USA jobs: University Counsel

Requisition Number: 0110484
Job Title: University Counsel
Department : General Counsel - 853
Position Summary
Princeton University is a vibrant community of scholarship and learning, with the fourth largest endowment in the country (over $14 billion as of March 2010), and an annual operating budget in excess of $1.3 billion. Founded in 1746, Princeton is renowned for its tradition of educational excellence. It simultaneously strives to be the most outstanding undergraduate college and one of the leading research universities in the world. The Continental Congress met in the University's Nassau Hall, which served as the capitol of the United States for approximately five months in 1783, during which time, at a formal audience of Congress in Nassau Hall, General George Washington received the thanks of his countrymen for his conduct of the war.

A world class faculty, which includes recipients of the Nobel Prize in physics, literature, economics, and medicine, instructs Princeton's 5,000 undergraduate students and 2,500 graduate students. Living up to its unofficial motto \"In the Nation's Service and in the Service of All Nations,\" Princeton University has educated thousands of individuals who have dedicated their lives to public service, including two U.S. presidents (Woodrow Wilson and James Madison); hundreds of U.S. and state legislators (the House of Representatives, for example, has included a Princeton alumnus every year since it first met in 1789); and 44 governors. Three Princetonians currently sit on the United States Supreme Court.

Interdisciplinary work is vital to Princeton and is reflected in a full spectrum of academic programs, including such initiatives as the Lewis Center for the Arts, the Center for African American Studies, and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute. The Princeton University Library's holdings include more than 7 million books, 6 million microforms, 37,000 linear feet of manuscripts, and smaller but distinguished holdings of rare books, prints, archives, and other material that require special handling. The library budget for 2009-10 was approximately $47 million, which included more than $21 million for acquisitions.

As in public service, Princeton alumni have been leaders in all sectors of the nation's life. Among its prominent graduates are chief executive officers of pioneering new businesses as well as Fortune 100 companies, influential philanthropists, gifted authors and artists, distinguished scholars, and professionals who are preeminent in their fields.

As a world renowned research university, Princeton seeks to achieve the highest levels of distinction in the discovery and transmission of knowledge and understanding. Pushing the frontiers of knowledge and addressing real-world problems, Princeton scientists and scholars publish research across the spectrum of intellectual inquiry. The University received approximately $257 million in 2009-10 in research funding from external sources.

Through internationally focused research and teaching priorities, Princeton faculty collaborate with colleagues throughout the world to carry out important, cutting-edge research and scholarship. These efforts help to build a global-minded community at Princeton, while extending the University's strengths abroad. Princeton is committed to an international vision that is nimble, flexible and driven by academic endeavors.

The Position

The Office of the General Counsel (OGC) at Princeton University is seeking an exceptional commercial lawyer with broad-based transactional experience, for the position of University Counsel. This is the second of two open positions for which the OGC is currently accepting applications.
Essential Qualifications
The University Counsel will report to Princeton's General Counsel and will be responsible for supporting a variety of administrative and academic units at the University, primarily focused on contracts, acquisitions, institutional and organizational affiliations, leases, trademark licensing, and the other sundry \"doing business\" issues that arise in a diverse, sophisticated institution of higher education. As such, the University Counsel may expect to work with administrators in offices throughout the University, including Purchasing, University Services, Information Technology, Communications, Conference and Event Services, Housing and Real Estate Services, the Library, Risk Management, and academic departments.

The OGC prides itself on being a collaborative group of 21st century counselors, often serving as thought partners for our colleagues throughout the University. As such, the expectations of the office, and of its lawyers, are dynamic not static. A successful member of the OGC team at Princeton will crave variety, and uncertainty, with the expectation of periodic professional re-invention, comfortably being part of an office of generalists, each with previously existing or developed expertise in specific areas.

Specific responsibilities will include:

- Providing counsel and guidance on campus-wide transactional matters, including negotiating complex contracts and resolving contract disputes.

- Acting as the OGC's point person regarding institutional adherence to the University's Transaction Authority Policy.

- Advising campus colleagues and constituencies on policy matters and policy development stemming from issues arising in the course of contract negotiations.

- With the engagement of outside counsel, as appropriate, providing advice and support regarding the University's real property transactions, including acquisitions, divestitures, and leasing.

- Advising and supporting administrative offices which approve, enable and assist the vast array of student activities on campus.

