Associate Legal Counsel- Legal Services

Legal Services

Service: Planning, Dev & Real Estate Law Branch / Corporate & Commercial Law Branch

Employment Type: 2 Full-time Temporary - Up to 18 months

Legal Services

Legal Services provides a comprehensive and complex range of legal services to elected officials, all City of Ottawa departments, and various boards and commissions (i.e. Ottawa Police Services Board, Ottawa Community Land Development Corporation and the Ottawa Public Library), in the areas of civil litigation, labour and employment law, prosecutions, and corporate, municipal, planning, development, environmental, and commercial law.

Under the guidance of more senior legal counsel, you are responsible for providing a wide range of legal services to City Council, Committees, Departments, local boards and agencies, in one or more of the following areas:

Contract law focusing on revision and creation of construction, purchasing and consulting service contracts, documents and procedures; review and preparation of contracts before tender call and after contract award; contract law training programs; contract management and dispute resolution.

Civil litigation and claims/prosecutions focusing on claims made by and against the City, its boards, commissions and agencies, including the Police Services Board, conducting litigation/prosecutions before courts, boards and tribunals, and negotiation of litigation settlements.

Real Estate and Property law focusing on issues relating to the acquisition/disposal of lands including acquisitions, sales, expropriations, leases and title information processes and related easement and encroachment agreements.

Administrative law focusing on interpretation/preparation of all manner of documents, including by-laws, corporate documents or specialized applications, drafting of all manner of reports and correspondence, the development of standardized contracts, agreements or forms, ATIP (Access to Information Privacy) administration, handling all manner of various enquiries/responses, and making final determinations on collections pertaining to monies owed the City.

You provide legal opinions and policy advice to an assigned client group and are responsible for protecting/advancing the legal interests of the City, advocating and defending corporate positions before the courts and external decision-making bodies. You also provide guidance and mentoring to more junior Legal Counsel, Articling Law Students and Paralegals/Law Clerks in the respective practice area.

Completion of Bachelor of Laws (LL.Minimum of 2 years of broad legal experience in the practice of municipal law, as outlined in the Job Summary, which may include experience before civil courts, administrative boards and tribunals, or specific experience directly related to the assigned area of practice.

Licensed by Law Society of Ontario and called to the Bar of Ontario

Knowledge of the Municipal Act 2001

Knowledge of the Code of Professional Conduct of the Law Society of Upper Canada

Working knowledge of municipal operations, City organizational structures, and departmental business requirements, complexities, and inter-relationships

Working knowledge of the specific legislation, regulations, policies/guidelines and methods/procedures relating to the assigned area of practice

Working knowledge of the law of civil procedures and practice before the courts, and or administrative boards or tribunals

Able to professionally represent the City before the courts and or administrative tribunals, and at meetings involving multiple shareholders and the general public

Possess leadership and human relations skills to provide ongoing mentoring, training, and coaching to more junior Legal Counsel, Articling Law Students, Paralegals and Law Clerks

Possess organizational skills and flexibility to plan, initiate, organize and prioritize own work, to manage multiple projects, and to deal effectively with multiple demands, conflicting priorities, pressures and timelines

Able to consult with internal corporate clients and provide problem solving advice, opinion and guidance on legal matters

Possess articulate and persuasive communication skills and strong influencing/negotiating skills/abilities in order to handle the advisory, adversarial and administrative nature of the work

Able to describe legal concepts in readily understandable terms, and provide timely, constructive professional advice/information to all clients to assist in the decision-making process

Skilled in composing and writing pleadings, opinions, reports and summaries and other documents for assigned client group

Able to write contract language, memoranda, settlement documents, reports and proposals

Skilled in public speaking and in preparing/delivering presentations

Possess computer literacy in MS Office Suite and the ability to utilize specialized software and internet resources for legal research

Language Requirement: English oral, reading, writing required.

Experience and formal training combined with demonstrated performance and ability may substitute for stipulated academic requirements.

The City of Ottawa promotes the principles of diversity and inclusion and adheres to the tenets of the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Ontario Human Rights Code. We encourage applications from members of Indigenous, Black and other racialized communities, persons with disabilities, women and non-binary persons, persons of all ethnic origins, religions, sexual orientations, classes, gender identities and expressions.

Candidates are encouraged to self-identify as a member of one or more designated employment equity groups in the self-identification questionnaire.

Please contact the HR Service Centre (email: