Assistant County Attorney - Appellate & Civil Rights Division

Salary: Depends on Qualifications
Location : Houston, TX
Job Type: Regular Full-time
Remote Employment: Flexible/Hybrid
Job Number: 17468
Department: County Attorney's Office
Opening Date: 11/02/2026
Closing Date: 12/2/2027 11:59 PM Central

Position Description
General Summary:

The Harris County Attorney's Office (HCAO) is hiring an attorney to join our newly created Appellate & Civil Rights Division that represents the nation's third largest county, its elected officials, and 19,000 employees in state and federal appellate litigation. The Division seeks an experienced and motivated attorney with stellar writing and advocacy skills. The Appellant & Civil Rights Division handles appeals from various divisions within HCAO, including defensive litigation, employment, affirmative and special litigation and property tax, in addition to complex, high impact matters in a variety of areas, including constitutional law. The attorney will work on appellate matters from drafting and editing the brief through oral argument before Texas and federal appellate courts. The attorney will also provide trial support to various divisions in the office, including advising on jury charge issues and attending trial as third chair. In addition to the ability to earn compensatory time for hours worked in excess of 40 hours per workweek, the selected candidate may be eligible to participate in the HCAO telework program.
Duties and Responsibilities:

• Manage all aspects of appeals, such as drafting and editing briefs involving a wide variety of legal issues from the office's divisions, including defensive litigation, employment, affirmative and special litigation, and property tax, in addition to constitutional issues and other special projects
• Present oral arguments in the state and federal appellate courts
• Participate in moot courts in preparation for oral arguments
• Provide legal advice and guidance to trial teams across the office's various divisions
• Assist with trial court level duties, such as writing and editing complex motions and providing support to trial teams
• Advise and conduct research on complex and constitutional issues affecting Harris County
• Participate in one-on-one sessions with the Division Director to give and receive feedback
• Participate in Division staff meetings
• Encourage and mentor junior attorneys, paralegals, interns, and law clerks
• Perform other related duties as assigned

Other Duties:

• This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this position. Management may, at its discretion, assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time

Requirements
Supporting Job Application Documents:

• Applicants are required to submit a cover letter, resume, unofficial law school transcript, at least one (1) writing sample, and three (3) professional references with their application.

Education and Experience Requirements:

• A Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from an American Bar Association accredited college of law.
• Must be an active member in good standing of the State Bar of Texas.
• A minimum of five (5) years of post-J.D. experience in litigation, including writing appellate briefs, researching and analyzing complex legal issues, and arguing cases in trial and/or appellate courts.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
The successful candidate should have:

• Excellent legal research and writing skills
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Knowledge of federal and state rules of civil procedure and evidence
• Excellent interpersonal communication skills and ability to communicate professionally and work in a collaborative group
• Excellent ability to coordinate, network and communicate across the office's divisions and relevant County agencies
• Ability to perform thorough legal and factual analysis and exercise good judgment
• Ability to organize and prioritize assignments and projects to meet deadlines
• Ability to work extended hours to accommodate case load demands
• Ability to comply with office policies and training requirements

NOTE: Qualifying education, experience, knowledge, and skills must be documented on your job application. You may attach a resume to the application as supporting documentation but ONLY information stated on the application will be used for consideration. "See Resume" will not be accepted for qualifications.
Position Type and Typical Hours of Work:

• This is a full-time position.
• Days and hours of work are typically Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, with occasional weekends and holidays as necessary.
• Hours may vary based on the business needs of the HCAO.

Work Environment and Physical Demands:

• This job typically operates in a professional office environment.
• The individual in this role uses standard office equipment such as computers, printers, scanners/copiers, and phones.
• This is largely a sedentary role that requires standing or sitting for prolonged periods, exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally, repetitive motions requiring dexterity such as keyboarding, communicating with others to exchange concepts and information, problem solving, decision-making, organization, the ability to read and write, and the ability to manage workplace stressors, including adversarial interactions.
• Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Compensation:

• The base compensation for this position will be commensurate with experience and determined based on the candidate's qualifications and the pay of other employees in the job function.
• Total compensation includes paid leave programs, health benefits, and retirement plans.
• In addition, the position is eligible for the accrual of compensatory time off for hours worked over 40 in a workweek, consistent with Harris County personnel policies and procedures.

