Description

With more than 200 attorneys and professional staff, the Seattle City Attorney’s Office is one of the largest law offices in Seattle and is the third-largest public law office in the state. Our office is committed to making Seattle a safe, healthy, empowered, and thriving community for everyone. We strive to address historical injustices within the court system with self-examination and to pursue justice in Seattle with integrity, creativity, and fairness. We believe working transparently, innovatively, and in collaboration with our partners in the community is necessary to achieve outcomes that promote equity, accountability, and healing.

Are you an attorney interested in working with other skilled and collaborative attorneys and legal staff to meet the interesting and diverse legal needs of The City of Seattle? The Seattle City Attorney’s Office is seeking qualified candidates for an Assistant City Attorney position in the Contracts & Utilities Section of the Civil Division.  

The Civil Division is organized into seven practice areas, or sections. The Contracts and Utilities Section advises all City Departments and elected officials regarding municipal contracts, municipal finance and bond issuances, real estate transactions, utilities, and general business matters of the City. Attorneys in this Section provide legal services and advice at all stages of contract procurement, formulation, implementation, and enforcement, as well as representing and defending the City in litigation related to such transactions. The Section also provides general counsel services to the City’s electric, water, wastewater, and solid waste utilities. This position will perform specialized attorney tasks critical to providing legal services for the City.
 
In addition to this opportunity to join a team that is dedicated to public service and that works collaboratively together, the City Attorney’s Office offers a generous benefits program that includes paid leave benefits, paid parental and family leave, low-cost health benefits, and the opportunity to participate in a defined benefit retirement program.

Job Responsibilities

• Review, draft, and in some cases negotiate contracts and advise on complex transactions for a variety of City departments on projects that may include real estate transactions, insurance, public works construction, procurement of goods and services (including technology resources), municipal finance, levy programs, federal grants, human services contracts, agreements to carry out a variety of City funding programs to address education support, racial equity, homelessness, and other public purposes, consulting services agreements, and provision of municipal utility services.
• Provide general transactional and day-to-day legal advice regarding municipal contract matters, including procurement processes, risk matters, public funding requirements, drafting issues, and contract disputes.
  Identify legal issues that require collaboration with attorneys in other practice areas of the office.
• Review, draft, and advise on legislation and policy matters presented by elected and non-elected officials.
• Represent the City in litigation stemming from contract and transactional matters (including construction disputes), utility business operations, real property, and intellectual property.
• Carry out job duties in a manner that is consistent with the City’s Race and Social Justice Initiative. 

Requirements

Successful performance of the above-described responsibilities requires:

• Two or more years of experience practicing law or a combination of legal experience and relevant experience in municipal contracting matters,
• Effective legal written and oral communication,
• The ability to work effectively with City department representatives and other attorneys, and
• Ability to handle complex assignments independently and a variety of tasks simultaneously.

Additionally, the most successful candidates will have one or more of the following:  Expertise in one or more of the following areas: public works and procurement; utility law; real property transactions; municipal finance; and software and information technology contracts.

• Experience in contract and/or property litigation.
• Demonstrated relevant government or business experience, such as working in-house at a municipal entity.
• Municipal law practice experience, or a demonstrated interest in public service and law practice.
• Electric, water, or wastewater utility experience.
• The ability to think critically, creatively, and strategically under pressure of tight deadlines.  

This position requires membership in good standing with the Washington State Bar Association or licensure in another state, with the ability to complete the process of obtaining membership within two months of offer of employment.