Chief Litigation Counsel

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Chief Litigation Counsel

Salary

$100,214.00 Annually

Location

City County Building, IN

Job Type

Full Time

Job Number

08514

Department

Office of Corporation Counsel

Opening Date

07/16/2024

Closing Date

10/15/2024 11:59 PM Eastern

• Description

• Benefits

Position Summary

The Office of Corporation Counsel (OCC) provides legal services to the City and County through its three main divisions. First, OCC represents the City, County agencies, and City-County employees in litigation, handling a diverse docket that ranges from tort and contract matters to constitutional law. Second, through its counseling division, OCC provides legal advice to City and County agencies, officials, and oversight bodies to ensure that public entities remain compliant with the law and standards of ethical conduct, to safeguard public funds, and to promote the efficient functioning of local government for Marion County taxpayers. OCC’s third division is the Office of the City Prosecutor, which is responsible for enforcing City-County ordinances. OCC also oversees the Office of Equal Opportunity, which administers the City’s human relations and equal opportunity ordinance, protecting against discrimination in employment and other contexts. In exercising these crucial legal functions, OCC cultivates a productive, collaborative, and compliant work environment that prioritizes the needs of our clients and the residents of Indianapolis and Marion County.

The holder of this position will handle a wide range of civil litigation matters on behalf of City-County agencies, with a focus on more complex or high-stakes matters that require significant professional experience and/or subject-matter expertise. The incumbent will also be responsible for managing a team of litigation attorneys and supervising more junior attorneys and members of support staff. The position holder will head OCC’s litigation division.

All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran, or disability status. We value diversity in perspectives and experiences among colleagues and the residents of this city of whom we serve.

Position Responsibilities

The chief litigation counsel is a working manager, combining an active litigation caseload with management responsibilities.

As an active litigator, the chief litigation counsel represents the City-County and related agencies in civil litigation matters in state and federal court. The City-County is involved in a diverse array of litigation matters, including federal civil rights suits, tort claims, contract disputes, prisoner litigation, appeals at the state and federal level, and administrative and regulatory matters.

In this litigation role, the chief litigation counsel is responsible for all facets of complex civil litigation. On some cases, the holder of this position will assume the role of the primary attorney. This role representing our public agency clients includes preparing complaints, answers, and other pleadings; researching and filing motions and briefs; handling discovery and depositions; judicial hearings; settlement negotiations; and trial advocacy. As the head of the litigation division, the chief litigation counsel will assume primary responsibility for cases when such cases are highly sensitive in nature, involve significant potential financial liability, implicate complex legal issues, or involve complicated discovery and case management challenges.

On other matters, the chief litigation counsel will play a more indirect, supervisory role, handling some aspects of a case while another attorney occupies the lead role. In such cases, the chief litigation counsel’s role may be to provide high-level guidance to a more junior attorney who is handling the day-to-day aspects of a case. This high-level guidance includes strategic direction, client communications, review of the junior attorney’s work, and communications with opposing counsel.

The chief litigation counsel’s management role requires active supervision of a team of litigation attorneys and senior litigation attorneys, two deputy chief litigation counsels, a tort claims investigator, paralegals, and office administrative staff. Working in conjunction with the deputy chiefs, the chief litigation counsel will be responsible for conducting regular check-ins with more junior attorneys, delegating responsibility and assigning case work as appropriate, and ensuring that the office as a whole professionally discharges its duties to clients. The chief will set the strategic direction for the litigation division, which includes adopting internal policies and procedures to optimize the division’s performance.

The chief litigation counsel position involves the following additional responsibilities:

• Providing advice to client agencies with regard to litigation strategy and settlement negotiations.

• Keeping clients, including senior agency staff and elected officials, fully informed on litigation matters affecting their agencies.

• Advising clients and colleagues in the Office of Corporation Counsel on compliance with law and the avoidance of future litigation risk.

• Preparing advisory opinions and memos on issues related to litigation or future litigation risk, at the request of the Corporation Counsel or client agencies.

• Representing City-County agencies in administrative hearings or similar settings.

• Keeping apprised of relevant legal developments at the state and federal level.

• Supervisory responsibilities over litigation attorneys, including hiring, firing, and discipline, in coordination with department leadership.

• Reviewing and approving settlement agreements.

• Screening and assigning incoming litigation matters.

