Job Description

The Associate General Counsel is responsible for providing a high level of professional legal service by representing and advising the Arizona Board of Regents and Arizona State University on a broad range of education law and other legal matters. 

This position will be within the employment practice group, which concentrates primarily on academic and non-academic personnel matters, student matters, and law enforcement matters. Attorneys in this group provide advice and counsel on public records requests; policies and procedures; academic integrity; student conduct; residency appeals, including related administrative hearings; constitutional, legislative and regulatory matters (First Amendment, FERPA, Title IX, discrimination and harassment, Clery, VAWA, financial aid and student visas); admissions and scholarships; and federal and state employment and administrative law matters, such as at-will employment, law enforcement personnel, discipline, termination and grievances, compensation and employee benefits, immigration, discrimination and civil rights matters involving employees, conflict of interest, and independent contractors. Specific assignments within the employment practice group are based on the needs of the university and the background and workload of the attorneys in the group. The Associate General Counsel is responsible for supporting training and preventive law programs on a university-wide basis. 

This position interacts regularly with senior level administration and with state and federal regulatory offices. The Associate General Counsel is a university staff position.

For more information about the Office of General Counsel visit our web site at www.asu.edu/counsel. 

Essential Duties

• Prepares legal opinions and provides advice for administrative offices and academic units based on an analysis of applicable federal and state law and regulations, Board of Regents policies and University policies. 
• Prepares and reviews contracts and other legal documents for various University offices and departments. 
• Handles or assists in the handling of university transactions, litigation and administrative proceedings relating to the attorney's primary practice area(s). 
• Advises University boards, offices and committees on responsibilities and policies/procedures to be utilized. 
• Assists in analyzing and advising on legal implication of policy decisions, contractual relations and regulatory compliance matters. 
• Represents the Office of General Counsel at meetings and conferences, as required. 
• Researches and analyzes a wide variety of laws, regulations, legislation, legislative history and policies; studies proposed or existing legislation for implications to the University. 
• Confers with outside legal counsel in areas of specialty law as necessary.
• Collaborates with outside legal counsel on transactional, litigation, and administrative matters as necessary. 
• Maintains effective working relationships with university administrators, with outside counsel, and with appropriate regulatory, legislative and other legal resources. 
• Assists in development and presents a variety of preventive law programs for the University. 
• Accepts service of process in appropriate circumstances; handles subpoenas and court orders.
• Assists in the identification, review, and redaction of documents responsive to requests for access to public records.
• Assumes other duties as may be assigned by the General Counsel or Deputy General Counsel. 

Minimum Qualifications

J.D. degree from an ABA accredited law school and six (6) years of experience as a practicing attorney, including experience in the primary practice area(s) designated by the Senior Vice President and General Counsel; OR, any equivalent combination of experience and/or education from which comparable knowledge, skills and abilities have been achieved. Must be a member in good standing with the State Bar of Arizona within twelve (12) months of hire or qualify for and registered as in-house counsel in Arizona.

Desired Qualifications

• Seven (7) or more years of current and continuous experience in the active practice of law with a focus in employment law and litigation and/or higher education law
• Experience in an in-house university environment, or as outside counsel devoting substantial attention to university clients in education law, particularly with student matters and/or employment issues (university experience preferred; four years preferred)
• Related experience in other relevant areas of law including immigration, administrative, and public sector law 
• Demonstrated knowledge of the legal issues faced by research universities
• Evidence of effective  communication skills
• Experience in legal research as well as analytical, advocacy, problem solving, conflict resolution, and interpersonal skills
• Experience working collaboratively in a diverse and complex environment with both lawyers and non-lawyers with expertise in relevant areas
• Experience working with teams that may be geographically distributed across office locations, campuses, or in other states or countries

Working Environment

• Work is performed primarily in a standard office environment subject to prolonged periods of sitting and operation of computer equipment requiring keyboarding.
• Travel to other offices at the Tempe campus and other ASU campuses is required.
• Some out-of-state and overnight travel is required.
   

Department Statement

The Office of General Counsel is located in the ASU Fulton Center, at 300 E. University Drive, Suite 335, Tempe, Arizona. Attorneys within the Office of General Counsel provide services at all ASU campuses and at multiple locations. For more information about the Office of General Counsel visit our web site at www.asu.edu/counsel.

For information on admission to the state of Arizona bar, including the registration process that is available for in-house counsel and the process for admission on motion, please visit http://azcourts.gov/cld/AttorneyAdmissions.aspx.

ASU offers competitive benefits to its eligible employees including vacation time, paid holidays, sick leave, self & dependents reduced tuition, retirement, group life insurance, long-term disability coverage, medical insurance programs, flexible benefits plan and dental insurance plans. To find out more about our benefits please go
to http://www.asu.edu/hr/benefits/index.html.