Department: Office of the General Counsel (OGC)
Appointment Type and Duration: Regular, Ongoing
Salary: Starting at $64,000 per year, commensurate with experience
Compensation Band: OS-OA07-Fiscal Year 2024-2025
FTE: 1.0

Application Review Begins

January 6, 2025; position open until filled

Special Instructions to Applicants

To be considered for this position, applicants must submit a complete application, including a resume and a cover letter that address how you meet the minimum and preferred qualifications.

Note that you will be asked to provide names and contact information for three professional references, but candidates will be notified before references are contacted.

We are interested in finding the best candidate for the position. We encourage you to apply, even if you don’t think you meet every one of our preferred qualifications — use your application to let us know what is meaningful to you about the role and what transferable skills or other qualities you would bring.

Department Summary

The Office of the General Counsel (OGC) is a team of legal professionals who manage the legal affairs of the university. Led by the Vice President and General Counsel, there are six full-time attorneys in the office who provide timely, creative, and practical legal advice to university leadership, including the Board of Trustees, President, Provost, vice presidents, vice provosts, deans, and directors on the development and implementation of initiatives in support of the university’s mission. In everything it does, the office seeks to ensure that university leaders are well equipped to navigate higher education’s complex regulatory landscape and to promote a climate of ethical behavior, integrity and accountability.

OGC attorneys are true generalists with working knowledge and expertise in a broad array of practice areas, including labor and employment, intellectual property, civil rights, constitutional law, contracts and real estate, to name a few. The office is solely responsible for the comprehensive representation of the university’s interests in litigation, administrative proceedings, and business transactions, including engaging outside counsel when prudent.

Position Summary

The Legal Assistant is a key member of the Office of the General Counsel’s team. The position's work includes, but is not limited to: litigation and claims support, including evidence preservation and managing discovery requests made of the University; legal and administrative support related to collective bargaining, including review of bargaining proposals and assistance with arbitrations or grievances brought by unions under the CBAs; legal research; evaluating and responding to subpoenas and other requests for information; compiling required reports for federal and state agencies; and tracking and compiling data for internal analysis and reporting.

The Legal Assistant position has access to, and is responsible for maintaining, highly confidential information and materials that cover the spectrum of the university’s legal affairs including information and materials covered by the attorney-client privilege and work-product doctrines, personnel, union bargaining, and student information.

The person in this role will need to have a thorough understanding of relevant privacy laws, Oregon’s public records law, the Rules of Civil Procedure, Uniform Trial Court Rules and Supplementary Local Court Rules, as well as university functions, offices, personnel, systems and policies to do their work. The position's responsibilities are performed independently in an environment that is extremely sensitive and this person must exercise discretion and sound independent judgment at all times.

This position manages concurrent short and long-term projects, requiring the ability to work independently, understand objectives, and present and/or interpret data. This position plays an active role in evaluating the sufficiency and substance of information and strategizes with internal and external attorneys and campus units, providing consultation or expert advice.

This position reports directly to the Assistant Vice President and Chief of Staff to the Vice President and General Counsel.

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution, or Paralegal Certificate from an ABA approved
program.
• A minimum of three years of paralegal or legal assistant experience in a practice area relevant to higher education, preferably litigation.

Professional Competencies

• Demonstrated commitment to maintaining confidentiality, discretion, and diplomacy.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Approaches all tasks with care, accuracy and thoroughness.
• Models customer service principles (listening, empathy, patience, respect, responsiveness) and contributes positively to team dynamics.
• Manages time and stress effectively; demonstrated ability to successfully multi-task around shifting priorities and high work volumes.
• Leadership and interpersonal skills; demonstrated ability to gather and analyze information while working collaboratively with departments and outside entities.
• Demonstrated ability to exercise sound independent judgment.
• Demonstrated initiative and the ability to manage and organize complex projects to completion or resolution.
• Ability to promote equity and inclusion to enable success for people from all walks of life while sharing common, fundamental values grounded in justice, civility, and respect while looking to diversity as a source of enrichment and strength.
• Excellent computer and software skills, in particular the MS 365 software stack (Teams, Outlook Word, Excel, PowerPoint) as well as Adobe Acrobat.
• Working knowledge of Oregon Public Records law and other relevant privacy laws, such as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
• Knowledge of the Rules of Civil Procedure.
• Knowledge of Uniform Trial Court Rules and Supplementary Local Court Rules
• Knowledge of e-discovery practices.

Preferred Qualifications

• Three years of experience working in a higher education institution.
• Three years of litigation experience in local, state and federal court.
• Experience filing, researching, and reviewing case dockets in OECI, ACMS, and PACER.
• Experience using Banner FIS, SIS, and HRIS or similar systems.
• Experience using claims management and document management software.
• Experience using e-discovery software.
• Membership in the Association for Legal Professionals in Lane County or similar professional organization.

FLSA Exempt: Yes

All offers of employment are contingent upon successful completion of a background check.

The University of Oregon is proud to offer a robust benefits package to eligible employees, including health insurance, retirement plans, and paid time off. For more information about benefits, visit https://hr.uoregon.edu/about-benefits.

The University of Oregon is an equal opportunity, affirmative action institution committed to cultural diversity and compliance with the ADA. The University encourages all qualified individuals to apply and does not discriminate on the basis of any protected status, including veteran and disability status. The University is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants and employees with disabilities. To request an accommodation in connection with the application process, please contact us at uocareers@uoregon.edu or 541-346-5112.

UO prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy (including pregnancy-related conditions), age, physical or mental disability, genetic information (including family medical history), ancestry, familial status, citizenship, service in the uniformed services (as defined in federal and state law), veteran status, expunged juvenile record, and/or the use of leave protected by state or federal law in all programs, activities and employment practices as required by Title IX, other applicable laws, and policies. Retaliation is prohibited by UO policy. Questions may be referred to the Office of Investigations and Civil Rights Compliance. Contact information, related policies, and complaint procedures are listed here.

In compliance with federal law, the University of Oregon prepares an annual report on campus security and fire safety programs and services. The Annual Campus Security and Fire Safety Report is available online at https://clery.uoregon.edu/annual-campus-security-and-fire-safety-report.