Senior Assistant State's Attorney

Posting number: 03070

Department: State's Attorney

Job classification: Senior Assistant State's Attorney

Posting type: Open

Categories: Legal

Summary

Are you looking for a challenging role within an organization that provides rewarding compensation, an excellent benefit package and career growth opportunities? If so, Lake County Government is the place for you. Comprised of nearly 3,000 employees, it is our goal to positively serve the residents of Lake County while working with a purpose. We believe our employees should take pride in the work they accomplish while truly respecting a collaborative work environment.

The Civil Division of the State’s Attorney’s Office offers a rewarding work environment for attorneys. ASAs in the Civil Division act as lead attorneys in handling their own docket of cases representing County employees and elected officials in employment, civil rights, tax, land use, and environmental litigation. Each Civil Division attorney is assigned as corporate counsel to client departments and/or elected officials on their unique legal issues. A Senior Assistant State’s Attorney works with supervision and in collaboration with more senior attorneys. Our attorneys work hard, but also put significant emphasis on work-life balance. 

A writing sample is required as part of your application. Please send to Jo Gravitter at jgravitter@lakecountyil.gov.

Examples of duties

The following list of essential functions is illustrative only and is not a comprehensive listing of all the duties and responsibilities performed.

• Conducts complex litigation in all stages, including filing, discovery, settlement negotiations, and trial
• Manages state and federal cases independently, including any resulting appeals
• Provides legal advice and legal opinions and support to elected officials and clients
• Assists other assistant state’s attorneys in the division in areas of expertise
• Assists in preparing and reviewing ordinances, resolutions, contracts, and other legal documents
• Takes direction from supervisors
• Performs comprehensive research utilizing Westlaw and other electronic legal research software
  

Qualifications

• Experience in one or more areas of law strongly preferred: experience handling Section 1983 litigation, labor and employment matters, employment litigation, labor arbitrations, transactional work, drafting legislative enactments or ordinances, experience advising clients on the OMA or FOIA, work related to taxing bodies, and/or environmental litigation.
• Knowledge of Illinois and Federal law, local court procedures, rules of civil procedure and the rules of evidence.
• Knowledge of federal and state appellate procedures.
• Strong research, analytical, and negotiation skills.
• Ability to clearly communicate legal recommendations to clients and elected officials.
• Ability to analyze, appraise, and organize facts, evidence, and precedents and to present such materials effectively.
• Demonstrated ability to provide professional and persuasive court presentations.
• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to use a computer. Good knowledge of PC operations and software (word processing, spreadsheet, and document scanning, editing, and management system, i.e., Acrobat/Adobe) is required. Familiarity with federal and state e-filing systems. Good typing skills are also required.

Competency
To perform the job successfully, an individual must demonstrate the following competencies.

• Analytical – Synthesizes complex or diverse information; Uses intuition and experience to complement the analysis.
• Problem Solving - Identifies and resolves problems in a timely manner; Gathers and analyzes information skillfully; Develops alternative solutions.
• Case Management – Develops case management plan; Coordinates case management with co-workers; Communicates case progress and status periodically.
• Oral Communication - Speaks clearly and persuasively in positive or negative situations; Listens and gets clarification; Responds well to questions; Participates in meetings.
• Written Communication - Writes clearly and informatively; Edits work for spelling and grammar; Varies writing style to meet needs; Presents numerical data effectively; Able to read and interpret written information.