Senior Counsel

City of New York•New York City, NY

22h•Onsite

About The Position

The Law Division of the NYC Department of Design and Construction (“DDC”) seeks a full-time Senior Counsel. Under the supervision and direction of the General Counsel, First Deputy General Counsel and DDC’s management team, the Senior Counsel will be expected to perform a broad scope of duties to support DDC’s Law Division in all aspects of DDC’s mission. As in-house counsel to DDC the Law Division provides legal advice in relation to DDC’s planning, design, procurement, and construction management duties on the City’s roadway infrastructure systems and City-owned buildings (such as museums, libraries, correction facilities, police precincts, homeless shelters, court buildings, etc.) The scope of work for the position will include a wide variety in-house legal counsel duties that may include, but not be limited to:

Requirements

Admission to the New York State Bar; and either "2" or "3" below.
One year of satisfactory United States legal experience subsequent to admission to any state bar; or
Six months of satisfactory service as an Agency Attorney Interne (30086).
Incumbents must remain Members of the New York State Bar in good standing for the duration of this employment.
To be assigned to Assignment Level (AL) II, candidates must have one year of experience at Assignment Level I or two years of comparable legal experience subsequent to admission to the bar, in the areas of law related to the assignment.
To be assigned to AL III candidates must have two years of experience in Assignment Levels I and/or II or three years of comparable legal experience subsequent to admission to the bar, in the areas of law related to the assignment.

Responsibilities

Advise and make recommendations to the Deputy Commissioner / General Counsel and other agency executive staff on questions of law, procedure and administrative policy, including proposed legislative changes, developing legal arguments, environmental law compliance and significant recent caselaw that may affect the agency
Review and draft professional and construction contracts, including but not limited to design-bid build, design-build, cm build, construction management agreements, cultural grant agreements, licenses, assignments, small purchases contracts and force account agreements
Provide legal assistance to the Agency’s Chief Contracting Office (“ACCO”) in relation to procurement appeals and decision process, including draft opinions and the presentation of facts and decisions
Review and assist with the management of litigation matters, legal disputes and commercial claims for cases pending with the agency, the NYC Law Department and the NYC Comptroller’s Office
Review agency responses to the public pursuant to the Freedom of Information Law (“FOIL”) and elected officials, as well as coordinate agency responses to the public with the agency’s public relations office
Provide legal guidance on conflicts of interest related guidance to agency management and staff
Assist with the legal review of equal employment law matters with agency management and staff
Assist with the legal review of insurance and surety matters
Handle real property issues that impact the agency’s construction efforts, including but not limited to: the oversight of real property condemnation proceedings pursuant to the New York State (“NYS”) Eminent Domain Procedure Law (“EDPL”), the review of various types of leases, title reports, surveys, as well as the review and preparation of various types of license agreements, restrictive covenants, easements and land use actions
Prepare funding and security agreements for secured transactions under the Uniform Commercial Code (“UCC”) with discretionary funded projects with not-for-profit organizations and hospitals
Assist the agency’s Director of Labor Relations, Human Resources, and agency management on issues pertaining agency employees, locals representing employees, grievances, and any other issues that arise regarding the City’s collective bargaining agreements
Research for the recommendation and interpretation of various laws, rules, regulations and programs. As in-house counsel, successful candidates must be organized and able to multi-task.