General Counsel

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The Office of General Counsel (OGC) includes approximately 25 attorneys and ten staff who provide legal services and advice to all Cornell campuses and units in the United States and abroad. The office operates from two locations: the main Cornell campus in Ithaca, New York and the Weill Cornell Medicine campus in New York City.

The Office of General Counsel provides legal representation and advice to Cornell University in a broad range of areas including litigation, business transactions, compliance with federal, state, and local laws and regulations, government grants and contracts, labor and employment, faculty and student issues, privacy, intellectual property, technology transfer, information technology law and security issues, safety and environmental law, health law, real estate, international issues, and non-profit and tax matters.

This position will be based in our Ithaca, NY office. Attorneys are required to be in-person in the office for the majority of the work week. Online applications must be received by August 28, 2026, to receive full consideration.

Description

We are seeking a litigator to join the team in Ithaca, New York. It is anticipated that the chosen candidate will be an experienced attorney with at least five years of litigation experience. The position will be either an Assistant General Counsel or an Associate General Counsel, and will be filled at the assistant or associate general counsel level depending on qualifications and experience.

The attorney will represent Cornell in litigation in state and federal court, and occasionally in administrative proceedings, assist with supervising and managing outside counsel in select litigation matters, engage in preventative lawyering and investigations, and collaborate with colleagues in other areas of service that the office provides. Candidates should have experience handling a wide variety of litigation tasks, from the initial stages of a case through appeal.

Hiring Range: Assistant General Counsel:$137,122 to $151,555/annual; Associate General Counsel: $178,282 - 197,054/annual.

A CV, cover letter, and writing sample(s) should be included with the application.

Required Qualifications:

• Candidates must have a minimum of five years of litigation experience and an exceptional record of relevant legal experience and accomplishment. Candidates being considered for the Asst. General Counsel position should generally have at least 5 years of relevant work experience; candidates being considered for the Assoc. General Counsel position should generally have at least 10 years of relevant work experience.
• Candidates should be able to demonstrate well-honed legal research and superior written and oral communication skills, as evidenced by experience drafting briefs and presenting oral arguments in court. Candidates must demonstrate strong multi-tasking skills, the ability to work independently, and a commitment to teamwork in a fast-paced, deadline driven legal office environment.
• Demonstrated experience across a broad range of civil litigation matters will be an important criterion in assessing candidates, but we are also seeking someone with experience in employment litigation and with experience in New York state courts.

Preferred:

• Litigation experience on behalf of institutions of higher education, including private universities.
• Litigation experience in New York state courts, including Article 78 proceedings.
• Experience responding to EEOC, OCR, and DHR investigations.
• Experience responding to government and civil subpoenas.
• Experience advising clients on legal and risk mitigation.
• Experience with internal investigations.

Substantive expertise in one or more of the following areas: employment law, including discrimination, reasonable accommodation, and/or civil rights matters; student affairs; contract and vendor disputes; personal injury; intellectual property rights; privacy and data protection; and governmental regulation.

Rewards and Benefits

• Cornell receives national recognition as an award-winning workplace for our health, wellbeing, and sustainability.
• Our benefits programs include comprehensive health care options, generous retirement contributions, access to wellness programs, and employee discounts with local and national retail brands. We invite you to follow this link to get more information about our benefits: Understand Your Benefits | Working at Cornell .
• Our leave provisions include health and personal leave, three weeks of vacation and 13 holidays: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and the day after, and an end of the year winter break from December 25-January 1. To offer greater flexibility for observing faiths and traditions we also offer two additional floating holidays. Learn more about our generous leave provisions: Holiday and Accrued Time Off | Working at Cornell
• Cornell's impressive educational benefits include tuition-free Extramural Study and Employee Degree Program, tuition aid for external education, and Cornell Children's Tuition Assistance Program. Learn more about our extensive educational benefits: Education Benefits | Working at Cornell