Closing Date: 2nd October, 2025

Description:

Summary of Job:
The City Attorney's Office performs legal services for the City, including organizing or rendering legal advice to City Officials, preparation and review of contracts and other legal documents, prosecution of persons accused of violating City ordinances, and representation of the City and City officials in lawsuits. The City Attorney's Office does not provide legal advice to members of the public.

The City Attorney oversees the City Attorney's Office and supervises subordinates therein. The City Attorney is a member of the City's executive leadership team and acts as a legal advisor to all levels of City government. The City Attorney provides a wide range of legal services including, but not limited to, advising and counseling, transactional work, litigation, and administration. The City Attorney position is the department head for the City Attorney's Office.

Responsibilities:
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily.

Legal Counsel and Advisory:

Conducts legal research and provides written or oral legal advice, recommendations, and opinions to City Officials, departments, boards, commissions, or committees on matters affecting City operations and on relevant legislation and changes in law, rules, and regulations.
Aids City Officials and staff in understanding legal implications and meeting goals.
Provide legal training to City staff as requested.
Advise City staff regarding ordinances, resolutions, policies and procedures, rules and regulations, legal opinions, contracts, leases, agreements, grievance responses, deeds, plats, administration and council policy statements, and other such legal documents.
Attend Common Council and other governmental meetings as requested or needed.
Aid the City in creating and enacting innovative legal solutions and strategies to accomplish City goals, objectives, policies, and initiatives.
Assist in responses to requests for public records including the review of documents for release as allowed by WI State Statutes.

Transactional:

Assist in the sale and acquisition of real property, including eminent domain proceedings.
Prepare, draft, review, or make recommendations on ordinances, resolutions, policies and procedures, rules and regulations, legal opinions, contracts, leases agreements, grievance responses, deeds, plats, administration and council policy statements, and other such legal documents.

Litigation:

Represent the City in a variety of matters before judicial or quasi-judicial bodies or commissions, including the preparation of pleadings, conducting discovery, and preparing for hearing or trial.
Coordinate defense of the City, its elected officials, and appointed officials in all state and Federal legal actions, proceedings, hearings, and other forum regarding personal injury, property damage, contract disputes, constitutional and all other challenges to City ordinances, resolutions and administrative actions of the City.
Prosecute or delegate prosecution of ordinance violation cases, including but not limited to traffic, housing, building, and fire code violations.

Administrative:

Aid in selection, supervision, training, and evaluation of staff.
Oversee City Attorney's Office as a Department.
Ensure that other administrative staff are appropriately informed about legal issues as they arise.
Oversee the distribution of work and management of the performance of contracted attorneys, outside counsel, and legal service contacts.
Prepare and recommend the annual Department budget; implement budget programs and monitor expenses though the year.

Other:

Establish, maintain, and foster effective working relationships with City staff and employees, officials and other governmental bodies.
Assist other departments in the performance of their functions and responsibilities.
Correspond and perform general work on matters pertaining to the City.
Perform related work as assigned or directed by Common Council, Mayor, or City Administrator not in conflict with the ethical obligations of representation and/or professional conduct.
Maintain prompt, predictable, and reliable attendance.
Other responsibilities as assigned by the City Administrator or the Administrator's designee.

Other Duties:
Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Education & Experience:

Admission to the Bar of the State of Wisconsin and maintenance of good standing license status.
Minimum of three (3) years' experience as a practicing attorney in the municipal or local government field or related fields.
Preferred qualifications include experience in the areas of municipal law, labor law, civil litigation, contract review, real estate transactions, and code enforcement.
Direct counsel experience with tax incremental financing, and development agreement negotiating and drafting strongly preferred.
Unencumbered driver's license and the ability to lawfully operate a motor vehicle.

Qualifications & Skills:

Ability to engage in and excel in the identified job duties.
Ability to analyze data and information using established criteria, in order to determine consequences and to identify and select alternatives.
Ability to compare, count, differentiate, measure, copy, record and transcribe data and information.
Ability to classify, compute, tabulate, and categorize data.
Ability to persuade, convince, and/or train others.
Ability to advise and interpret how to apply policies, procedures and standards to specific situations.
Ability to utilize a variety of advisory data and information such as code manuals, City ordinances, directories, State statutes, procedures, guidelines and non-routine correspondence.
Ability to effectively communicate orally and in writing with City personnel, Department personnel and City residents.
Knowledge of administrative procedures and circuit, appellate, state, and federal court procedures and rules of evidence.
Knowledge of principles and practices of accounting, budgeting, and finance in municipalities.
Proficiency in the City's technology systems. Considerable knowledge of the practices, ethics and procedures of the legal profession, usually acquired through the attainment of a law degree, admission to practice law in Wisconsin, and extensive and varied experience in the practice of municipal law.
Knowledge of resources is essential to research legal questions and problems.
Ability to work well under pressure, meet deadlines, regularly, manage multiple assignments, and shift priorities, responding with a sense of urgency when issues emerge requiring immediate attention.

Job Offer Requirements:
Authorization for Job offers for this position are contingent on the individual passing a pre-employment background check and any other applicable onboarding process that the city employs at the time of or prior to issuance of the offer.

Work Environment:

The work environmental characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Work performed is primarily in a standard office environment that includes exposure to computer screens, although exposure to Wisconsin environmental extremes may occur through work-related travel or attendance to duties outside the office. Job duties may require travel throughout the City of Sheboygan to various worksites.

Primary functions include sufficient physical ability and mobility to work in an office or government meeting setting, sit and answer phones, and use computer equipment on a continuous basis. On a frequent basis, must have the ability to stand, walk, sit, talk, and reach with hands and arms and occasionally lift, bend, stoop, retrieve and carry files, bags or cases, and boxes weighing up to 25-30 pounds. Position requires the operation of office equipment and requires repetitive hand movement and fine motor coordination, including use of a computer keyboard.