Deputy Ethics Counsel (Attorney 2)

The Office of Attorney Ethics (OAE) acts as the investigative and prosecutorial arm of the Supreme Court of New Jersey in discharging the Supreme Court's constitutional responsibility to supervise and discipline New Jersey attorneys. The mission of the OAE is expressed by the New Jersey Supreme Court in its precedent: to preserve public confidence in the Bar and to protect the public from lawyers who fail to comport with the high professional standards articulated in the New Jersey Rules of Professional Conduct.   

When you come to work for the Office of Attorney Ethics, you will join a staff of mission-driven professionals who operate with the highest standards of independence, integrity, fairness and quality service. Our culture is based on our strong belief in the importance of our work to the Supreme Court, the Bar, and the public. This position presents a unique opportunity to contribute to the newly newly-created Readmission, Motions & Monitoring unit responsible for responding to petitions for disbarred attorneys seeking to be readmitted to practice, and handling appellate motions to the Disciplinary Review Board. The selected candidate will have the opportunity to appear before the Supreme Court of New Jersey.  Moreover, due to the broad nature of the work at the OAE, Deputy Ethics Counsel are exposed to a variety of practice areas and have the opportunity to become subject matter leaders in the area of ethics and professional responsibility.

The New Jersey Judiciary is seeking a well-rounded attorney proficient in handling a caseload of matters in investigation and litigation stages. The attorney will be responsible for briefing and arguing motions for final (R. 1:20-13) and reciprocal discipline (R. 1:20-14), and litigating all aspects of reinstatement from suspension, all aspects of post-disciplinary monitoring, and readmission from disbarment. This position will also investigate and litigate disciplinary matters including instances of unauthorized practice of law, failure to comply with orders of the Court as provided by R. 1:20-20, and such other disciplinary matters assigned to the unit. The OAE seeks candidates with highly developed organizational, decision making, interpersonal, and conflict management skills who have highly developed legal research and writing skills.

Should additional positions become available within five (5) months of the closing date, the applicant pool from this posting may be used to fill additional positions.

• Manage a diverse caseload of disciplinary matters including motions, monitoring, readmissions, reinstatement matters, R. 1:20-20 matters, and the unauthorized practice of law. 
• Assist OAE executive management and the Chief of Readmission, Motions & Monitoring in developing and improving statewide disciplinary processes within the unit. 

• Investigate and prosecute attorneys who violate the Rules of Professional Conduct. 
• Appear in all appellate proceedings before Disciplinary Review Board and Supreme Court related to matters where attorneys have been convicted of criminal conduct or have been disciplined in other jurisdictions. 
• Prepare memoranda on procedural or factually complex ethics matters for Director's review and consideration recommending action for appellate disposition of charges of unethical conduct against attorneys or in connection with the readmission or reinstatement of disciplined attorneys. 
• Review and respond to petitions for reinstatement and readmission.
• Monitor compliance with disciplinary conditions as ordered by the Supreme Court.
• Collaborate with and direct auditors and investigators in the investigation of readmission and reinstatement applications.
• Prosecute disciplinary matters virtually and in person before special ethics adjudicators and or hearing panels.
• Prepare investigation reports, complaints, file motions, write briefs, and conduct legal research in assigned disciplinary cases.
• Appear before the Supreme Court of New Jersey and the Disciplinary Review Board.
• Develop and present CLE programs to the Bar and members of the District Ethics Committees.
• Address such other disciplinary matters as may be assigned by the Director, First Assistant Ethics Counsel or the Chief of Readmission, Motions & Monitoring.

Graduation from an American Bar Association-approved law school and three years of experience as an Attorney-at-Law performing legal research and analyzing and evaluating legal documents, rules, regulations, and/or legislation.

Appellate experience before the Appellate Division and Supreme Court strongly preferred.

Litigation experience handling adversarial motions, bench and or jury trials strongly preferred.

Substitution: One year of experience as a Judicial Law Clerk may be substituted for one year of the required experience.

License: Attorney-at-Law with a plenary license in the State of New Jersey and having Supreme Court Good Standing Status of Active.