Attorney II - Labor & Employment Unit; JO

Overview

The Legal Services office of the Judicial Council of California provides quality, timely, and ethical legal advice and services to the Supreme Court, Courts of Appeal, trial courts, Judicial Council, and the Judicial Council’s advisory bodies and staff. Legal Services is currently searching for an attorney to join its dynamic law office that provides legal support to judicial branch clients on challenging, varied, and significant legal issues.

The attorney will have meaningful experience in general employment and labor law. The attorney will independently manage a workload in a collegial environment and may work across practice groups to serve judicial branch clients.

Attorneys within the Legal Services office often support the work of units other than their primary assignment. Depending upon experience, the attorney who fills this position may be called upon to work with other Legal Services units to provide written legal opinions, staff advisory bodies, draft rules of court and legislation, and manage litigation.

The Judicial Council

The Judicial Council of California is the policy setting body for the state court system and has constitutionally conferred statewide rule-making authority. This authority includes developing, advocating for, and allocating the judicial branch budget. A majority of Council members are California state justices and judges; however, the Council also includes lawyers, legislators, and court administrators.

By enhancing its role as a leadership, knowledge, and service resource for the judicial branch, the Judicial Council’s staff organization seeks to continue to evolve as one of California’s most dynamic public service entities, focused on improving access to justice for all Californians by innovating and responding to the changing needs of the courts and the public. As a government body charged with improving the statewide administration of justice, the Judicial Council has multiple offices with diverse responsibilities relating to court policy and operations.

As employees of the council, every member of staff should view and approach their work as one Judicial Council with a public service mission that is greater than the sum of its parts.

The Judicial Council strives for work-life balance, including substantial vacation and holiday time. In addition, we offer an excellent benefits package, including pension, medical, dental, and vision coverage, flexible spending, up to $130 per month reimbursement for qualifying commuting costs, and retirement savings plans. The San Francisco office is only a 7-minute walk from the downtown Civic Center BART station. In Sacramento, the office is located minutes from downtown, just north of Discovery Park.

The Judicial Council offers hybrid work arrangements for many positions. The successful candidate will be expected to work in person at the Judicial Council’s San Francisco or Sacramento office at least two days per week, based on their office leader’s direction, and reside in the areas surrounding these locations. To be eligible for Judicial Council employment and participation in the Judicial Council’s Hybrid Work Program, a prospective or current employee’s primary residence/remote work location must be in the State of California and within a 150-mile driving radius of their assigned reporting location.

• Provide in-house counsel and labor and employment law advice to the trial and appellate courts and the Judicial Council.
• Provide legal advice on a diverse range of employment issues, including employee discipline and termination, disability accommodations, leaves of absence, FMLA/CFRA leave entitlements, grievances, employee benefits, and wage and hour issues.
• Provide legal advice on labor matters, including interpretation of collective bargaining agreements, employer-employee relations rules and procedures, grievances, and unfair labor practice charges
• Manage investigations of complaints as to employment issues.
• Evaluate and manage employment litigation and labor arbitrations.
• Retain and actively manage outside counsel in all stages of litigation.
• Assist and advise trials courts and work with outside counsel…