Closing Date: 28th September, 2025
Description:
Job Description:A successful candidate must have excellent oral advocacy and writing skills, have experience reviewing and managing large volumes of documents and legal research, and must have excellent case management skills as well as the ability to build rapport and work cooperatively with client agency representatives. The duties of this position will include working with county officials, state legislators, state agencies, and federal representatives.
Assistant Attorney General - Public Lands
The Office of the Attorney General, Natural Resources division has an immediate opening for an attorney to work in its Public Lands section. The incumbent in this position provides full time representation to the Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office (PLPCO) on matters primarily pertaining to the public lands in the State of Utah and engagement with the federal agencies that manage them. Preference will be given to applicants with mediation, litigation, and courtroom experience. Some working knowledge of administrative law, public lands law, and general knowledge of natural resources law that pertains to public lands is preferred.
A successful candidate must have excellent oral advocacy and superior writing skills, experience reviewing and managing large volumes of documents. legal research abilities, and excellent case management skills with the ability to build rapport and work cooperatively with client agency representatives. The duties of this position will include working with county officials, state legislators, state agencies, and federal representatives.
Preference will be given to applicants with 2-10 years of experience or more; entry level attorneys will also be considered. The successful candidate must be a member in good standing with the Utah State Bar upon application or will have taken the most recent bar exam. Background checks are completed as a condition of employment. Some travel is required as incumbents will need to represent the State in legal proceedings throughout the State.
Responsibilities:
- Prepares cases by conducting legal research and gathering evidence.
- Provides consultation, makes recommendations, gives appropriate advice, and/or facilitates decisions.
- Determine needs in discovery, and/or completes discovery; participates in decision making and strategy sessions in preparing cases for court and determining evidence to be used.
- Writes or drafts correspondence, reports, documents and/or other written materials.
- Receives, researches and responds to incoming questions or complaints; provides information, explains policy and procedures, and/or facilitates a resolution.
- Represents the state or the employing agency in lawsuits, grievances, and complaints.
- Drafts litigation working documents; prepares documents consisting of concise decisions based upon facts of case interpretations of law and compliance with state and federal standards. Conducts conferences with defendants and/or attorneys, negotiate settlements, and testify in court.
- Conducts, or represents agency at, formal or informal hearings.
- Interviews witnesses and takes depositions in preparation for trial
- Some travel will be required with overnight stays
Qualifications:
- Communicate information and ideas clearly, and concisely, in writing
- Read and understand information presented in writing
- Read, interpret, and apply laws, rules, regulations, policies and/or procedures
- Speak clearly, concisely, and effectively
- Listen to, and understand, information and ideas as presented verbally, legal processes and procedures, applicable laws (e.g., NEPA, APA, FLPMA, ESA, NFMA) rules, regulations and/or policies and civil procedures
- Familiarity with R.S. 2477 is not required but would be beneficial
- Understand and apply case and statutory law
- Evaluate information against a set of standards
- Use logic to analyze or identify underlying principles, reasons, or facts associated with information or data to draw conclusions, laws, legal codes, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, the democratic political process, and legislative history
- Perform legal research using case law and appropriate techniques laws governing access to public and private records (Government Records Access and Management Act)
- Make decisions and solve problems by using logic to identify key facts, explore alternatives, and propose quality solutions
- Deal with people in a manner which shows sensitivity, tact, and professionalism
- Provide consultation and/or expert advice or testimony rules of evidence
- Identify current and emerging trends in interpretation of legislation principles, theories, and practices of judicial or administrative law
Supplemental Information:
- A Juris Doctorate is required.
- Risks found in the typical office setting, which is adequately lighted, heated and ventilated, e.g., safe use of office equipment, avoiding trips and falls, observing fire regulations, etc.
- Typically, the employee may sit comfortably to perform the work; however, there may be some walking; standing; bending; carrying light items; driving an automobile, etc. Special physical demands are not required to perform the work.
- A conditional offer of employment will be made pending a satisfactory completion of a background investigation.
- Where statute mandates, active membership in the Utah State Bar.
- Must be able to travel as required.
- Valid driver license required to drive a motor vehicle on a highway in this state per UCA 53-3-202(1)(a).
- Attorneys are hired at a salary consistent with their experience-level-peers in non-supervisory positions. For the purpose of starting salary calculation, experience level is based on initial Bar admittance year, less any years not practicing law. Approximate annual salary ranges for each grade level are outlined below:
