judicial

Assistant
Kiersten Slade
Criminal Justice 1010-406-Su14
Terry L. Powell
By

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I have a few friends in the legal field that Ive learned a lot from them over the years in
our different conversations. The positions that have always interested me the most are a Court
Clerk and a Judicial Assistant. A Court Clerk deals with all kinds of different cases. They range
from debt collection, divorces, and all the way to criminal cases. I feel like they have such a vast
knowledge of things that can easily be used in day to day lives. I didnt realize how often legal
conversations come up until I started working as a legal assistant. Im asked all the time if
something is legal or whats the best way to handle a legal situation. Most times, to my
knowledge whatever they are asking isnt legal or it wasnt done properly. Just today, my dad
received a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS. They said he owed money and
that he had a warrant out for his arrest. He was scared because he knew he didnt owe any money
and shouldnt have a warrant out for him. After I listened to the message, because of my
knowledge of the court system and the different state laws, I was able to tell him that it was a
scam. Theres no way the IRS would be able to disclose as much information as they did without
verifying it was my dad first. Theres also not an open case against him because he wasnt
personally served first. I never would have known that if I hadnt worked in the legal field and
worked with court clerks on my filings.
I interviewed my friend Cheyenne Biorge on August 7, 2014. She is currently a Judicial
Assistant for the 3
rd
District Juvenile Court. The average salary for a judicial assistant is $29,000
to $35,000 a year. They can make more, but it depends on how long theyve worked there. For
benefits, they get medical, dental, and eye insurance. They have a retirement program as well as
paid vacation time and paid sick leave. It didnt sound like she had a lot of flexibility in her work
schedule. The law firm I work for is extremely flexible with our schedules and Im coming to
realize its one of the benefits of working there. Many people dont have flexible schedules and

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dont have the freedoms that I often take for granted. However, she does have to be in court and
they arent going to reschedule a hearing because she isnt there, so I can understand why they
cant be very flexible with her schedule.
The education requirements for a Judicial Assistant are that you must have a bachelors
degree or an equivalent certificate or license. Cheyenne has her Paralegal Studies Certificate
from Weber State. In the Judicial Assistant position you can be promoted by moving to Judicial
Assistant 1, 2, or 3, with pay raises to each level. Cheyenne started at the court as a Judicial
Service Representative and moved up into her current position. She said there are also always
management opportunities if you are willing to transfer to another court house in the State.
The hiring process for Judicial Assistants always start out internally. If there are no
employees within the courts that apply or they dont want to hire those applicants, the position is
opened to the public. Almost all Judicial Assistants begin as Judicial Service Representatives
(JSR). The JSRs require no experience in the court and they accept applicants from the public.
She said that you have to be a JSR or an employee of the court for three years or more in order to
be promoted to a judicial assistant. Cheyenne was only in her JSR position for a few months
before she got promoted because if you dont have the three years or more experience, a
bachelors degree or equivalent can suffice.
There are several skills needed in order to become a successful Judicial Assistant. Some
experience in the courts is generally a requirement, knowledge of terminology and legal writing
is an absolute must. When I started out as a legal assistant, I didnt know anything about law or
any terminology. It was really hard for me at first because I didnt understand what anyone was
saying. After about a month or two I understood almost all of it. The terminology is easy to

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understand and use, I think the legal writing is more difficult. Theres a lot of work that goes into
putting a pleading or document together in order to word it correctly and to include all the
laws/rules you need to abide by. You also need to have good people skills to become a Judicial
Assistant. She said it might not seem that important but being in court with distraught and
hysterical families faced with legal proceedings takes some tact. It didnt dawn on me that you
would need this particular skill for that reason. I think another skill that a Judicial Assistant
would need is good reaction time. I dont think Id be quick enough to hide a laugh or know what
to do if someone started acting out hysterically, so I thought that was a good point she brought
up. Having a general knowledge of court procedures work is also crucial. The Judicial Assistant
is responsible for communicating with the parties in a case to let them know what their next steps
are and how their case will proceed.
As a Judicial Assistant, Cheyenne is in court with the judge anywhere from two to five
days a week. While in court, she records the proceedings, writes orders as the Judge declares
them, writes motions and notices as the Judge reviews and states them. She gets the Judge
anything he needs such as motions, notices, affidavit forms, or any document concerning the
particular case they wish to review in court. The days when she is not in court, she mans the
Judges desk where she answers his calls and emails addressed to the Judge. She writes orders
for the things going on in court if they dont need to be signed in court as well as accepts and
creates cases for all new filings that come to her Judge throughout the day. When she isnt in
court or manning the Judges desk, she is in her own cubicle transcribing minutes from the
hearings she was present in. By law, you have ten days to transcribe those minutes and get them
to the parties that were present at the hearing or to any relevant parties. She does anything else
that the Judge needs done. Those tasks mostly include writing Transport Orders for the hearings

