Litigation Attorney

Full Job Description

Agency Summary
The Office of Corporation Counsel (OCC) provides legal services to the City and County through its three main divisions. First, OCC represents the City, County agencies, and City-County employees in litigation, handling a diverse docket that ranges from tort and contract matters to constitutional law. Second, through its counseling division, OCC provides legal advice to City and County agencies, officials, and oversight bodies to ensure that public entities remain compliant with the law and standards of ethical conduct, to safeguard public funds, and to promote the efficient functioning of local government for Marion County taxpayers. OCC’s third division is the Office of the City Prosecutor, which is responsible for enforcing City-County ordinances. OCC also oversees the Office of Equal Opportunity, which administers the City’s human rights ordinance, protecting against discrimination in employment and other contexts. In exercising these crucial legal functions, OCC cultivates a productive, collaborative, and compliant work environment that prioritizes the needs of our clients and the residents of Indianapolis and Marion County.

Job Summary
The holder of this position will be a front-line attorney with immediate responsibility for handling a wide range of civil litigation matters on behalf of City-County agencies. The position holder will serve as an assistant corporation counsel within OCC’s litigation division.

Requirements

The primary responsibility of a litigation attorney is to represent the City-County and related agencies in civil litigation matters in state and federal court. The City-County is involved in a diverse array of litigation matters, including federal civil rights suits, tort claims, contract disputes, prisoner litigation, appeals at the state and federal level, and administrative and regulatory matters.

This position will provide immediate experience in all facets of complex civil litigation. On many cases, the holder of this position will assume the role of the primary attorney. This role representing our public agency clients includes preparing complaints, answers, and other pleadings; researching and filing motions and briefs; handling discovery and depositions; judicial hearings; settlement negotiations; and trial advocacy. Front-line litigation attorneys benefit from the assistance of more experience co-counsel and supervisors in many cases but should expect to have immediate responsibility for handling a diverse, challenging caseload.

On litigation matters for which the litigation attorney is not the primary attorney but is assisting a more senior attorney, case assignments will involve conducting in-depth legal research of issues presented by a case, communicating with client agencies and employees as part of the discovery process, assisting in the drafting of pleadings, briefs, and other court filings, and other essentials of diligent case management.
The litigation attorney position also involves the following additional responsibilities:

• Providing advice to client agencies on litigation strategy and settlement negotiations.
• Keeping clients, including senior agency staff and elected officials, fully informed on litigation matters affecting their agencies.
• Advising clients and colleagues in the Office of Corporation Counsel on compliance with law and the avoidance of future litigation risk.
• Preparing advisory opinions and memos on issues related to litigation or future litigation risk, at the request of the Corporation Counsel or client agencies.
• Representing City-County agencies in administrative hearings or similar settings.
• Keeping apprised of relevant legal developments at the state and federal level.
• Overseeing the support work of the litigation staff team, including paralegals, investigators, and office assistants.
• Performing other duties as assigned by the Chief Litigation Counsel or the Corporation Counsel.

Skills Required

Strong independent judgment. Guidance from more senior attorneys will be available, but successful litigation attorneys must have the good judgment to take responsibility for what they can handle themselves and seek assistance when doing so is in the client’s best interests.

Analytical ability and intellectual curiosity. This position faces a wide variety of legal issues and fact patterns. While litigation attorneys are encouraged to develop areas of expertise over time, the position requires rapidly digesting new information, integrating it into an existing body of knowledge, and adeptly using legal research tools to acquire mastery of all the issues raised by each litigation matter as it arises.

Proficiency at legal writing and other written communication. This includes more formal work product like summary judgment briefs, motions to dismiss, and memoranda. Litigation attorneys must also be skilled at more informal communications, including messages to clients, communications with opposing counsel, and summaries of legal research.

Oral communications skills. Our attorneys will have immediate opportunities to speak on their feet, whether in administrative proceedings, pre-trial hearings before judicial officers, or jury trials. Litigation attorneys must concisely, effectively communicate their arguments, be adept at improvising and thinking on their feet, and be able to adapt their tone and messaging to the needs of different audiences in different settings.

Zealous advocacy. Many of the litigation matters handled by this position will be high stakes – both financially and emotionally. Litigation attorneys must keep in mind that their client is ultimately the public and must treat their work with the attention and seriousness that it deserves.
Litigation Attorney 2022

Time management skills. Litigation attorneys will be responsible for considerable caseloads. Success in the position requires efficiency, strong time management, and the ability to prioritize the most pressing or important tasks.

Ethics and professionalism. Holders of this position are public servants, and so are their clients. All attorneys at the Office of Corporation Counsel are expected to uphold the highest standards of professional ethics and responsible advocacy.

Qualifications

Minimum Job Requirements and Qualifications

• Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D.) from an ABA-accredited law school.
• Valid license to practice law in Indiana.
• Must be admitted to practice in the Southern District of Indiana.
• Proficiency in legal research tools, including Westlaw, and familiarity with electronic filing and records management systems.
• At least two (2) years’ experience in the practice of law as a licensed attorney (may include a judicial clerkship).

Preferred Job Requirements and Qualifications

• Professional experience with litigation, either as a litigating attorney or as a judicial clerk.
• Knowledge of, or experience in, local government and/or the administrative process.
• Knowledge of, or experience in, one or more of the following areas: federal civil rights, constitutional law, torts, contract law, appellate practice.
• Experience with any of the following litigation processes: authoring dispositive motions, electronic discovery, conducting depositions, in-court oral advocacy.