Senior Deputy General Counsel (3 positions)

At the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, we deliver reliable water to a region with 19 million people—and to accomplish this, we rely on a team of talented employees: innovators, problem-solvers, and collaborators who make it all possible. 

 

This recruitment may result in an eligibility list*.

 

The Legal Department of the Metropolitan Water District (Metropolitan) has three (3) openings for the General Counsel’s Office. They are at the Senior Deputy General Counsel level.SENIOR DEPUTY GENERAL COUNSELMetropolitan is seeking to fill three (3) Senior Deputy General Counsel positions with expertise in one of more of the following areas: litigation/labor/employment law, including litigation/administrative hearings and PERB/environmental resources law, and litigation/public agency law. 

 

These positions will report to the General Counsel and will have the opportunity to work in an invigorating, collaborative and challenging legal environment as a member of a highly professional and effective team of over 20 attorneys plus paralegals and support staff, providing a variety of legal services in many different areas.

 

For each of these positions, knowledge of public agency laws such as the Brown Act and the California Public Records Act and experience working for or representing public agencies, providing legal advice, working with boards, committees or legislative bodies, including serving as counsel during public meetings and hearings, is preferred. 

 

Candidates should be comfortable responding to substantive questions quickly, working with and managing outside counsel and working in a collaborative environment in which ideas are challenged.

 

For labor relations/employment law, the ideal candidate will have knowledge of public agency employment law and experience representing public agencies in labor and employment matters.  The position requires experience conducting or overseeing investigations; negotiating labor and employment agreements, including collective bargaining agreements advising on and managing disciplinary matters and grievances, from initial administrative stage through administrative hearings, mediation and litigation; handling employment grievances, PERB hearings and litigation; and providing staff with day-to-day advice on a range of labor and employment issues. The position also requires working closely with human resources staff and other senior management and providing recommendations regarding personnel policies.

 

The ideal candidate will be a seasoned litigator with a deep mastery of the California Public sector legal landscape, specifically expert in the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (MMBA), PERB proceedings, and the Skelly due process framework for public employee discipline.

 

You will serve as a primary legal strategist managing complex labor and employment disputes, including binding arbitration, administrative writs, and First Amendment claims, while ensuring strict agency compliance with the Brown Act, California Public Records Act (CPRA), and the Government Claims Act.

 

Beyond labor law, you must possess the technical acumen to navigate the MWD Act.  We are seeking a sophisticated advocate who can seamlessly pivot from the courtroom to the boardroom, offering high-level guidance on Political Reform Act conflicts, public agency social media policies, and the intersection of CalPERS regulations with the Interactive Process and disability law. The ideal candidate will have experience as a first chair litigator of complex matters, experience in negotiation and documentation of complex transactions, and/or experience in representing parties in administrative proceedings at the local, state and/or federal level.

 

For litigation/environmental resources law, the ideal candidate will have knowledge and experience in CEQA/NEPA, CWA, ESA litigation, and a variety of other substantive areas relating to natural resources, and/or water law as well as experience in California water resource issues including the Law of the Colorado River and the California State Water Project.  The ideal candidate will have experience as a first chair litigator of complex matters, experience in negotiation and documentation of complex transactions, and/or experience in representing parties in administrative proceedings at the local, state and/or federal level.

                       

The ideal candidate will have experience as a first chair litigator of complex matters, experience in negotiation and documentation of complex transactions, and/or experience in representing parties in administrativ