Assistant City Attorney I

Assistant City Attorney I Under direction, perform a variety of legal duties supporting the City Attorney's Office (CAO). Serve as legal advisor to City officials, management and staff as assigned by the City Attorney. Involves: Prepare and review opinions, contracts, resolutions, ordinances, regulations, leases, licenses, public communications, policies and procedures, and a wide variety of other legal documents. Conduct legal research on municipal issues and present recommendations and solutions to minimize risk and safeguard the City's operations to City management, staff and City Council. Receive and review claims and lawsuits filed against the City; assist and represent the City in its defense. Prepare and draft a variety of correspondence including letters, memos and pleadings regarding litigation, settlements, plea bargains and negotiations. Prepare for and participate in court proceedings, including hearings, mediation and trials; arrange for and attend depositions; prosecute municipal court cases. Attend and participate in meetings for, and provide legal support and advice to, City commissions, committees and boards. Serve as liaison between outside counsel and the CAO for specialized legal matters. Read, edit and research staff reports for City Council. Monitor changes and trends in legislation covering municipal regulations, real property and risk management issues, and civil and criminal laws; evaluate legislative impact on City and CAO operations, and recommend operational, procedural and policy improvements. Assist City departments to develop and/or amend policies and procedures to maintain legal compliance. Represent the City in negotiating legal issues; assure that legal issues are resolved within City policy guidelines; assure effective communication of legal issues with the City Attorney and City principals. Review and respond to open records requests pursuant to the Texas Public Information Act. Support the relationship between the City of El Paso and the public by demonstrating courteous and cooperative behavior when interacting with citizens, visitors and City staff; promote the City goals and priorities. Maintain absolute confidentiality of work-related issues and City information. Perform other legal duties as required or assigned. Prosecute actions in Municipal Court. Involves: represent the City in the prosecution of violations of City of El Paso ordinances and Class C misdemeanors. Perform municipal court legal duties as required or assigned. Supervise assigned staff. Involves: Schedule, assign, instruct, guide and check work. Appraise employee performance. Provide for training and development, enforce personnel rules and regulations, and work behavior standards firmly and impartially. Counsel, motivate and maintain harmony. Interview applicants. Recommend hiring, termination, transfers, discipline, merit pay or other employee status changes. The above-referenced duties are typical for this classification. Incumbents may not perform all of the listed duties and/or may be required to perform additional or different duties from those set forth below to address business needs and changing business practices.