Assistant Corporate Counsel II

Under the direction of the Corporate Counsel, provides advanced legal counsel and advice in assigned Corporate matters to the Board of Commissioners, Administrator’s Office and other County departments and agencies.  Assists the Corporate Counsel in development and implementation of legal policy and procedure and supervision of outside counsel retained by the County.  Represents the County in administrative and judicial proceedings.  Incumbents within the class work independently within the guidelines of established office policies, court procedures, and rules of evidence and procedure. May provide direction to Assistant Corporate Counsel I when working on joint projects or in preparation for litigation.

Responsibilities:

Provides legal advice with respect to assigned Corporate matters to the Board of Commissioners, the Administrator’s Office and other County departments and agencies.

Monitors the operations and interactions of County departments to identify and reduce potential exposure to legal liability.

Researches, analyzes and evaluates legal issues on behalf of County departments and agencies and the Board of Commissioners and provides written and/or oral opinions and advice as appropriate.

Assists in the development of legal policies and procedures to minimize the County’s exposure to legal liability and to ensure County compliance with all federal and state laws, rules and regulations applying to the governance of Kent County.

Represents the County in litigation.

Represents the legal interests of the County at meetings of the Board of Commissioners and its Standing Committees in the absence of the Corporate Counsel, and in interdepartmental and intergovernmental operations and actions.

Negotiates and reviews transactional agreements and other legally binding agreements between the County and other parties.

Reviews and analyzes the potential impact on the County of proposed or pending legislation and judicial decisions.

Assists in public records/records retention issues, FOIA requests, and/or subpoena processing.

Supervises outside legal counsel retained by the County in assigned matters.

Assists in drafting proposed County ordinances and potential legislation.

Performs other work as required to preserve and protect the interests and assets of the County.
 

Possession of a Juris Doctor or Bachelor of Law Degree from an ABA accredited institution.

Minimum three years of demonstrably successful experience in the practice of municipal, general corporate, commercial real estate, environmental regulation, business, transactional, employment, labor, and/or other areas of law.

Demonstrably successful experience in Michigan municipal law highly preferred. Will consider significant successful experience in other areas of law.

Licenses and Certifications: Must be a member in good standing of the State Bar of Michigan and eligible to practice before Michigan and Federal Courts.

Required skills and knowledge:

Thorough working knowledge of general legal theory, principles and practice.

Thorough working knowledge of the code of ethics and standards of practice for attorneys.

Working knowledge of municipal law and its application to the operation of county governments, and comprehensive knowledge of related reference and research resources.

Working knowledge of federal, state and local statutes, rules, and regulations affecting the practice of municipal law in county government, and comprehensive knowledge of related reference and research resources.

Working knowledge of the principles and practices of dispute resolution (litigation and non-litigation).

Working knowledge of the principles and practices of negotiation, preparation and review of transactional documents.

*Notices will come via email so please be sure to monitor the email address indicated on your application* 

Would you like to know what Kent County does? Watch a day in the life of Max video below: