Senior Associate Counsel

OFFICE OF GENERAL COUNSEL / NEWARK PUBLIC SCHOOLS
The Newark Public School District serves more than 44,000 students, more than ten times the number in 85% of New Jersey’s school districts. It includes 66 schools, more than ten times the number in two thirds of New Jersey’s districts. They include Barringer High School, the third oldest high school in the nation; Arts High School, the nation’s first performing arts high school; and Science Park and Technology High Schools, two of New Jersey’s highest-performing schools.
Newark students include many whose families came north in the Great Migration of the 20th Century as well as many who are newcomers to the United States. They speak 52 different languages at home. Some are children of lawyers or teachers, and many are the first in their families to get to twelfth grade. Some live in the City’s housing projects, some next to its factories or warehouses, and some on its tree-lined streets. Some are homeless. Some have homes but don’t have their own beds and come to school tired every day. For many, the USDA-subsidized breakfast and lunch served in school are the only good food they get.

The school district’s strategic plan, The Next Decade: 2020-2030, reminds staff that every child is a genius and it is our responsibility to keep their needs and dreams at the center of all decisions. That core value, Children at the Center, drives every action and reaction in our schools and every decision of the district administration and board of education.

The Newark Public Schools Office of General Counsel is looking for a great lawyer to join its in-house legal team as Senior Associate Counsel.
Required qualifications:
- Membership in the New Jersey Bar or eligibility for membership
- 10+ years litigation experience in state and federal courts and agencies or equivalent experience
- Excellent legal research and writing skills
- Excellent client counseling skills
- Ability to work both independently and as part of a team
Preferred qualifications:
- Knowledge of New Jersey school law, including governance, special education, public school contracts, labor law
- Substantial experience representing school districts and/or other public entities
- Experience handling claims against public entities

Excellent benefits package including eligibility for public employee pension. Salary negotiable.