Staff Attorney or Senior Counsel (Hybrid - La Crosse, WI)

Dairyland Power Cooperative • La Crosse, WI

10d • $132,100 - $227,900 • Hybrid

About The Position

The Staff Attorney will provide legal advice, counsel, and services to all organizations within Dairyland Power Cooperative, covering a wide range of activities. The primary responsibilities include ensuring procedural and legal compliance in various areas such as Supply Chain, Environmental, Industrial Safety, and Ethics. Oversee and manage major contractual transactions and litigation matters. The role involves assisting with general cooperative legal matters, transactional work, and special projects as assigned, under the direction of the Vice President and Deputy General Counsel.

Requirements

• Juris Doctorate Degree from accredited law school.
• Must be in good standing with a U.S. state bar and willing and qualified to seek admission to the bar in Wisconsin at the earliest opportunity required.
• Minimum of 3 years of active legal practice in the area(s) of electric/public utilities, energy, regulatory compliance, corporate, cooperative, or real estate law.
• Experience in the state of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa or Washington D.C. preferred.
• Direct experience in one or more of the following areas and working knowledge of the other areas: Real property law/real estate transactions (including condemnation litigation), electric/public utilities/cooperatives law, energy law, commercial transactions/commercial law, environmental permitting/environmental law, and general business and corporate law.
• Strong contract drafting and negotiating skills, paying close attention to details.
• Possess strong critical thinking, interpretation, problem-solving, and analytical skills.
• Must be capable of reading, analyzing and interpreting complex documents, and responding effectively.
• Must be capable of accurately assessing needs and guiding others in determining and developing strategies.
• Superior communications skills with the ability to interface effectively with individuals at all levels, both internally and externally.
• Strong listening, reasoning, influencing and facilitating skills.
• Ability to uphold the highest standards of discretion and confidentiality and adhere to the Wisconsin Rules of Professional Conduct.
• Maintains familiarity with Wisconsin Public Service Commission and/or Minnesota Public Utilities Commission laws, rules, and regulations, as well as Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and Regional Transmission Organization laws, rules, and regulations, including the ability to advise the organization on the interplay between State/Federal issues.
• Demonstrated ability to assess and balance commercial/legal risks against business objectives to ensure timely and appropriate results and outcomes.

Nice To Haves

• Proven experience navigating complex regulatory environments, with a demonstrated understanding of the unique compliance needs of electric cooperatives, including FERC, NERC, and state utility commissions.
• Expertise in advising cooperative boards of directors on governance and legal matters, ensuring adherence to fiduciary responsibilities and supporting democratic decision-making that prioritizes member interests.
• Demonstrated ability to assess and mitigate legal risks while safeguarding the cooperative’s assets, reputation, and long-term member-focused operations.
• Familiarity with the cooperative business model and the ability to align contracts, policies, and legal strategies with cooperative principles of transparency, fairness, and member service.

Responsibilities

• Provide legal support and advice on all aspects of procurement and contracting for materials, equipment, supplies, and services in support of Dairyland’s varied system needs. This work includes the ability to draft and review a wide variety of contracts, leases, waivers, and other legal documents, negotiate modifications and amendments as necessary, assist Dairyland in addressing warranty claims, contract terminations, defaults, and contract disputes, as needed, and coordinate with internal stakeholders, Supply Chain and the Deputy General Counsel and/or General Counsel to finalize as appropriate.
• Provide legal support and advice to Dairyland management and staff on legal consequences or risks as they relate to Dairyland business, compliance and regulatory activities. Serve as internal legal counsel on project teams as necessary.
• Collaborate with the Legal Services Team to continuously improve Legal Services processes and operations and provide necessary legal support to enable Dairyland to achieve strategic goals in support of Dairyland’s mission and vision.
• Ensure compliance issues and concerns within the organization are appropriately evaluated, investigated, and resolved and/or mitigated consistent with Dairyland’s policies and procedures.
• Assist in the development and drafting, review and maintenance of corporate procedures and policies.
• Review state and federal statutes and regulatory dockets; prepare and file comments, petitions, applications, interventions, and other documents, as needed, with appropriate governmental agencies as directed.
• Manage legal activities in certain divisions of the organization as assigned. Draft legal letters and other legal communications documents.
• Assist Legal Services Department in developing and growing internal legal services’ portfolio.
• Assists, as directed, in conducting litigation on behalf of Dairyland or monitoring the conduct of such litigation by outside legal counsel. Prepare budgets for extensive transactional matters and ongoing major litigation and assure that, to the extent practicable, those matters are conducted within the approved scope and budget.
• Manage and provide effective reporting to Staff and Board of Directors on significant matters, as directed by the Deputy General Counsel and General Counsel.
• Performs any other related duties as assigned.

Benefits

• Health & disability benefits (medical, dental, vision, short & long-term disability)
• Life insurance
• Generous 401(k) and Pension Plans
• Paid Time Off
• Robust Wellness Program
• New Flexible Work Program
• Tuition Reimbursement

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior