Assistant General Counsel

About the role

The New York City Department of Design and Construction (DDC) seeks an experienced Assistant General Counsel to provide legal support across a broad range of matters, including contract drafting and review; procurement, construction, insurance, environmental, and employment law; litigation support and claims analysis; Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) requests; conflicts of interest reviews; grant preparation; real estate and land use matters; funding and security agreements; labor and employee relations issues; and legal research and opinion drafting on a wide variety of matters.

Responsibilities

• Review and revise professional, construction, and design-build contract documents and communicate contract approval and public procurement requirements to the agency’s construction and design divisions.
• Perform litigation support activities and commercial claims analysis for matters pending with 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 coordinate agency responses to the public in coordination with the agency’s public relations office.
• Evaluate and provide legal guidance on conflicts of interest related matters to agency staff and management.
• Aid with the review of real property issues that impact the agency’s construction efforts, including 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 and land use actions.
• Prepare funding and security agreements for the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) review and approval, and ensure the City’s first-priority security lien interests pursuant to the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC).
• Assist with the procurement appeals and decision process, including draft opinions and presenting facts and decisions to the Agency Chief Contracting Officer and agency staff.
• Assist Director of Labor Relations, Human Resources, and others on issues pertaining to agency employees, locals representing employees, grievances, and any other issues that arise regarding the collective bargaining agreement.
• Research for the recommendation and interpretation of various laws, rules, and regulations.

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).

Qualifications

• 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.

Preferred Skills

• Organized and able to multi-task.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Proficient with Microsoft Excel or similar software.