Assistant City Attorney

The purpose of this class within the organization is to represent the City of Charleston in all legal matters, providing the highest level of legal representation to the City.

This class works under administrative supervision, developing and implementing programs within organizational policies and reports major activities to executive level administrators through conferences and reports.

Duties and Responsibilities

The functions listed below are those that represent the majority of the time spent working in this class. Management may assign additional functions related to the type of work of the job/class as necessary.

Essential Functions:

Strives to be efficient and effective at balancing and meeting the common needs and reasonable expectations of core constituents.

Contributes towards the department's mission by continuously striving to meet expectations, strategic goals and objectives.

Researches, analyzes and interprets federal, state and local laws/policies/regulations to provide written and oral legal opinions to the Mayor, City Manager, City Council, and department heads on a wide range of issues.

Researches and subsequently drafts legislation for laws within the City and state municipal laws; develops, writes, reviews and revises ordinances.

Represents the City in various civil lawsuits filed against, or involving the City, which generally includes researching, analyzing and interpreting laws and filing the necessary court documents, in state or federal court.

Assists the Development Services department in enforcing the building code and zoning code by devising strategies, reviewing specific incidents and providing legal advice, reviewing letters, defending the City's position to attorneys or citizens, and working with other City employees to ensure the codes are consistently followed and applied.

Represents the City in administrative hearings on a variety of subjects, including but not limited to employment grievances filed by employees under the City's policies, tax appeals, purchasing appeals, and uniformed civil service hearings, which includes hearing preparation such as review of pertinent municipal code and/or policy, witness interviews and the gathering of evidence.

Represents the City in administrative appeals at the state court level, including preparation of all attendant pleadings and briefings.

Researches and analyze case law, regulations, federal, state, and local laws; as well as writes briefs in support of the City's position in litigation matters.

Consults with City employees and department heads; analyzes potential legal ramifications and determines a plan of action.

Consults with the City Council regarding potential legal issues that proposals may face or issues involving their constituents; attends meetings of the City Council, various committees, commissions and boards, rendering legal advice as necessary; appears and represents the City at civil mediations and depositions with various City employees.

Additional Duties:

Answers discovery requests, civil or criminal.

Develops departmental procedures by drafting, reviewing, or analyzing the change.

Appears in hearings, depositions, client consultations and all stages of litigation.

Prosecutes the City's criminal ordinances and violations of building code and zoning ordinances, which includes interviewing victims and witnesses and gathering evidence from various entities; prosecutes all criminal and traffic misdemeanors that occur in the City of Charleston; defends any resulting appeals therefrom at the state court level.

Supervises and assists support staff in preparing responses to discovery requests made by opposing counsel in criminal cases.

Provides general guidance to the public regarding City laws and state municipal laws.

Assists the City's Human Resources Department in the drafting and interpretation of various employment policies and procedures, such as policies regarding receipt of certain employee benefits.

Performs building code enforcement.

Performs related work as assigned.

Responsibilities, Requirements and Impacts

Data Responsibility:

Data Responsibility refers to information, knowledge, and conceptions obtained by observation, investigation, interpretation, visualization, and mental creation. Data are intangible and include numbers, words, symbols, ideas, concepts, and oral verbalizations.

Gathers, organizes, analyzes, examines or evaluates data or information and may prescribe action based on these data or information.

People Responsibility:

People include co-workers, workers in other areas or agencies and the general public.

Counsels or instructs/trains others through explanation, demonstration and supervised practice or makes recommendations based on technical expertise.

Asset Responsibility:

Assets responsibility refers to the responsibility for achieving economies or preventing loss within the organization.

Requires responsibility for achieving major economies or preventing major losses through the management of a large department or through interpreting policy as legal counsel.

Mathematical Requirements:

Mathematics requires the use of symbols, numbers and formulas to solve mathematical problems.

Uses addition and subtraction, multiplication and division and/or calculates ratios, rates and percents.

Communications Requirements:

Communications involves the ability to read, write, and speak.

