PT Law Clerk

Houston Community College; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Houston Community College seeks a Legal Specialist to coordinate reviews of General Counsel issues, perform initial analyses, and prepare documentation for legal actions. You will serve as a resource for administrators and officers and coordinate with external counsel as needed.

The ideal candidate has a Bachelor’s degree in law or contracts with post-graduate work and at least 1 year in a legal setting, preferably in higher education.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and post-graduate work in law or contracts required.
• 1 year in legal field, preferably in post-secondary education.
• Knowledge of Westlaw, Lexis-Nexis, and other legal research databases required.
• Able to research governmental regulations, laws and legislation.
• Strong analytical ability, dependability and communication skills.
• Excellent organization and problem-solving abilities.
• Solid judgment and ability to work with minimal supervision.

Responsibilities

• Provide initial review of HCC contacts.
• Draft, review, revise, and negotiate terms to ensure compliance with local, state and federal requirements.
• Interpret and answer questions about HCC policies.
• Conduct investigations and gather necessary documents for lawsuits and complaints.
• Review policies and procedures to determine compliance with law.
• Provide training on legal issues as needed.
• Coordinate scheduling with General Counsel and external counsel.
• Analyze questions from administrators and determine research requirements.
• Research proposed actions to determine compliance with policy and law.
• Provide written reports on steps to avoid liability and ensure compliance.
• Provide reports to General Counsel on high-level issues.
• Communicate responses after initial analysis and review with General Counsel.
• Prioritize and manage varied workload and external counsel coordination.

Skills

Legal research

Analytical thinking

Communication

Policy interpretation

Team player

Education

Bachelor's degree in law or contracts

Post-graduate study in law

Tools

Westlaw

Lexis-Nexis

Legal databases

Job description

JOB SUMMARY

Coordinates the review of General Counsel legal issues for HCC. Responsible for the initial analysis, preparation, verification, and documentation of legal issues. Responsible for the initial legal response. Serves as the resources person for the colleges' personnel, particularly administrators and officers. Coordinates activities of external counsel.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Provide initial review of HCC contacts
• Draft, review, revise, and negotiate, as necessary, the terms and conditions to ensure compliance with local, state and federal
• Interpret and answer questions about HCC political
• Conduct investigations and gather necessary documents from various departments to prepare for lawsuits and student or employee complaints/ grievances/incidents
• Review HCC policies and procedures to determine compliance with current local, state, or federal law
• Responsible for review of new/revised laws impacting higher education
• Provide training as needed on legal issues
• Provide direction to legal secretary on scheduling requests or other issues to be brought to the attention of General Counsel
• Analyze questions/actions brought forth by administrators/employees/board and determine research requirements
• Research proposed actions to determine compliance with policy, law
• Provide written reports on proper steps to void legal liability and compliance issues
• Provide reports to and reviews with General Counsel, issues of higher-level complexity
• Communicate responses to question/actions after initial analysis and/or review with General Counsel
• Prioritize and handle a varied workload of projects, correspondence, and project/report tracking, including coordination or external counsel projects

QUALIFICATIONS

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform the essential duties and responsibilities listed above. The qualifications listed below are representative of the education, experience, knowledge, skills, and/or abilities required.

EDUCATION

Bachelor’s degree and post-graduate work in law or contracts required

EXPERIENCE

1 year in legal field, preferably in post-secondary education institution

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES

• Knowledge of Westlaw, Lexis-Nexis and other legal research databases required.
• Able to research governmental regulations, laws and legislation.
• High level of analytical ability flexibility, self-motivation, dependability and human relations skills required.
• Extensive knowledge of laws applying to higher education preferred.
• Able to communicate effectively both in writing and orally.
• Accuracy, attention to detail, ability to work as part of a team, excellent organization and problem solving skills, ability to assume initiative required.
• Solid judgment in decision -making, ability to act with little or no supervision.