Senior Advisory Counsel (Criminal)

Who We Are

As a publicly funded, non-profit organization, Legal Aid Alberta provides affordable legal services in family law, domestic violence, child welfare, immigration, and youth and adult criminal defense. We are Alberta-wide, with 300 staff and 1,200 private practice lawyers helping people overcome their legal challenges in more than 75 communities across the province.

Who You Are

Working at Legal Aid Alberta means you are committed to ensuring access to justice for all Albertans. You have excellent communication skills and are someone that demonstrates leadership. You want to assist and advise on Criminal Law strategies and training, and through collaboration play a key role in aligning them to strategic priorities and business objectives. You understand the importance of privacy and confidentiality in doing this work. You are computer savvy and more organized than anyone you know. You thrive in a fast-paced work environment and you’re always up for a challenge. You are a person who appreciates a role where no two days are the same and you can mitigate and manage situations as they come. You are deeply invested in the success of our team and our organization.

Job Description

Reporting to the General Counsel, some of the key responsibilities include:
• Provide legal representation and advice as required.
• Advising and assisting on strategic priorities and business objectives as determined by LAA with regard to adult criminal matters, opinions, test cases and related proceedings. This includes representing the interests of LAA and / or LAA clients at all levels of court.
• Further enhance LAA’s reputation to ensure our vision, mission and services are clearly defined and better understood by stakeholders. This may include publicly representing LAA at certain conferences, committees, and other speaking engagements as LAA’s Adult Criminal Law subject matter expert.
• Develop and recommend the direction, standards of practice and process efficiencies to continually strive for improvement, balancing the financial interests of the organization with effective and innovative legal services across the province to resolve the clients’ legal issues.
• Working as part of an integrated legal representation team, support senior management in the transformation of the Adult Criminal Law practice to firmly establish LAA as a Centre of Excellence in both operations and legal representation.
• Demonstrate leadership in the area of Adult Criminal Law by establishing best practice methodologies, responsible to design and execute high quality training and mentorship programs for Staff and Roster Lawyers.
• Provide assistance and guidance to Staff and Roster Lawyers respecting best practices, conduct of trials for potential appeals purposes, building a trial record and identifying proper test cases for high-impact litigation.
• Assist in strategizing, formulating, facilitating and delivering topical, timely, relevant, and instructive Roster educational initiatives and opportunities.
• Other duties as assigned through management.

Qualifications

Education and Experience:

• Law degree from a recognized law school
• Membership in good standing in the Law Society of Alberta
• 10 years of experience in a related field such as a LAA Criminal Roster lawyer, Crown Prosecutor, LAA Criminal Staff Lawyer or Manager
• Working knowledge of committee governance and function, ethics and compliance, and code of conduct
• Experience chairing committees is an asset
• Practice experience in criminal law is required
• Practice experience in family law is considered an asset

Knowledge and Skills:

• Strong working knowledge of the tariff
• Strong working knowledge of the areas of law that Legal Aid Alberta provides service
• Excellent knowledge of applicable legislation, regulatory and privacy law, as well as policy drafting
• The technical skills to provide competent legal services including the ability to investigate facts, identify issues, ascertain organizational objectives, consider possible solutions, and advising LAA on the appropriate course of action
• Maturity, tact, and good judgment
• Able to provide advice and information effectively
• Well-organized and able to deal with conflicting immediate priorities
• Computer literacy, particularly with regards to MS Office (especially Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, ACCESS).
• Knowledge of public legal information or adult education tools and techniques
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, maintaining positive relationships with key internal and external stakeholders

What We Offer

Perks of working with us

• Competitive wage
• RRSP employer contribution
• Paid holidays
• Health and dental benefits
• Team Environment
• Weekends off

How To Apply

Click  Apply Now . You can also send your resume and cover letter to [email protected]. Reference competition number LAA-23-31. Only those selected for an interview will be contacted.