Staff Attorney

Summary:

This is not your typical law firm job. Our Staff Attorneys spend the majority of their time talking directly to members, assisting them with their work related legal issues. The Staff Attorney is responsible for providing direct legal support to members and delegating legal matters to outside legal counsel. The person in this position is responsible for conducting legal research, drafting correspondences, assisting with staff legal training, and managing legal files as directed by the Association Legal Counsel.

Duties & Responsibilities:

• Assist with screening of inquiries entering Legal Services.
• Respond directly to members’ legal needs by phone or written correspondence as appropriate.
• When warranted by workload, complexity of a matter or group of matters, or other factors, make referrals of cases to appropriate outside legal counsel.
• Provide legal advice to member service coordinators (MSC) with respect to individual member legal inquiries and issues on a daily, as needed basis, either by phone, email, or in-office visits.
• Attends and facilitates legal services seminars throughout the state when needed.
• Propose topics and issues for training of MSCs to Association Legal Counsel, and develop, prepare, and deliver training as requested.
• Assists in maintaining criteria for referral of cases to outside legal counsel for individual representation.
• Prepares witnesses/employees for deposition, grand jury, trial and other testimony in various forums.
• Research new or unusual legal issues determined to be valuable to members.
• Work with the Communication Department to develop educational/informational articles on legal topics of interest to members.
• Attends education law seminars as requested.
• Cooperates with all MSTA personnel, association members, board members and the public.
• Encourages all other MSTA personnel to successfully serve association members.
• Uses time and resources effectively and efficiently.
• Manages department/program budget and equipment according to MSTA guidelines.

Qualifications & Requirements:

Any combination of education and experience providing the required skill and knowledge is qualifying. Typical qualifications would be equivalent to:

Education/Experience:

• Juris Doctorate

Licenses:

• Licensed to practice law in Missouri.

Skills and Abilities:

• Communication: Excellent communicator, in both written and oral form. This includes proficiency in spelling, grammar, and punctuation as well as an ability to research and write complex correspondence and memoranda.
• Organization: Highly organized and detail-oriented with an ability to work on a number of issues while prioritizing as necessary.
• Discretion: Exercises discretion and sensitivity regarding confidential information.
• Teamwork: Our staff works together cooperatively to provide the highest quality support to our members. The unity, camaraderie and culture of the team is something that’s very important to us. Therefore, all employees are expected to actively work to maintain good working relationships with other team members and be comfortable sharing projects and responsibilities with others.
• Technologically Proficient: Ability to embrace and learn new technology quickly including Salesforce, Office 365, Concur, among other programs.
• Problem Solver: Can identify problems in a complex set of variables and determine the best course of action. Can also evaluate information for accuracy and usefulness in solving problems.
• Works with little or no supervision
• Regular and reliable attendance is a necessary element of this job.

Soft Skills:

• Self-starter and self-manager: Takes initiative, anticipates needs, and gets things done consistently on time.
• Responsive: Committed to a high level of responsiveness both internally with other staff and externally with our members and other stakeholders.
• Mission-oriented: Gets excited about our mission "to advocate for and empower public school teachers so they can teach."
• Committed to excellence: Exceed expectations and reflect positively on the organization.
• Positive attitude: Can-do spirit, is fun to be around, does not complain, make excuses, or gossip.
• Performs well under pressure: Things are always changing, and there are times when things get intense. Must function at a high level even when things get busy by working together as a team and communicating effectively.
• Committed to growth: Looks for opportunities to improve skills and knowledge of association and education. Willing to try new things, learns from failure and asks for help.
• Humility: Not driven by ego or status, quick to point out the contributions of others and slow to seek attention.
• People Smart: Strong interpersonal skills and can handle issues with respect, dignity, and sensitivity. In short, exercise good judgment and intuition when dealing with other people.

Physical Demands:

• Generally sedentary position with occasional need to move about facility including external facilities.
• Must be able to manipulate objects, tools or controls and reach.
• Must be able to communicate on phone and in person.
• Occasionally required to travel several hours to events and occasionally stay overnight.
• Must occasionally move up to 25 pounds.
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision.

Work Environment:

• While performing the duties of the job, the noise level in the work environment is usually minimal.
• Position may qualify for remote work, depending on location.

Special Requirements:

• Must have transportation for occasional travel.
• If driving own or company vehicle, must have valid Missouri driver’s license and insurance if insurance not provided by employer.

Note: This job description should not be construed to imply that these requirements are exclusive standards of the position. Incumbents will follow any other instructions, and perform any other related duties, as may be required. Reasonable accommodation will be provided to qualified individuals with disabilities. The employer has the right to revise this job description at any time. The job description is not to be construed as a contract for employment.

This is a full-time benefits eligible position. Benefits include: medical, dental, generous 401 (k), paid holidays, paid vacation and sick leave as well as other voluntary benefits.