"Legal Counsel"

Legal Counsel

Company:

University of St. Augustine

Job Location:

Category:

Legal Affairs

Type:

Full-Time

The Legal Counsel for the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences (USAHS) serves as an internal subject-matter expert in higher education law, providing strategic legal guidance and support to the institution. This role requires experience advising on a wide range of issues, including student and faculty affairs, regulatory compliance, higher education legislation, legal claims management, and governance. The goal is to ensure consistent, high-quality, and timely legal advice for USAHS stakeholders. The Legal Counsel will collaborate with both internal and external counsel, as needed.

This position will be based on the Austin, Texas campus.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Legal Advice & Guidance

• Provide timely, consistent, sound, and practical legal advice, counseling, training, and documentation on a wide range of academic and operational matters, in collaboration with legal department staff, in a fast-paced, complex higher education environment.
• Provide day-to-day legal guidance to leadership and faculty across five campuses on a broad spectrum of issues, including contracts, general employee and student matters, policies, and other legal concerns. This includes providing guidance to human resources, academic leadership, student services, clinical services, finance, marketing, enrollment and IT departments.

Legal Records and Document Management

• Manage and maintain legal records, ensuring accuracy and compliance with retention policies, and coordinate timely responses to subpoenas and document requests.
• Assist with gathering materials and records required for litigation or claims management of employee and student matters, which includes assisting with e-discovery and examination for relevance and privilege.
• Demonstrate knowledge of University governance requirements and provide support, as needed.
• Assist with the annual review of university policies, procedures, and contributes to various institutional documents including, but not limited to the employee handbook, faculty handbook, student catalog/handbook, and program specific clinical handbooks.
• Coordinate closely with parent entity and university general counsel to ensure review of required corporate filings in compliance with local and federal requirements.

Contracts & Agreements

• Negotiate, draft, and review Master Service Agreements (MSA) and contracts of varying sizes and complexity to include those vendors retained by Marketing, Facilities, IT, HR and other departments.
• In coordination with Human Resources, provide annual review of employment documents to include confidentiality and non-disclosure notices, standardized patient agreements, outside employment disclosures, and reimbursement agreements tied to immigration and relocation, etc.
• Work in close collaboration with the Clinical Services team to review affiliation agreements for changes, assess risk and ensure timely placement.
• Review and approve all Independent Consulting Agreements (ICAs) to ensure appropriate classification and compliance with federal and state requirements.

Campus Safety

• Serve as a member of the Campus Response and Readiness Teams; in coordination with University General Counsel; will specifically support activities for at least two assigned campuses.
• Assist with campus safety requirements and initiatives across all campuses and locations. This includes reviewing weekly incident reports for potential risk and recommendations of mitigating measures.
• Provide guidance and input on safety and security related policies, procedures and training programs as necessary.

Training & Education

• In partnership with Human Resources and department management, support training and education efforts for the campus communities on key legal and compliance issues (e.g., Title IX, FERPA, employment law, Red Flag, HIPAA, Workplace Violence Prevention, etc.)

OTHER DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

May perform other duties and responsibilities that management may deem necessary from time to time to include the following:

• Provide support to University General Counsel, as needed, on matters related to employment and immigration matters, policy review and creation, and student matters. The legal department consults with the Professional Misconduct Committee and Academic Appeals Committee each term and as needed for consultation.
• Contribute to resolution of issues related to employee, faculty and student conduct, accommodations, discipline, and complaints. This includes maintaining a record of student complaints and resolutions for reporting purposes and maintaining a record of legal matters and potential claims.

POSITION IN ORGANIZATION

Reports to: University General Counsel

Positions Supervised: Not applicable

TECHNICAL, MANAGERIAL & PEOPLE SKILLS REQUIRED

To perform this job successfully an individual must be able to undertake each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Incumbents will be evaluated, in part, based on performance of each essential function. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

• Strong client counseling skills, from both the legal and business perspectives, with the ability to differentiate between the two viewpoints
• High degree of professionalism and ability to work independently and as a part of the legal team
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, capable of providing sound and timely advice
• Good organization and interpersonal skills, ability to be very hands-on with a 'roll up the sleeves' mentality
• Proven ability to work on multiple projects simultaneously
• Demonstrated mental acuity with eagerness to learn new functions and areas of expertise
• Comfortable working with a corporate parent and within distributed campus locations
• Experience with MS Office products, e-mail and tools necessary for research

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE - A Juris Doctor (JD) degree from an accredited law school with active membership in the Bar - A minimum of three to five years of legal experience in a university, law firm or corporate setting, especially experience in dealing independently with business clients primarily with contract law and claims management.

• Experience with compliance and working in a highly regulated environment, with healthcare and/or education highly preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to assess and interpret changes in state and federal laws and regulations and determine their impact on the university.

TRAVEL

Some limited travel may be required to campuses within the United States.

BUSINESS COMPETENCIES

To perform the job successfully, an individual should demonstrate the following competencies:

• Collaborates - Building partnerships and working collaboratively with others to meet shared objectives.
• Being Resilient - Rebounding from setbacks and adversity when facing difficult situations.
• Instills Trust - Gaining the confidence and trust of others through honesty, integrity, and authenticity.
• Drives Results - Consistently achieving results, even under tough circumstances.
• Innovation - Creating new and better ways for the organization to be successful.
• Customer Focus - Building strong customer relationships and delivering customer-centric solutions.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

Work is performed primarily in a standard office environment but may involve exposure to moderate noise levels. Work involves operation of personal computer equipment for six to eight hours daily and includes physical demands associated with a traditional office setting, e.g., walking, standing, communicating, and other physical functions as necessary.

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