• In conjunction with department leadership, retaining and communicating with outside litigation counsel on cases in which the City-County is a party.

• Overseeing the support work of the litigation staff team, including paralegals, investigators, and office assistants.

• Performing other duties as assigned by the Corporation Counsel or Deputy Corporation Counsel.

Skills Required

Strong independent judgment. This role requires willingness to take individual responsibility for weighty matters that affect the lives and livelihoods of others. While support from other staff and department leadership is available, a chief litigation counsel must have the confidence and good judgment to make decisions independently in a variety of settings.

In-depth knowledge of litigation practice. As a working manager, the chief litigation counsel must be proficient in all aspects of the litigation process, including legal writing, discovery, mediation, civil procedure, and substantive areas of the law that are frequently implicated by the office’s work, including constitutional law, torts, contract law, and doctrines relating to law enforcement and prisoner litigation.

Strategic vision. The chief litigation counsel is responsible not only for guiding individual cases, but for helping to shape the City-County’s approach to litigation—and litigation-related risk—more generally. This duty requires a broad field of vision, extensive experience in the practice of law, and the ability to understand the long-term implications of the office’s decisions.

Leadership ability. This position often involves managing the work of more junior attorneys and other staff members. As the head of a division of the Office of Corporation Counsel, the chief must be able to provide useful guidance, meaningfully delegate responsibility, and promote a collegial, respectful work environment.

Analytical ability and intellectual curiosity. This position faces a wide variety of legal issues and fact patterns. The position requires rapidly digesting new information, integrating it into an existing body of knowledge, and adeptly using legal research tools to acquire mastery of all the issues raised by each litigation matter as it arises.

Proficiency at legal writing and other written communication. This includes more formal work product like summary judgment briefs, motions to dismiss, and memoranda. Like all litigation attorneys, the chief litigation counsel, must also be skilled at more informal communications, including messages to clients, communications with opposing counsel, and summaries of legal research. As the head of the division, the chief litigation counsel must also be adept at producing precise, informative communications regarding the course of litigation to keep elected officials and other city leaders informed of key developments.

Oral communications skills. This includes administrative proceedings, pre-trial hearings before judicial officers, or jury trials. The chief litigation counsel must concisely, effectively communicate his or her arguments, be adept at improvising and thinking on his or her feet, and be able to adapt tone and messaging to the needs of different audiences in different settings.

Zealous advocacy. Many of the litigation matters handled directly or supervised by this position will be high stakes – both financially and emotionally. Position holders must keep in mind that their client is ultimately the public, and must treat their work with the attention and seriousness that it deserves.

Time management skills. Despite his or her management role, the chief litigation counsel will still be responsible for considerable caseloads. Success in the position requires efficiency, strong time management, and the ability to prioritize the most pressing or important tasks.

Ethics and professionalism. Holders of this position are public servants, and so are their clients. All attorneys at the Office of Corporation Counsel, especially senior leadership like the chief litigation counsel, are expected to uphold the highest standards of professional ethics and responsible advocacy.

Qualifications

Minimum Job Requirements and Qualifications

• Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D.) from an ABA-accredited law school.

• Valid license to practice law in Indiana.

• Must be admitted to practice in the Southern District of Indiana.

• Proficiency in legal research tools, including Westlaw, and familiarity with electronic filing and records management systems.

• At least eight years’ experience in the practice of law as a licensed attorney (may include a judicial clerkship), OR at least five years’ experience as a litigation attorney with the Office of Corporation Counsel.

• Subject-matter expertise or significant work experience in one or more areas of litigation practice: appeals, federal civil rights defense, tort claims, tax litigation, or contract litigation.

• Management experience.

Preferred Job Requirements and Qualifications

• Eight or more years’ experience as a practicing litigator in Indiana.

• Significant professional experience (as an attorney or non-attorney) in local government, law enforcement, or administrative procedure.

• Significant individual experience in conducting complex discovery, authoring dispositive motions, oral advocacy, or trials.

• Significant practice experience in federal court.

• Management experience supervising at least five employees in a legal practice setting.

Independent Judgment

Incumbent is given great latitude and must use independent judgment in application of City and Departmental Polices and state and federal laws. Corporation Counsel is available for consultation. However, the incumbent is expected to function in a professional, effective manner under limited guidance. Incumbent will be granted considerable discretion in daily job functions.