Assistant General Counsel

Assistant General Counsel

The Office of Labor Relations (OLR) represents the Mayor in the conduct of all labor relations between the City of New York and labor unions representing employees of the City. The Commissioner serves on behalf of the Mayor as the City's liaison with both labor and management in the private sector. The office is authorized by Executive Order 38 (February 7, 1967), amended by Executive Order 13 (July 24, 1990). Additionally, OLR administers the Health Benefits Program, Management Benefits Fund, Employee Assistance Program, Work Well NYC, Medicare Part B Reimbursement and Pre-Tax Benefits & Citywide Programs including the Deferred Compensation Plan and NYCE IRA. In addition to negotiating collective bargaining agreements, OLR serves as a resource to agencies with regard to workforce labor issues and works with the Municipal Labor Committee (MLC) to pursue innovations in a variety of areas, particularly regarding City health insurance programs. The staff at OLR assist their fellow agencies in handling personnel and payroll issues, conducting labor-management meetings, representing the City at representation hearings, and handling all employee grievances and arbitration matters while also negotiating collective bargaining agreements with the City's 149 bargaining units.

Office of the General Counsel (OGC): Under the supervision of the General Counsel, OGC serves as the agency's legal counsel, providing legal support and advice agency-wide on the wide range of issues that arise at the agency given the breadth of its portfolio. In addition to advising on collective bargaining and labor relations, the legal team attorneys represent the city before the Office of Collective Bargaining (OCB) in administrative proceedings, including arbitrations, and serve as neutrals during Step III grievance proceedings. The legal team is also responsible for contracts administration across the various procurements held by OLR's administered programs. Further, OGC is responsible for ensuring compliance with the various regulatory requirements that set the legal framework for the employee benefits programs that serve the city's approximately 300,000 employees and city retirees and their dependents. Lastly, the legal team liaises with the Law Department on litigation, discovery, and is responsible for FOIL, privacy, and the other day-to-day legal matters that arise for an agency's in-house counsel team.

Job Summary: OGC seeks an Assistant General Counsel to support the agency's broad portfolio. Reporting into the Managing Counsel, and working closely with OGC leadership on a team of approximately 15 legal and procurement professionals, the Assistant Counsel will represent the city in arbitration proceedings, assist on data privacy and compliance projects, and handle the various day-to-day legal matters that arise as assigned, including FOIL, MOUs, legislative review, and research projects. The successful candidate must be interested in the agency's portfolio, including labor relations, compliance, and employee benefits and healthcare. They must be highly organized, detail-oriented, flexible, and possess the ability to work well with a variety of personalities and entities. Further, they must be solutions oriented, eager to learn, and a problem solver who can work both collaboratively and independently without close supervision to ensure they stay on task and deadlines are met. Patience, flexibility, sound judgment, creativity, and a good sense of humor to help ensure a collegial environment are also necessary for successful integration to OGC's small team. Key responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Representing the city in administrative proceedings, including arbitrations pursuant to collective bargaining agreements and improper practice claims before the Office of Collective Bargaining (OCB);
• Researching and drafting legal documents, including briefs, agreements (e.g., MOUs, contracts, side letters), and Memoranda;
• Reviewing agency communications prior to their release;
• Gaining a command of the collective bargaining law and familiarizing themselves with the unions that the agency engages with during labor negotiations;
• Preparing briefing documents for a variety of audiences, including decisionmakers and non-attorneys;
• Handling FOIL assignments under the supervision of the Agency Privacy Officer (APO);
• Helping to develop contract templates and guidance for the agency's programs;
• Liaising with the Law Department as needed (e.g., discovery requests);
• Assisting in the development of processes and systems for efficient management of the legal team's workstreams, cases, and communications; and
• Other duties as needed.

Minimum Qualifications

Graduation from an American Bar Association approved law school

Public Service Loan Forgiveness

As a prospective employee of the City of New York, you may be eligible for federal loan forgiveness programs and state repayment assistance programs. For more information, please visit the U.S. Department of Education's website at

Residency Requirement

New York City residency is generally required within 90 days of appointment. However, City Employees in certain titles who have worked for the City for 2 continuous years may also be eligible to reside in Nassau, Suffolk, Putnam, Westchester, Rockland, or Orange County. To determine if the residency requirement applies to you, please discuss with the agency representative at the time of interview.

Additional Information

The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.