Job DescriptionGENERAL DESCRIPTIONThe Office of the Attorney General's Opinion Committee researches and drafts formal legal opinions publicly issued by the Attorney General in discharge of his constitutional and statutory duty to provide legal guidance to authorized requestors. The Opinion Committee engages in a wide array of challenging and novel legal issues and works closely with executive administration and the Attorney General to ensure formal legal opinions are of the highest quality and provide all Texans with sound legal advice. Although the Attorney General's formal legal opinions are nonbinding, they are considered persuasive authority in Texas and are routinely relied on by state agencies and local governments as quasijudicial interpretations of law. Attorneys in the Opinion Committee division work in a collaborative environment in which work product is improved through a peerreview process that aims to produce opinions of the highest caliber.
The Division Chief performs advanced senior level work' managing all operations of the division, including overseeing the budget, attorneys and staff, and the drafting and issuance of all Attorney General opinions. The Division Chief also works closely with the executive leadership team to execute the mission of the agency and the directives of the Attorney General. This is highly selective leadership opportunity for an attorney with strong research and writing skills and is ideally suited for applicants with clerkship experience, appellate or localgovernment experience, and management/leadership experience.
ESSENTIAL POSITION FUNCTIONS- Supervises the drafting of legal opinions, memoranda, correspondence, and publications.
- Reviews opinion request letters, assigns opinions to drafters and schedules internal deadlines, as well as oversees attorney development.
- Manages open government initiatives, including coordinating the Open Meetings Act hotline and training submission review; assists in coordinating participation in the Open Government Conference.
- Drafts complex formal legal opinions and rulings, memoranda, correspondence and publications.
- Researches and analyzes and/or supervises the research and analysis of legislation and statutes, and reports findings and conclusions to Executive Management; serves as a resource to legislators as requested by Executive Management.
- Reviews opinions and submits comments to drafter.
- Participates in public speaking at conferences.
- Assists in open government training, including preparing materials for and presenting at agency and outside conferences on open meetings, reviewing thirdparty training materials, and assisting with preparation of the open meetings handbook.
- Ability to supervise the work of others.
- Performs related work as assigned.
- Maintains relevant knowledge necessary to perform essential job functions.
- Attends work regularly in compliance with agreedupon work schedule.
- Ensures security and confidentiality of sensitive and/or protected information.
- Complies with all agency policies and procedures, including those pertaining to ethics and integrity.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS- Education: Graduation from an accredited law school with a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree
- Licensed as an attorney by the State of Texas
- Member in good standing with the State Bar of Texas
- Experience: Seven years of fulltime experience working as a licensed attorney
- Knowledge of federal and state laws affecting state agencies and local governments
- Skill in handling multiple tasks, prioritizing, and meeting deadlines
- Skill in effective oral and written communication [Writing sample required at time of interview, if selected]
- Skill in exercising sound judgment and effective decision making
- Skill in performing complex legal research
- Skill in using a computer for wordprocessing and data entry/retrieval
- Ability to identify relevant legal issues and render clear and accurate legal advice
- Ability to analyze legislation/statutes
- Ability to write under pressure and to respond to deadlines
- Ability to verbally communicate legal arguments
- Ability to receive and respond positively to constructive feedback
- Ability to work cooperatively with others in a professional office environment
- Ability to provide excellent customer service
- Ability to work in person at assigned OAG work location, perform all assigned tasks at designated OAG work space within OAG work location, and perform inperson work with coworkers (e.g., collaborating, training, mentoring)
- Ability to arrange for personal transportation for businessrelated travel
- Ability to work more than 40 hours as needed and in compliance with the FLSA
- Ability to lift and relocate 30 lbs.
- Ability to travel (including overnight travel) up to 15%
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS- Experience: Eight years of fulltime experience working as a licensed attorney
- Judicial clerkship or staffattorney experience in a federal or state appellate court
- Excellent legal analysis, judgment, and written work product; skill in identifying relevant issues and rendering clear and accurate legal opinions
- Experience in public speaking
- Litigation experience
- Management or leadership experience
TO APPLY To apply for a job with the OAG, electronic applications can be submitted through CAPPS Recruit. A State of Texas application must be completed to be considered, and paper applications are not accepted. Your application for this position may subject you to a criminal background check pursuant to the Texas Government Code. Military Crosswalk information can be accessed at
https://hr.sao.texas.gov/Compensation/MilitaryCrosswalk/MOSC_Legal.pdf
