Howard County Conveniently located in the heart of central Maryland between Baltimore and Washington, Howard County offers the charm of a historic past mixed with the excitement of a cosmopolitan community. Howard County Government Howard County Government is a leader in innovation, sustainability, and consistently ranked as one of the best places to live and work in the country. In 2023, Howard County Government received a record-breaking 51 Achievement Awards from the National Association of Counties (NACo) – the most in the state of Maryland. NACo is the leading organization representing county-level government operations. These awards recognize innovative and transformative programs that provide new services for county residents, improve existing programs, upgrade working conditions, and enhance citizen participation and public policymaking. What are we looking for? We are looking for outstanding individuals to join our team and contribute to excellence in Howard County operations. What you'll like most about working at Howard County Government: <ul> <li> We are committed to workplace excellence in every area of County government.</li> <li> We have a highly talented, diverse, and inclusive workplace. Your input will not only be heard, but it will be encouraged!</li> <li> We offer competitive compensation and great benefits including medical, retirement, and wellness programs.</li> <li> As a member of the Howard County Government team, you'll be helping drive our culture and directly impact what makes us an amazing place to work.</li> </ul> POSITION SUMMARY: This attorney position requires advanced legal work in the Office of Law. Work involves handling a wide variety of complex legal issues for County Government involving labor, employment, personnel, and other matters, including representing the County in civil litigation and administrative proceedings, and advising agency administrators and legislative policymakers, decisionmakers and decision-making bodies. This position will not perform mid-management or criminal work. ***This is an executive exempt position that serves at the pleasure of the Appointing Authority.*** STARTING SALARY HIRING RANGE: $52.57 - $83.67 $98,750 - $174,034 CLASS DESCRIPTION: Performs senior professional level legal work, which may include supervisory responsibility, under general supervision from an administrative or technical superior. Criminal work includes prosecuting criminals on behalf of the State of Maryland; civil work includes providing legal advice and court representation on routine legal matters such as handling civil litigation on behalf of Howard County in Federal and State courts. ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES Include the following. Other duties may be assigned. Provides legal advice and written legal opinions, recommendations and decisions to management personnel, primarily focused on a full range of labor and employment issues and related litigation. Writes and prepares legal opinions, documents and memoranda. Reviews prospective cases in order to determine adequacy of legal claims; prepares complaints and responsive pleadings. Interviews witnesses, conducts legal research, summons witnesses, obtains documents and otherwise prepares civil cases to be prosecuted or defended. Provides legal advice to the County on laws concerning labor and employment, including Title VII, FMLA, ADA, ADEA, Maryland Human Relations Law, Howard County Human Rights Law, FLSA and other federal and state wage and pay laws. Provide legal advice to the Office of Human Resources and management on all employment and labor matters, including the County’s Merit System (classified and exempt services), Employee Manual, fringe benefits, collective bargaining agreements, union grievances and negotiations, and County pension plans, internal employment investigations. Provides advice and counsel regarding potential employee disciplinary actions, hiring issues, and all employment-related issues to County offices, departments and agencies. Appears in the highest state and federal courts and before administrative agencies in complex employment cases, including EEOC, MCCR, OHRE and HRC, Personnel Board. Responds to judicial inquiries and maintains working relationships with judges and court personnel; interacts with various agencies and personnel of county, state and federal government. Drafts and reviews legal documents for legal sufficiency. Reviews and drafts departmental and board procedures. Confers with and answers inquiries from County departments, boards and commissions. May provide legal advice in various practice areas other than employment, including the Public Information Act and the Open Meetings Act. SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES: May supervise legal or support staff. MINIMUM REQUIRED EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE Law Degree and five (5) years related experience, or an equivalent combination of education and experience. PREFERRED EDUCATION, KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES: Seven (7) - ten (10) years related experience. Civil jury trial experience. Excellent writing, analytical, oral communication, and organizational skills, with the ability to work well under pressure and deadlines. A strong work ethic and ability to work both individually and with a team are a must. Knowledge of the principles and practices of Maryland civil, administrative, regulatory, state and local government and constitutional law, and court procedures and practices. Skill in word processing and database programs. Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with others, including fellow attorneys, paralegals, and court personnel. Ability to exercise good judgment in deciding when to act independently and when to refer situations to a higher authority. PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORK ENVIRONMENT: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk or hear. The employee frequently is required to sit. The employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; and use hands to finger, handle, or feel. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, and ability to adjust focus. The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The noise level in the work environment is usually quiet. LANGUAGE SKILLS, MATHEMATICAL SKILLS AND REASONING ABILITY: Ability to read, analyze, and interpret legal and technical documents, statutes, regulations and case law, Ability to draft legal documents, memoranda, letters, reports, business correspondence, and procedure manuals. Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from clients, the legal community and the general public. Ability to calculate figures and amounts such as discounts, interest, commissions, proportions, percentages, area, circumference, and volume. Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions. Ability to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions and deal with several abstract and concrete variables. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION TO APPLY: You must complete an employment application online to be considered for this recruitment. Resumes cannot be substituted for completion of the job application work history. No paper applications will be accepted. Selected candidates may be subject to drug screening, background screening, and reference checks. At time of application, please submit a copy of any college degree, coursework, licenses, or certifications that you have referenced on your application. Applicants who have education obtained outside of the U.S. may need to provide proof of the equivalent U.S. education as determined by a foreign credential evaluation service, such as the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (http://www.naces.org) or World Education Services: International Credential Evaluation (https://www.wes.org/). Howard County Government is not sponsoring employees in application of the H-1B Visa or providing an extension of an existing H-1B Visa. All applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. Howard County is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer, and we are committed to a workplace that values diversity, equity, and inclusion. The County prohibits discrimination on the basis race, color, religion, age, sex, ancestry, creed, national origin, disability status, genetics, marital status, military service, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. Applicants requiring accommodations during the hiring process should contact the Office of Human Resources directly at ebridges@howardcountymd.gov. Requests for accommodations should not be attached to the application.

Senior Attorney - Employment Law and Litigation, Office of Law

Howard County