Staff Counsel

Job Description and Duties

Department of Industrial Relations, Office of the Director—Legal Unit.

Under the general direction of the Chief Counsel of the Office of the Director Legal Unit ( OD—Legal), the assistant Chief Counsels, Staff Counsel represent the Director of the Department of Industrial Relations, the Department, and division chiefs and managers in a variety of subject areas within the responsibility and jurisdiction of the Department.

Staff Counsel are expected to work with broad discretion and independence to perform the more complex and higher level work of OD—Legal. As a mid-level attorney, the incumbent is expected to develop subject matter expertise in one or more areas of the Department’s responsibility. Duties include but are not limited to: representing the Director of DIR in workers’ compensation cases involving special funds administered by the Director; analyzing requests for public works coverage determinations and drafting proposed decisions for the Director’s review; serving as a hearing officer in appeals from assessments for prevailing wage violations and drafting proposed decisions for the Director’s review; representing the Department in internal personnel matters; representing the Department, Director, or one of DIR’s divisions in civil and writ litigation; providing counsel on apprenticeship matters; analyzing and drafting recommended decisions in appeals from retaliation complaint investigations; providing analysis and advice concerning Public Records Act requests; analyzing and drafting proposed legislation; providing legal services with respect to contract matters involving the Department; drafting proposed regulations; and providing legal services on a wide variety of other issues that may arise in the operation of the Department.

Attorneys are expected to work all hours necessary to accomplish their assignments, and although they will generally average 40 hours a week, longer work hours may occasionally be required.

This posting may be used to fill future vacancies in accordance with 2 CCR §249.3

To be considered for this Attorney III job opportunity, applicants must be either reachable on an employment list, have transfer eligibility or have reinstatement eligibility. To take the exam and gain employment list eligibility, please click here to access the exam bulletin:

Effective July 1, 2025, specific Bargaining Units and associated Excluded State employees are subject to a salary reduction between 2% - 4.62% in exchange for hours in the Personal Leave Program 2025 (PLP 2025) per month. For more details, please click e to visit the California Department of Human Resources (CalHR) website.

You will find additional information about the job in the .

Working Conditions

The position is located in:
Los Angeles, CA

This is a full-time position in an office environment on the 18th floor of a 45-story office building located at 355 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, California. Employees in this position work in an office at desks, and are required to work extensively on computers as necessary for the drafting of letters, briefs, and other documents, and for research, email communication, file review, training, and other purposes. Attorneys are expected to handle their own word processing, and secretarial support.

Special Requirements

Must be a member of the California Bar and qualified to practice law in California. The minimum requirements are defined in the Class Specification for Attorney III.

Desirable Qualifications

In addition to evaluating each candidate's relative ability, as demonstrated by quality and breadth of experience, the following factors will provide the basis for competitively evaluating each candidate:

• Knowledge concerning the work of the Department, labor and employment law, wage and hour law, and workers’ compensation law.
• Prior experience serving as counsel to a public agency.
• Prior experience writing and filing briefs in the California Court of Appeal and/or California Supreme Court and/or federal courts.
• At least three years of civil litigation experience.
• Prior experience analyzing and working on legislation and/or administrative regulations.
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability and desire to contribute to collegial office environment.
• Proficiency in Word and other Microsoft applications.

Benefits

Benefit information can be found on the CalHR website and the CalPERS website.

Central location with easy access to public transportation, bike parking, cultural institutions, eclectic dining, and fitness centers. Subsidized commuter transportation passes. Partial telework schedules are available, which will be determined after consultation with the Assistant Chief Counsel.

Additional Information

Preference will be given to persons with State Restriction of Appointments (SROA) or Surplus status. Applicants must attach a copy of their most recently dated letter that specifies their designation as either SROA or surplus candidate as proof.

Qualified candidates must have eligibility in State employment, be in a reachable rank on an employment list for this classification, be currently in this classification, or have transfer eligibility to this classification.

If you do not hear from us in 4-6 weeks, you may assume the position has been filled by another applicant. Please note that all additional vacancies that become available may be added to this advertisement.

Please note that the Exam and Certification Online System (ECOS) does not allow you to resubmit your application once you withdraw it. If you have any updates to your online application, please contact the Personnel, Recruitment, & Hiring Unit at (800) 564-0771.

Please let us know how you heard about our position by taking this brief survey: DIR Applicant Survey

Required Application Package Documents

The following items are required to be submitted with your application. Applicants who do not submit the required items timely may not be considered for this job:

• Current version of the State Examination/Employment Application STD Form 678 (when not applying electronically), or the Electronic State Employment Application through your Applicant Account at All Experience and Education relating to the Minimum Qualifications listed on the Classification Specification should be included to demonstrate how you meet the Minimum Qualifications for the position.
• Resume is optional. It may be included, but is not required.
• Other - Legal Writing Sample. Please submit a legal writing sample of no more than 10 pages preferably written within the past three years. The date the writing sample was written must appear on the document submitted.