Assistant General Counsel

FLSA Status: Exempt. Earliest Start Date: Immediately. Salary: commensurate with experience. Hours per Week: 40 hours weekly. Hiring Department: Office of General Counsel.

Required Application Materials: A resume and letter of interest is required to apply. Candidates under final consideration will also be required to submit professional references, college degree information, and employment history to an online third‑party vendor.

About Us

For more than 140 years, The University of Texas System has improved the lives of Texans—and people all over the world—through education, health care, and research. The System consists of nine academic institutions, four health institutions, and The University of Texas System Administration. The institutions of the UT System employ more than 160,000 faculty, health care professionals, researchers, support staff, and student workers. The UT System Administration is primarily based in Austin, Texas. It supports the missions of the System’s thirteen institutions by providing financial, legal, planning, purchasing, government relations, communications, development, and other central services. Serving a growing state, the UT System Administration strives to provide a welcoming, supportive work environment that embraces different perspectives.

About the role

In the Office of General Counsel, we help our clients solve problems that affect their educational, healthcare, research, and business missions. Formally, we are a full‑service legal department composed of 30+ attorneys in three practice groups: Health Law, Business Law, and General Law. In partnership with other campus‑based attorneys, we serve all 13 UT System Institutions. The selected candidate will report to the Assistant Vice Chancellor and Managing Counsel for Health Law and provide advanced and specialized legal advice and representation to the UT System and its institutions. OGC’s Health Law Section is a group of attorneys and administrative staff with specialties that are critical to the mission of UT System, including operation of the University of Texas System Professional Medical Liability Benefit Plan and legal advice on operational, regulatory, and transactional matters.

Essential Functions

• Provides legal advice and representation on a broad range of issues, with particular emphasis on medical malpractice, professional discipline, healthcare operations and regulations, tort, and administrative law.
• Works with outside counsel, the Attorney General’s Office, institutional legal and risk management offices, physicians, and medical staff to manage health‑related claims, litigation, Texas Medical Board complaints, and other regulatory proceedings involving UT physicians, other health care providers, and institutions.
• Drafts legal opinions, memoranda, and other work products.
• Reviews, interprets and applies relevant UT System policies, state and federal legislation, regulations, and sub‑regulatory guidance.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Translate legal concepts to, and develop solutions with, a variety of clients, including administrators, other professionals, and other relevant stakeholders.
• Exhibits excellent oral and written communication, and analytical skills.
• Works inclusively and collaboratively, in person and remotely.
• Excellent time management skills and ability to manage competing priorities while ensuring timely completion.
• Embodies and supports OGC’s service principals.
• Agile individual who thrives in problem‑solving and finding solutions.

Required Qualifications

• Juris Doctorate.
• Admission to the Texas Bar is required or, for out‑of‑state applicants licensed in another jurisdiction, Texas Bar admission within six months of hire date.
• A minimum of 7 years of experience in the practice of law.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in litigation and valuation of health care liability claims.
• Experience in health law operations and regulations, particularly in an academic medical setting.

Working Conditions

• May work around standard office conditions.
• Repetitive use of a keyboard at a workstation.
• 10% travel.
• Requires occasional evening or weekend hours.

Additional Information

The standard retirement plan for this position is Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS), subject to the position being at least 20 hours per week and at least 135 days in length. However, the incumbent may elect the Optional Retirement Program (ORP) subject to the position being 40 hours per week and at least 135 days in length. Participation in either TRS or ORP is mandatory.

A background check will be conducted on applicants under final consideration. The background check may include criminal history check, prior employment verification, education verification, professional references check, and motor vehicle records check. Background checks are conducted by third‑party vendors. Upon request from the third‑party vendor, candidates under final consideration must provide the required information for the background checks to be completed.