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the next week. These orders allow the defendants to be transferred from jail to their court
proceedings. She also sends Release Orders at the same time in order to get the defendant out of
jail to come to the court proceeding. There are a lot of things that she does that I didnt realize
needed to be done, the Transport and Release Orders are some examples.
Cheyenne started out her professional career in 2011. She was hired as a receptionist for a
bankruptcy law firm called Eveland and Associates. She was there for seven months and said she
didnt do much more than answer the phones and search cases. The experience she gained from
using the courts online search engine got her a job as an assistant to an attorney at Greg Smith &
Associates in July of 2012. While employed there, her boss, Greg Smith, paid for her to attend
Weber States Paralegal Certificate program and she graduated in April of 2014. When she was
working at Greg Smith & Associates, the head paralegal who was responsible for writing and
filing 90% of the motions and pleadings for the firm, got accepted into law school and left the
firm to pursue his education. Instead of hiring a new paralegal, her boss promoted her. She was
now responsible for being the personal paralegal to 11 criminal defense attorneys and did so for
over a year. I still cant believe she was able to keep everything in order for all those attorneys.
We both work in law, but we have very different jobs.
During her time as a paralegal she because very familiar with the criminal court system
and learned to write and get motions granted without any help from an attorney. As she studied
for her Paralegal Certificate she became very knowledgeable of the law. She said she liked her
job and the people she worked with, but she was more interested in court procedures. Cheyenne
applied for a position with the 3
rd
District Court in April of 2014 and got an interview for a
Judicial Service Representative position. She was offered the job two days after her interview
and began working at the Matheson Court House in Downtown Salt Lake at the beginning of

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May 2014. The position for a Judicial Assistant opened up in the middle of July and she applied.
She was interviewed on July 30
th
and offered the job the same day. She just barely started over
on Judge Charles D. Behrens and Judge James R. Michies team on August 4,

2014. Cheyenne is
an extremely quick learner and it seemed like she had an awesome grasp on the tasks shes been
asked to do even though shes only been in her position for a few days.
Cheyenne really enjoys helping people get through the tough time of facing criminal
charges. She said that working for a criminal defense firm for two years really helped her see that
no one is perfect and you cant always judge someone on what they are accused of. She likes that
she has a more open mind now and that she can be an advocate of a fair trial. She said the
judges really exemplify a no judging policy. They look at every situation as unique and always
give the defendant the benefit of the doubt. She feels like its made her a better person and a
more understanding person overall.
She said she doesnt like the red tape. Following the law word for word can sometimes
go against your emotions and opinions. Shes seen people who she honestly believed acted in the
right and proper way, but were prosecuted and ended up in jail or prison. The letter of the law is
not always forgiving and people can face truly terrible consequences for acting in the right or
protecting themselves. I wanted to hear more about some red tape stories but she works in the
juvenile court so she isnt allowed to disclose any of that information. As Ive gotten older, Ive
started to have more of an open mind about a lot of things. Sometimes I have too much of an
open mind and I wondered at times if she had the same problem.
After interviewing Chey, Ive found some motivation within myself. She and I are the
same age and career wise, she is farther ahead of me. I want to continue to improve my skills and

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obtain as much knowledge as I can. Ive worked at my law firm for a year and a half and will be
graduating with my Associates degree soon. My goal is to find a new and better position that
will help expand my horizons. I dont want to be stuck doing what I currently do every day. Ive
been looking into some positions at different courts but have been hesitant to apply. After talking
with Cheyenne, Ive realized I need to just take a chance. Im never going to get better if I dont
put myself out there.
Overall, I really enjoyed this assignment. I liked that we were asked to actually get
involved and take that extra step to learn more about a career in the criminal justice system. I
learned a lot more about the behind the scenes of the courts that I didnt know before. I also
didnt take into account that you would need to exercise sympathy in certain situations. Ive
known Cheyenne for years and I think her career choice is the perfect path for her. Shes
extremely organized and knowledgeable; this is right up her alley. I wish she could have given
me examples of cases, but I understand why she couldnt. I guess Ill just have to put myself out
there and apply, and maybe I will get to witness the stories I wanted to hear about.