Senior Attorney, Assistant Attorney 1, 2, 3 (NY HELPS)

About the role

The Senior Attorney, Assistant Attorney 1, 2, 3 (NY HELPS) position within the Office of Children and Family Services provides legal guidance to the agency regarding employment matters. The role supports the agency's mission to prevent discrimination and harassment in the workplace, representing the agency in administrative proceedings and litigation.

Responsibilities

• Provide legal guidance to the agency with respect to employment matters
• Support the agency’s mission to prevent discrimination and harassment in the workplace
• Represent the agency in all phases of the administrative proceedings for matters involving complaints of workplace discrimination before the State Division of Human Rights and related venues
• Assist the Attorney General’s Office with litigation before state and federal courts
• Perform attendant litigation tasks such as preparing pleadings, compiling discovery, preparing for hearings and trials, negotiating with opposing counsel, preparing settlement documents, drafting briefs, and conducting hearings and trials
• Handle additional general litigation matters involving representation of the agency before various courts and administrative venues
• Assist in the investigation of internal workplace discrimination complaints
• Review and approve draft investigation reports and legal recommendations with respect to internal discrimination complaints, and request supplemental investigation when necessary
• Analyze legal issues and research relevant legal principles and laws
• Monitor the progress of protected class matters
• Collaborate with the agency’s Labor Relations Department (LR) in determining disciplinary charges, drafting notices of discipline, and determining the course of discipline to be taken and the parameters of settlement, if any
• Absorb and prepare for disciplinary arbitration, and in some instances, conduct the arbitration in either a first or second chair capacity
• Participate on agency committees related to employment law issues, including reasonable accommodation, workplace violence, and criminal history review

Minimum Qualifications

• Transfer: One year of permanent competitive or 55b/c service in this title or in a title eligible for 70.1 or 52.6 transfer.
• Open to the Public: This title is part of the New York Hiring for Emergency Limited Placement Statewide program (NY HELPS).
• Minimum qualifications through NY HELPS are: Assistant Attorney 1 (Grade 18): Law school graduation and/or eligibility for NYS Bar Admission. Assistant Attorney 2 (Grade 20): Admission to NYS Bar. Assistant Attorney 3 (Grade 22): 12 months as an Assistant Attorney 2, or Admission to the NYS Bar and 12 months of subsequent satisfactory legal experience. Senior Attorney (Grade 25): 12 months as an Assistant Attorney 3, or Admission to the NYS Bar and 24 months of subsequent satisfactory legal experience.
• Note: Admission to the New York State Bar and current registration to practice law in New York State is required for continued employment. Disbarment or loss of registration shall result in termination or suspension of employment.

Additional Comments

*For the duration of the NY HELPS Program, this title may be filled via a non-competitive appointment, which means no examination is required but all candidates must meet the minimum qualifications of the title for which they apply. At a future date, it is expected employees hired under NY HELPS will have their non-competitive employment status converted to competitive status, without having to compete in an examination. Employees will then be afforded with all of the same rights and privileges of competitive class employees of New York State. While serving permanently in a NY HELPS title, employees may take part in any promotion examination for which they are qualified.