Reads and interprets professional materials, involving advanced bodies of knowledge related to law and other complex disciplines; writes extremely complex papers and reports; speaks to high level legal or other such groups.

Judgment Requirements:

Judgment requirements refer to the frequency and complexity of judgments and decisions given the stability of the work environments, the nature and type of guidance, and the breadth of impact of the judgments and decisions.

Responsible for the actions of others, requiring development of procedures and constant decisions affecting subordinate workers, customers, clients or others in the general public; works in a very fluid environment with guidelines, but significant variation.

Complexity of Work:

Complexity addresses the analysis, initiative, ingenuity, concentration and creativity, required by the job and the presence of any unusual pressures present in the job.

Performs work involving the application of principles of logical thinking or legal practice to diagnose or define problems, collect data and solve abstract problems with widespread unit or organization impact; requires sustained, intense concentration for accurate results and continuous exposure to unusual pressures.

Impact of Errors:

Impact of errors refers to consequences such as damage to equipment and property, loss of data, exposure of the organization to legal liability, and injury or death for individuals.

The impact of errors is moderately serious - affects work unit and may affect other units.

Physical Demands:

Physical demands refer to the requirements for physical exertion and coordination of limb and body movement.

Performs sedentary work that involves walking or standing some of the time and involves exerting up to 10 pounds of force on a regular and recurring basis or sustained keyboard operations.

Equipment Usage:

Equipment usage involves responsibility for materials, machines, tools, equipment, work aids, and products.

Handles or uses work aids involving little or no latitude for judgment regarding attainment of a standard or in selecting appropriate items.

Unavoidable Hazards:

Unavoidable hazards refer to the job conditions that may lead to injury or health hazards even though precautions have been taken.

None.

Safety of Others:

Safety of others refers to the level of responsibility for the safety of others, either inherent in the job or to ensure the safety of the general public. (Does not include safety of subordinates).

Requires responsibility for the safety and health of others and for occasional enforcement of the laws and standards of public health and safety.

Minimum Education and Experience Requirements:

Requires a Law Degree from an accredited college or university and at least one (1) year of experience in practicing law or experience as a law clerk to a West Virginia state or federal judge.

Special Certifications and Licenses:

License to practice law in the State of West Virginia.

Core Competencies:

1. Accountability - takes responsibility for own actions.
2. Adaptability - responds positively to change.
3. Communications - listens, speaks and/or writes in a clear, concise and respectful manner.
4. Customer Service - provides courteous, accessible and quality assistance to internal and external customers.
5. Initiative - takes proactive action to complete work or resolve issues
6. Judgment & Decision Making - evaluates issues and makes sound factual decisions.
7. Professional Development - seeks opportunities to enhance technical skills and job knowledge.
8. Teamwork & Cooperation - collaborates with others to fulfill the City's vision and achieve departmental goals and strategic objectives.
9. Leadership - effectively manages and guides group efforts; tracks team progress, adequately anticipates roadblocks, and changes course as needed to achieve team goals.
10. Performance Management - clearly establishes and communicates expectations and accountabilities; monitors and evaluates performance.

Additional Qualifications:

1. Must have the ability to provide documentation verifying legal work status.
2. Ability to read and speak the English language proficiently in order to communicate and interact with others; to understand and interpret safety instructions; and to respond to internal and external inquiries.
3. Ability to understand and comply with City and departmental guidelines, policies, procedures and expectations.

This job description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work that may be performed by an employee. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory or list of all of the duties, responsibilities and qualifications required of employees assigned to this job. Supervisors/Managers and/or Department Heads may also assign additional or other lawful duties as may be necessary and/or required. The City reserves the right to modify or change this job description at any time, for any lawful reason, with or without notice. This job description is not, and should not be construed or implied to be a contract, promise or guarantee of continued employment.

Americans with Disabilities Act Compliance

The City of Charleston, WV is an Equal Opportunity Employer. The ADA requires the City to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified persons with disabilities. Prospective and current employees are encouraged to discuss ADA accommodations with management.