General Counsel

City of New York•New York City, NY

About The Position

The New York City Comptroller’s Office works to promote the financial health, integrity, and effectiveness of New York City government, in order to strengthen trust, secure a thriving future for all New Yorkers, and build a more just, equitable, and resilient city. Led by an independently elected citywide official, the comptroller’s office provides checks and balances needed to hold City government accountable for budgeting wisely, investing responsibly, operating efficiently, acting fairly, living up to its obligations and promises, and paying attention to the long-term challenges we face together. The Office of the General Counsel is responsible for all legal matters relating to the work of or affecting the operations of the Comptroller’s Office. This includes issues relating to procurement rules and City contracts; accounting practices and disclosures; settlement of claims brought on behalf of and against the City; prevailing wages on City projects; records access; public policy; proposed federal, state, and local legislation; and transactions for the five New York City Retirement Systems (Systems) and their public market, private market, and real estate investments. The Office of the General Counsel (OGC) interacts with numerous city agencies, including the New York City Law Department, and works closely with all the Bureaus within the Comptroller’s Office. The General Counsel will report to the First Deputy Comptroller.

Requirements

Admission to the New York State Bar and eight (8) or more years of progressively responsible legal experience with a mix of transactional, counseling, and litigation experience in highly complex settings/organizations; three (3) years of which must be in the supervision of other attorneys, investigators, or paralegal teams in administrative, litigation management, or other managerial or executive capacity, or performing highly complex and significant legal work.
Incumbents must remain Members of the New York State Bar in good standing for the duration of their employment.
Admission to the New York State Bar; and four years of recent full-time responsible, relevant, satisfactory legal experience subsequent to admission to any bar, eighteen months of which must have been in the supervision of other attorneys, in an administrative, managerial or executive capacity, or performing highly complex and significant legal work.
Incumbents must remain Members of the New York State Bar in good standing for the duration of this employment.

Responsibilities

Provides general oversight and management of the OGC team, which consists of about 20 individuals, mostly attorneys. Acts as a first point of contact for agency staff’s legal questions, delegating assignments to other OGC attorneys as necessary. Oversees Deputy and Associate General Counsels on a wide range of legal issues, consulting with subject matter experts and escalating issues as appropriate
Provides Bureau-specific legal support and counseling; coordinates with the New York City Law Department on document holds, discovery requests, and litigation strategy
Oversees the Bureau of Law and Adjustment and Engineering team on the settlement of claims brought on behalf of and against the City of New York
Supervises OGC team responsible for responding to FOIL requests and press questions. Acts as liaison to press staff for legal and other risk issues. Assists in reviewing and crafting statements where legal issues are raised
Works with Policy team on major initiatives and reports to assess regulatory environment, flag critical legal issues, and resolve jurisdictional questions
Advises Bureau of Public Affairs on how to address or direct constituent questions concerning matters of a legal or sensitive nature
Advises the Bureau of Asset Management’s Chief Compliance Office on ethics/compliance issues including outside events and personal trading, reviews Due Diligence Questionnaires and other disclosure forms on request, and addresses any other select legal-compliance issues that arise from time to time as well as issues relating to the Trustee role, and assisting with data requests and other information related to litigation strategy
Consults with and advises the IT team on a wide range of ad hoc IT legal issues, such as contracting matters and data privacy
Partner with the IT team to develop and maintain the agency’s AI governance policy ensuring it complies with applicable laws and regulations; operationalize AI ethics principles into actionable guardrails and staff training for the use and implementation of AI tools.
Perform other related assignments and special projects as may be required.