Employment may be contingent on passing a drug screen and meeting other standards.

Due to a high volume of applications positions may close prior to the advertised closing date or at the discretion of the Hiring Department.

HARRIS COUNTY EMPLOYEE BENEFITS

Harris County offers a highly competitive benefits program, featuring a comprehensive group health plan and defined benefit retirement plan.
The following benefits are offered only to Harris County employees in regular (full-time) positions:
Health & Wellness Benefits

• Medical Coverage
• Dental Coverage
• Vision Coverage
• Wellness Plan
• Life Insurance
• Long-Term Disability (LTD) Insurance
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Healthcare Flexible Spending Account
• Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account

Paid Time Off (PTO)

• Ten (10) days of vacation leave per year (accrual rate increases after 5 years of service)
• Eleven (11) County-observed holidays
• One (1) floating holiday per year
• Paid Parental Leave*
• Sick Leave

Retirement Savings Benefit

• 457 Deferred Compensation Plan

The following benefits are available to Harris County employees in full-time and select part-time positions:

• Professional learning & development opportunities
• Retirement pension (TCDRS defined benefit plan)
• Flexible work schedule*
• METRO RideSponsor Program*

* Participation may vary by County department. The employee benefits plans of Harris County are extended to all eligible participants across various departments with the exception of the Harris County Community Supervision and Corrections Department, for which the cited Health & Wellness Benefits are administered through the State of Texas.
In accordance with the Harris County Personnel Regulations, group health and related benefits are subject to amendment or discontinuance at any time. Harris County Commissioners Court reserves the right to make benefit modifications on the County's behalf as needed.
For plan details, visit the Harris County Benefits & Wellness website:
01

Do you have a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from an American Bar Association accredited college of law?(Qualifying information must be documented in the Education section of your application.)

• Yes
• No

02

Are you an active member in good standing of the State Bar of Texas?

• Yes
• No

03

Which of the following best describes your verifiable years of post-J.D. experience in litigation, including writing appellate briefs, researching and analyzing complex legal issues, and arguing cases in trial and/or appellate courts?(To be considered, qualifying experience must be documented in your application's employment history)

• Less than three (3) years
• Three (3) years but less than four (4) years
• Four (4) years but less than five (5) years
• Five (5) years or more
• I do not have this experience

04

Which of the following describes your level of proficiency using a personal computer and common office software such as MS Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook). Please select your level of proficiency based on the following descriptions:Advanced:A person with this level of skills is able to produce very large, complex formal documents that require a table of contents, footnotes, endnotes, bookmarks, and other special elements; a wide range of graphic effects, and use advanced techniques for analyzing and manipulating data. Has full mastery of Macro commands and skills to tie the objects together into a cohesive system by using Macros and Visual Basic for Applications code. Makes interactive presentations by using hyperlinks and action buttons.Intermediate:A person with this level of skills is able to customize toolbars, import and insert graphs, embed Excel data, and elaborate reports. Understands the concepts of databases and is able to work with charts and to use the list management capabilities of Excel. Able to use complex query techniques, create efficient forms and reports, and create Macros to automate these forms. Makes interactive presentations by using hyperlinks and action buttons.Basic:A person with this level of skills is able to use basic formatting, editing, printing functions, and understands the document page setup. Has the ability to enter and correct data, modify a workbook, format a worksheet, and use printing functions. Understands the different database concepts and structures and is familiar with data validation and is able to create a simple presentation in PowerPoint, run it, and print it.Entry Level:A person with this level of skills has the ability to open, create, save and modify documents in Word, send and receive email in Outlook and create spreadsheets in Excel. Format documents for printing, comfortable using the printer menu to preview documents. Has ability to change the font, the margins, insert or delete pages and use the built-in spellchecker and grammar check.

• Advanced
• Intermediate
• Basic
• Entry Level
• Not proficient

05