- Providing advice and support to the Office of Trademark Licensing (OTL), as well as other units, on issues relating to the University's trademarks protection its licensing program, and overseeing outside counsel in these areas.

Requirements

Candidates for this position should have:

- Superb judgment.

- A commitment to higher education, an understanding of the legal issues faced by research universities, and a passion for learning.

- A lively, strong, incisive and agile intellect, with the curiosity to gain knowledge of new issues, and the confidence to bring fresh perspective and innovative advice to a situation when it is called for, while at the same time having the humility and common sense to recognize when it is not.

- Self-assurance, without self-importance.

- A minimum of four years of relevant experience, preferably including service in an in-house university environment or as outside counsel devoting substantial attention to university clients.

- A JD and top tier academic experience and credentials.

- Excellent communication and diplomacy skills, oral and written including superb listening and influencing skills. Excellent negotiation skills.

- A consummate team player who is solutions-oriented, with a demonstrated ability to build relationships.

- Versatility and natural curiosity.

- The ability to work independently and on project oriented teams with minimum supervision.

- A sense of urgency and responsiveness when dealing with clients, and an ability to handle multiple tasks focused on University objectives in a timely manner.

- Commitment to the highest ethical and professional standards; personal and professional integrity above reproach.
Preferred Qualifications
- Current admission to a state Bar, and (for candidates who are not yet admitted to the New Jersey Bar) a commitment to obtaining prompt admission to the New Jersey Bar, while in the interim holding New Jersey In-House Counsel Licensure pursuant to R. 1:27-2.

- An inclination to smile and laugh, including at one's self.

Legal Department

The OGC is organized philosophically and practically as a collaborative undertaking, recognizing that each member of the office has made a deliberate and informed professional and personal choice to be a higher education attorney, and that there is an obligation on the General Counsel's part to structure the office, allocate responsibility and encourage an environment which allows the OGC's attorneys to say to themselves, \"This is a great place to be a lawyer!\"

While the OGC does not offer the financial rewards of major firm partnership or of a for-profit in-house environment, it does enable and encourage its University Counsel to be, and be seen as, significant colleagues in sundry corners, and at all levels, of the University, and to embrace the shared passion and satisfaction of the institution's efforts to achieve the highest levels of excellence in the discovery and transmission of knowledge and understanding.

Each of the office's attorneys serves a varied University constituency and maintains a generalist practice, with expertise in specific areas. While regularly engaging outside counsel, the desire and presumption is that a University Counsel will \"be\" a lawyer, not a conduit. Thus, before contacting external counsel, the University Counsel will first ask himself or herself, \"Can I, or one of my OGC colleagues, do this?\"

When fully-staffed, the OGC has seven attorneys: the General Counsel, five other \"permanent\" attorneys, and an additional lawyer who serves in a two year term (non-renewable) higher education legal internship position maintained within the OGC on an on-going basis. Recently, two members of the office have left to assume exciting positions: one joining a pre-eminent, national non-profit as its general counsel, and the other moving into a senior administrative role at Princeton in support of its undergraduate teaching mission.

Compensation
The University will offer a competitive salary and benefits comparable to peer universities, supplemented by outstanding housing and education/children's tuition programs. A relocation package is available for a candidate from outside the Princeton area.

Application Process
Princeton University has retained Princeton Legal Search Group on an exclusive basis to lead the search for a University Counsel. Qualified candidates should submit their resume online to Princeton University and should send a copy of their resume via email to David S. Garber, Esq., Princeton Legal Search Group at dgarber@princetonlegal.com

The final candidate will be required to successfully pass a background check.
Directory Title
University Counsel
Job Function
Administrative or Professional
Grade
ADM 100
Standard Hours
Not Applicable
Full-time/Part-time
Full Time
Actual Hours per Week, if casual hourly

Pay Rate, if Casual Hourly

Work Schedule, if other than standard hours

Eligible for Overtime
No
Benefits Eligible
Yes
Union Code
Not Applicable
Education Required
Other-see essential qualifications
Application Deadline
Open Until Filled or See Position Summary.
Instructions for Applying
Complete the online application and click \"Apply to this Posting\" at the top of the posting details page.
Documents which can be associated with this posting
Resume/CV
Cover Letter
Proposed Start Date


TO APPLY go to:

https://jobs.princeton.edu/applicants/jsp/shared/Welcome_css.jsp

and look for Requisition Number=0110484