Legal Counsel

Role Responsibilities

The Court of King’s Bench is the Superior Trial Court for the Province, hearing family, civil and criminal matters and appeals from decisions of the Court of Justice.

As a Legal Counsel you will be reporting to the Senior Legal/Executive Counsel/Director of Court of King’s Bench and will be responsible for:
- providing legal analysis, drafting, editing and research services for the King’s Bench judiciary.
- providing legal support services for Court committees, projects and initiatives; and
- supervising the Court’s articling students, including assessing workloads, determining and assigning work to students, and overseeing various legal research projects. 

You will be required to work both independently and closely with others, including Justices, other Legal Counsel, and articling students. You will have to be highly autonomous, executing and advising on standard, non-standard, and complex legal issues and research projects and capable of assessing and balancing workloads and competing priorities.

Approximately half of your time will be spent in Complex Litigant Management, which involves managing and responding to abusive litigants and litigation. In this role you will collaborate with various departments and individuals, both inside and outside of the Court of King’s Bench.

To be successful in this role you must possess: excellent research, analytical and organizational skills; a deep understanding of the legal foundations of the Court; significant substantive knowledge of criminal, family, civil, and administrative law, including Canadian and international case law and legislation. Knowledge of Alberta Rules of Court, Alberta statutes and case law are mandatory. 

Superior decision making and communication skills (both verbal and written) are required, along with excellent computer skills. 

French legal language proficiency (written and oral) is considered an asset for this position.

Please click on the link to view the job description.

APS Competencies

Competencies are behaviors that are essential to reach our goals in serving Albertans. We encourage you to have an in-depth understanding of the competencies that are required for this opportunity and to be prepared to demonstrate them during the recruitment process.

This link will assist you with understanding competencies:
https://www.alberta.ca/system/files/custom_downloaded_images/psc-alberta-public-service-competency-model.pdf.

The successful candidate will demonstrate the following competencies:
 

• Agility: Ability to anticipate, assess, and readily adapt to changing priorities, manage resilience in times of uncertainty and work effectively in a changing environment.
   
• Develop Networks: Proactively building networks, connecting and building trust in relationships with different stakeholders.
   
• Build Collaborative Environments: Leads and contributes to the conditions and environments that allow people to work collaboratively and productively to achieve outcomes.
   
• Systems Thinking: The work done within the APS is part of a larger integrated and inter-related environment. It is important to know that work done in one part of the APS impacts a variety of other groups/projects inside and outside the APS. Systems Thinking allows us to keep broader impacts and connections in mind.
   
• Creative Problem Solving: Ability to assess options and implications in new ways to achieve outcomes and solutions.
   
• Drive for Results: You are able to determine what outcomes are important and maximize the use of resources to achieve results that are aligned with the goals of the organization, while maintaining accountability to each other and all stakeholders.
   
• Develop self and others: You have a commitment to lifelong learning and the desire to invest in the development of the long-term capability of yourself and others.

Qualifications

A Bachelor of Laws (LLB) or Juris Doctor (JD) Degree supplemented with the following:
 

• Civil Crown Counsel 2 (CCC2) must have a minimum of four (4) years directly related post bar legal experience. 
• Civil Crown Counsel 3 (CCC3) must have a minimum of eleven (11) years directly related post bar legal experience. 
• Membership in good standing with the Law Society of Alberta or eligibility for membership is required.

Related legal experience includes extensive experience with Canadian legal research tools, well-developed research and analytical skills, and exceptional legal writing skills. It also includes prior court or tribunal experience. 

A strong academic standing is essential and an LLM is an asset. 

Other Assets:
Law journal and other legal writing experience would be beneficial.
Supervisory experience & Ability to fluently speak and write in French.
Complex Litigant Management experience.

Minimum recruitment standards outline the minimum education and experience required for appointment to a job classification. 
Refer to https://www.alberta.ca/alberta-public-service-minimum-recruitment-standards.

Notes

Hours of Work:
7.25 hours / 36.25 hours a week.

Term of Employment:
This is a permanent fulltime position.

Location:
Edmonton or Calgary

Any costs associated with obtaining the required documents/checks as noted or interview travel expenses, will be the responsibility of the candidate. Out-of-province applicants can obtain the required documents/checks from the province they currently reside in. 

Final candidates will be required to undergo a security screening.

Links and information on what the GoA has to offer to prospective employees.
 

• Working for the Alberta Public Service - https://www.alberta.ca/advantages-working-for-alberta-public-service.aspx
• Pension plans: 
  • Management Employees Pension Plan (MEPP) – https://www.mepp.ca
• Alberta Public Service Benefit Information –  https://www.alberta.ca/alberta-public-service-benefits
• Professional learning and development - https://www.alberta.ca/professional-development-support-directive
• Research Alberta Public Service Careers tool – https://researchapscareers.alberta.ca
• Positive workplace culture and work-life balance
• Leadership and mentorship programs