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Job Details for Relief Courtroom Deputy Clerk

Court Name/Organization California Northern District Court
Overview of the Position Whether launching or continuing a career in public service, the U.S. District Court is a great place to work with competitive salaries and benefits, a work schedule that promotes a work-life balance, and the opportunity to work with colleagues committed to fulfilling the important mission of administering justice in an efficient and effective manner. This position offers an excellent opportunity to advance a career in Federal court service. (Priority consideration to applicants who apply by Jan. 23, 2026) Please Note: This position will be in San Francisco with travel to Oakland and San Jose Divisional Offices.
Location San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, CA
Opening and Closing Dates 01/08/2026 - Open Until Filled
Appointment Type Permanent
Classification Level/Grade CL 26 - CL 27
Salary $67,972 - $121,385
Link to Court Careers Information https://www.cand.uscourts.gov/career-opportunities/
Announcement Number FY26-08
Link to Job Announcement

Position Description

The Relief Courtroom Deputy Clerk is a “floater” position, providing administrative support in and out of the courtroom to judges when the regularly assigned courtroom deputy is not available. The successful candidate will have a high level of accuracy, diplomacy and sensitivity in dealing with judges, attorneys, members of the government agencies, and the public. Courtroom Deputy Clerks work with meticulous attention to detail, create systems to organize and prioritize task, and communicate with calm and confident demeanor.

Primary Duties:

  • Scheduling hearings, conferences and trials, and coordinating the appearances in the courtroom of parties, attorneys, jurors, other court staff, and members of court- related agencies
  • Attending court and managing the orderly flow of court proceedings
  • Creating documents to record pertinent results of courtroom proceedings
  • Docketing court orders in the electronic docketing system and monitoring the docket to ensure timely filing by parties
  • Responding to inquiries from attorneys, self-represented litigants, agencies, and the public, and acting as liaison between these individuals and the judge
  • Informing the judge and staff of case progress

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications
The successful applicant must have:

  • For CL-26 one-year specialized experience, including at least one year at or equivalent to work at CL-25
  • For CL-27 two years specialized experience, including at least one-year specialized experience at or equivalent toCL-26

Specialized Experience

Specialized experience is progressively responsible clerical or administrative experience that is in, or closely related to, the work of the position and which has demonstrated the knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position and involves the routine use of automated software and keyboarding for word processing, data entry and report generation.

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Prior courtroom or federal court experience
  • Experience using automated systems for filing documents and extracting relevant information

Employee Benefits

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California is part of the federal Judicial branch of government and is independent of the Executive and Legislative branches. The court sets its own employment policies including remote work and performance management, while also valuing employees' individualism and continuing to strive towards a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace.

Judicial Branch employees are "at will” employees and are not subject to the employment regulations of competitive service. However, full-time judiciary employees are entitled to:

  • A minimum of 11 paid holidays per year
  • Paid annual leave in the amount of 13 days per year for the first three years, 20 days per year after 3 years, and 26 days per year after fifteen years.
  • Paid sick leave in the amount of 13 days per year
  • Federal Employees’ Retirement System (FERS)
  • Optional participation in the Thrift Savings Plan (with up to 5% employer matching contributions), the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP), Federal Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP), the Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance (FEGLI), the Flexible Benefits Program, the Commuter Benefit Program, (Public Transportation subsidy up to $130 per month), Long-Term Care Insurance, and Professional Liability Insurance
  • Employee Assistance Program (EAP)/Work Life Services

Miscellaneous

The Relief Courtroom Deputy Clerk is a “floater” position, providing administrative support in and out of the courtroom to judges when the regularly assigned courtroom deputy is not available. The successful candidate will have a high level of accuracy, diplomacy and sensitivity in dealing with judges, attorneys, members of the government agencies, and the public. Courtroom Deputy Clerks work with meticulous attention to detail, create systems to organize and prioritize task, and communicate with calm and confident demeanor.

Primary Duties:

  • Scheduling hearings, conferences and trials, and coordinating the appearances in the courtroom of parties, attorneys, jurors, other court staff, and members of court- related agencies
  • Attending court and managing the orderly flow of court proceedings
  • Creating documents to record pertinent results of courtroom proceedings
  • Docketing court orders in the electronic docketing system and monitoring the docket to ensure timely filing by parties
  • Responding to inquiries from attorneys, self-represented litigants, agencies, and the public, and acting as liaison between these individuals and the judge
  • Informing the judge and staff of case progress

Application Info

Applicants must submit the following:

  1. Cover letter
  2. Resume
  3. Three professional references

To be considered for this position, visit our agency website at https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/uscourtscand to submit the online application, along with the above-listed documents. Please be sure to fully complete your application by providing all work history from the past 10 years. Attachments should be submitted as Microsoft Word (DOC) or Adobe Acrobat (PDF) files. Other formats are not acceptable. 

Applications will be considered complete when the online application and all required attachments, in the appropriate format, are received by the Human Resources Unit.

The federal Judiciary is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer.