Senior Assistant City Attorney

City-of-Richmond,-Va; Richmond (VA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 165,000; Full time

Job summary

The Office of the City Attorney in Richmond seeks a full-time Senior Assistant City Attorney to join the Operations and Development Division, handling real estate transactions, grant agreements, affordable housing loans, and other transactional work for city agencies.

The successful candidate must be a Virginia-licensed attorney with seven years of experience in municipal law or related fields; duties include negotiating, drafting documents, and advising city officials, with emphasis on ethics

Qualifications

• Juris Doctor degree.
• Seven years of progressively responsible legal experience in real estate, contracts, housing development and municipal law is highly preferred; four years of experience is also acceptable.
• Admission to the Virginia Bar and continued legal education requirements.

Responsibilities

• Protect the legal interests of the City of Richmond and provide legal services, representation, and advice to City officials, employees, and departments.
• Review legal matters, provide counsel as assigned.
• Negotiate and draft transactional documents; interpret laws, rules and regulations; occasionally research issues.
• Work independently within a general outline and collaborate with others as needed.
• Undertake other assignments as needed; maintain high ethical standards and professionalism.

Skills

Real estate transactions

Municipal law

Contracts drafting

Negotiation

Open meeting laws

Client communication

Education

Juris Doctor degree

Virginia Bar admission

Job description

The anticipate pay range for this position is $150,000 to $165,000 annually

The Office of the City Attorney is seeking a full-time, permanent Senior Assistant City Attorney for its Operations and Development Division. The Operations and Development Division provides direct representation to several executive branch agencies (Economic Development, Housing & Community Development, Planning & Development Review, Public Utilities and Public Works) plus, pursuant to Council’s authorization in section 2-112 of the City Code (2015), the Economic Development Authority and Greater Richmond Transit Company. Substantively, this division has responsibility in such diverse subject matter areas as real estate transactions and the preparation and review of the various types of grant agreements; Affordable Housing Trust Fund, CDBG, and HOME loans and grants; and other transactional work.

This position provides legal services to the City. Work may include researching legal issues; reviewing real estate title issues; negotiating and drafting transactional documents such as purchase and sale agreements, deeds, easement agreements, development agreements, loan documents, leases, and licenses; interpreting laws, rules, and regulations; and providing oversight and direction to paralegal and legal secretarial staff. Experience representing public bodies and knowledge of open meeting laws will be viewed favorably. The position will undertake other assignments as needed. The successful candidate must be a member of the Virginia State Bar.

T his position is Unclassified and serves at the will of the City Attorney. Applications submitted without attaching or mailing all requested items are considered incomplete. EEO/AA.

Note: The selected candidate's salary will be based on experience and qualifications illustrated in the completed application along with the required attachments.

The position will remain open until filled.

• Responsible for protecting the legal interests of the City of Richmond and providing legal services and representation and advice to City officials, employees, and departments.
• Responsible for reviewing legal matters, providing appropriate counsel, as assigned.
• Negotiation and drafting of transactional documents; interpreting laws, rules and regulations; and occasionally researching legal issues.
• Working well independently within a general outline of work to be performed and developing work methods and sequences under general supervision and in collaboration with others as needed.
• The position will undertake other assignments as needed.

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS (SOME COMBINATION OF THE FOLLOWING):

• Considerable knowledge of area of focus to include real estate transactions, such as acquisitions, dispositions, and leasing, affordable housing development, grant agreements, and environmental sustainability, all in a municipal law context, with familiarity of land use and zoning matters being a plus but not required, and with relevant regulatory and administrative law processes related to area of focus.
• Ability to apply legal analysis in the solution of practical, technical, administrative, and legal issues in a transactional context.
• Experience with transactional work, such as contracts and real estate, preferably to include housing development, experience with affordable housing laws and/or commercial lending being a plus but not required.
• Responsiveness to client needs, with a strong ability to regularly communicate with various internal and external departments as an in-house municipal attorney.
• Management of a high-volume workload in a fast-paced, dynamic environment in area of focus.
• Will have the ability to work cooperatively with other attorneys and staff in the Office, and clients, and to adhere to the highest standards of ethics and professionalism.

MINIMUM TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE:

• Juris Doctor degree
• Seven (7) years of progressively responsible legal experience in real estate, contracts, housing development and municipal law is highly preferred; Four (4) years of progressively responsible legal experience.
• An equivalent combination of training and experience (as approved by the department) may be used to meet the minimum qualifications of the classification.

LICENSING, CERTIFICATIONS and/or OTHER SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Admission to the Virginia Bar Licensed to practice law in Virginia
• Twelve hours of continuing legal education annually
• Compliance with additional requirements that may be established by the City of Richmond
• An equivalent combination of training and experience (as approved by the department) may be used to meet the minimum qualifications of the classification