Title: Assistant Attorney General, Environmental Section

State Role Title: Assistant Attorney General 

Hiring Range: Commensurate with Experience

Pay Band: UG

Agency: Attorney General & Dept of Law

Location: Office of the Attorney General

Agency Website: https://www.oag.state.va.us/

Recruitment Type: General Public - G

Job Duties

Chief Objective:
• Provide high quality legal service, both advice and litigation, to the Commonwealth’s natural resources agencies.

Work Tasks and Duties:
• Ensure the Commonwealth’s natural resources agencies are operating within the confines of the laws of the Commonwealth, while also enforcing environmental laws broadly.
• Serve as lead counsel in environmental matters before administrative and judicial forums. This includes all aspects of litigation, including identifying issues, analyzing positions, conducting discovery, working with retained experts/consultants, witness examination and opening and closing statements at hearings, and preparation of briefs and other written legal pleadings.
• Serve as primary legal adviser to the Commonwealth’s natural resources agencies, boards, and authorities; analyze and advise on statutory and regulatory authority.
• Monitor, identify, and analyze state and federal developments in environmental regulatory areas. This includes staying informed on industry and regulatory developments and trends, through news reports, trade press, attendance at meetings and conferences of state, regional, and national groups and associations, and review of environmental regulatory issuances.
• Perform bill reviews during sessions of the General Assembly.

Minimum Qualifications

• Ability to quickly and effectively gain an understanding of complex legal matters and factual scenarios applicable to the Commonwealth’s natural resources agencies including the agencies’ substantive law and regulations; the Virginia Administrative Process Act, Virginia Freedom of Information Act, and Conflicts of Interest Act;
• Knowledge of state and federal court rules for civil litigation, state and federal rules of evidence, and state administrative law rules and procedures;
• Ability to represent complex legal and political interests while simultaneously building consensus and seeking favorable resolution of conflict;
• Knowledge of legal research procedures;
• Knowledge of the preparation of briefs and presentation of arguments for cases before state and federal courts;
• Ability to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing;
• Ability to quickly assimilate oral and written data, to analyze facts, and draw logical conclusions;
• Ability to express legal interpretations or conclusions of law clearly and logically in oral and written form;
• Ability to maintain organized records;
• Ability to coordinate and function as a lead attorney or counsel in highly complex cases and transactions;
• Ability to organize work, establish priorities, and maintain good interpersonal relations and communications with other attorneys and support staff as well as effective working relationships with government officials, opposing counsel, and the general public;
• Computer literacy to include proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, NetDocuments, LawBase, Adobe Acrobat DC, Google Earth, and Google Maps.

Special Instructions

This position requires being a member in good standing of the Virginia State Bar.

This position is greatly aided in admission to the bars for the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Virginia, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Contact Information

Name: OAG Recruitment

Phone: 804-786-2071

Email: recruitment@oag.state.va.us

In support of the Commonwealth’s commitment to inclusion, we are encouraging individuals with disabilities to apply through the Commonwealth Alternative Hiring Process. To be considered for this opportunity, applicants will need to provide their AHP Letter (formerly COD) provided by the Department for Aging & Rehabilitative Services (DARS), or the Department for the Blind & Vision Impaired (DBVI). Service-Connected Veterans are encouraged to answer Veteran status questions and submit their disability documentation, if applicable, to DARS/DBVI to get their AHP Letter. Requesting an AHP Letter can be found at AHP Letter or by calling DARS at 800-552-5019.

Note: Applicants who received a Certificate of Disability from DARS or DBVI dated between April 1, 2022- February 29, 2024, can still use that COD as applicable documentation for the Alternative Hiring Process.