Staff Counsel : District of Columbia

National Education Association

NEA Staff Counsel, #0710

Based in Washington, DC</span></span></span>

Salary Range: $140,218 – $170,604
Posting Period: July 11, 2018 – Open until filled

The National Education Association (NEA) is America’s oldest and largest labor organization with some 3 million members. The mission of the NEA is to unite our members and the nation to fulfill the promise of public education by preparing every student to succeed in a diverse and interdependent world.

NEA seeks an Attorney to join our eleven-member legal team in the NEA Office of General Counsel. The widely varied work of the NEA Office of General Counsel includes all of the following:

• Significant amicus work before the U.S. Supreme Court, significant appellate litigation in the federal and state court systems, and litigation before federal and state trial courts on cases of cross-cutting national significance. NEA’s current docket, for example, includes challenges to the repeal of due process protections for teachers, defenses of exclusive representation and freedom of association, enforcing student and educator civil rights, school funding litigation, and challenges to the rollback of bargaining rights.
• Providing in-house counsel to NEA’s elected leadership and staff as well as to state and local education associations on an array of matters, including organizing campaigns and union governance issues, walk-outs, protections for educator advocacy in and outside of school, internal union operations, charter schools, social media use and regulation, intellectual property and individual privacy.
• Representing the views of NEA on federal initiatives impacting NEA, NEA affiliates, and their members and leaders such as the Every Student Succeeds Act, the DREAM Act, the Trump administration’s anti – immigrant and pro-school voucher initiatives, and the push to remake the federal judiciary by the Trump administration.
• Assisting NEA state affiliates in their provision of direct legal services to NEA members. Among other things, that assistance includes providing regular updates to, and holding an annual education conference for the National Organization of Lawyers for Educational Associations (“NOLEA”), a national network of lawyers representing school employees and their associations.
• Providing counsel to NEA regarding affiliate relationships, tools for improving the representation of NEA members, tools to assist NEA members in their advocacy work and legal guidance needed to support affiliate and member advocacy.

Responsibilities: Given the nature of the work of the NEA Office of General Counsel, applicants should be interested in a position in which they will:

• Handle litigation at the trial court level and on appeal on behalf of NEA and its affiliates particularly in First Amendment and related areas.
• Assist with the amicus work of NEA and its affiliates in a wide range of matters including federal appellate advocacy, amicus work before the U.S. Supreme Court, and litigation before state supreme courts.
• Provide legal review, advice and counsel regarding the array of legal issues that an in-house counsel operation must handle in a major national union including relationships with affiliates, subsidiaries and other organizations.
• Develop and present trainings on a wide variety of legal issues and skills for state affiliate counsel, as well as for NEA and state and local leaders and staff.
• Monitor and analyze legal developments of interest to NEA and its members, including legal review and analysis of federal laws and regulations, and provide regular updates on developments of interest to NOLEA and others.
• Assist with other legal matters (internal and external) as needed.

Qualifications:

• J.D. from an accredited law school required.
• Five or more years of legal practice required with preference given to significant advice and counsel work with unions, government agencies or nonprofit organizations or substantial litigation experience.
• Excellent oral and written advocacy and communication skills required, including experience writing substantial litigation briefs, handling complicated litigation, or similar significant work. Excellent public speaking skills desirable.
• Demonstrated ability to accurately analyze and resolve the range of legal issues that an in-house counsel operation must handle in a major national union including its relationships with affiliates, subsidiaries and partner organizations.
• Must be willing and able to serve as a generalist providing advice and counsel on operations matters as needed.
• Demonstrated commitment to labor and public education work preferred.
• Ability to perform complex legal analytical work, to design innovative legal strategies and to work collaboratively required.
• Self-motivated and able to manage a variety of tasks concurrently. Demonstrated ability to work independently as well as to collaborate in a collegial environment.
• Healthy respect for colleagues, employees, and superiors.
• A sense of humor.

To Apply:
Please forward a letter of interest in the NEA Staff Counsel position, your salary history, a résumé and two recent significant writing samples to Kelli Brown at kbrown@nea.org or Kelli Brown, NEA Office of General Counsel, NEA, 1201 16th Street NW, Washington DC 20036. References are required of all candidates.

The National Education Association is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and encourages women, minorities and persons with disabilities to apply.