Senior Legal Counsel (Employment)
About The Position
The Community Solution Education System’s Office of Legal Affairs provides strategic legal counsel to leaders across the System Office and partner institutions. The Senior Legal Counsel will join a collaborative in-house legal team and have primary responsibility for employment and labor matters. The attorney will partner with Human Resources, institutional leaders, and other stakeholders to provide practical, strategic guidance on employment, labor, student-related, and other in-house legal matters, including regulatory compliance, investigations, dispute resolution, policy development, and risk management. The position provides counsel on higher education system and institutional operations, leads employment-related disputes, advises on workplace and student-related investigations, negotiates settlements, manages insurance claims, works with outside counsel, and supports labor relations matters. It is fully remote and requires flexibility across time zones. The role involves changing priorities and short deadlines and may occasionally require work outside standard business hours.
Requirements
- Minimum of 10 years of experience practicing employment law as a litigator or within a higher education environment.
- Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from an ABA-accredited law school.
- Active license to practice law in California.
- Licensed to practice law in Illinois or eligible to become licensed upon starting work.
- Experience providing legal counsel and risk assessment on employment, labor, and workplace matters.
- Experience advising organizational leaders on complex employment issues, including workplace investigations, regulatory compliance, and dispute resolution.
- Strong knowledge of federal and state employment laws, including FLSA, ADA, FMLA, and California employment laws.
Nice To Haves
- Experience in higher education, litigation, labor relations, and general corporate and/or regulatory law.
- Combined experience in both law firm and in-house legal environments.
- Experience drafting, reviewing, and implementing policies and procedures within an organization.
Responsibilities
- Provide practical legal counsel and risk assessment on day-to-day operational, administrative, and strategic matters supporting higher education system and institutional operations.
- Serve as lead counsel on employment disputes, including pre-litigation and litigation matters involving discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wage and hour, workers’ compensation, and reasonable accommodation claims.
- Conduct and advise on complex workplace and student-related investigations and recommend legally sound, practical resolutions.
- Negotiate settlements, manage insurance claims, and partner with outside counsel as appropriate to support effective case resolution.
- Advise on compliance with federal and state employment laws and regulations, including FLSA, ADA, FMLA, California employment laws, and matters involving state and federal regulatory agencies.
- Support labor relations matters, including collective bargaining and related workforce considerations.
Benefits
- Medical, dental, and vision coverage.
- Voluntary benefit options.
- Employer-paid life and disability insurance.
- Retirement plan contributions.
- Employee assistance program.
- 20 PTO days and 11 paid holidays annually.
- Remote work flexibility and a biweekly remote work stipend.
- Tuition reimbursement for eligible external degree programs.
- Tuition waivers at participating colleges within the System.
- Multiple flexible spending accounts.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
Education Level
Ph.D. or professional degree
