Legal Counsel

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Job Type:

Employee

Duration in Months (for fixed-term jobs):

N/A

Job Family:

legal

# of Open Positions:

1

Faculty/Service – Department:

Legal Services

Campus:

Main Campus

Union Affiliation:

N/A

Date Posted (YYYY/MM/DD):

2025/09/19

Applications must be received BEFORE (YYYY/MM/DD):

2025/09/30

Hours per week:

35

Salary Grade:

Non-Union Grade NM3

Salary Range:

$129,272.00 – $161,590.00

position Purpose

Representing the University in litigation before courts and tribunals and providing legal advice and opinion on a wide variety of matters such as human rights law, administrative law associated with academic appeals, judicial reviews of University decisions and in other litigation or matters; other areas of practice include reviewing and drafting of a variety of types of agreements involving the University.

General accountabilities

• Negotiates, drafts, reviews legal documents, such as pleadings, court or tribunal documents, agreements, settlements and other legal instruments.
• Drafts, reviews and provides legal advice on University policies and procedures.
• Conducts legal research and provides legal advice and opinion.
• Remains current on legislation and legislative changes affecting the University and on developments at common law and provides legal advice on appropriate operational, compliance and/or policy responses.
• Manages outside counsel retained by the University or by the University’s insurer, as required.
• Establishes and prioritizes goals and objectives in connection with the primary areas of practice of this position and general responsibilities.
• Assists with the development of training on legal aspects for University staff.
• Handles other related duties as assigned.

Knowledge, experience and Skills

• LL.B or J.D. and member in good standing of the Law Society of Ontario
• Minimum 10 years of practicing law, including at least 8 years’ prior experience in the primary areas of practice identified above
• Knowledge and experience across a variety of areas of the law affecting the University, for example, intellectual property law, contract law, and administrative law.
• Strong oral and written communication skills in both English and French
• Ability to handle complex legal issues with no significant professional guidance or supervision
• Superior analyst, negotiator and presenter of legal points
• Excellent judgment, clear and critical thinking, superior writing and reasoning skills, persuasiveness, the ability to command respect, and unquestioned integrity and discretion.
• Strong planning skills and a positive, approachable can-do attitude with problem-solving skills
• Ability to quickly learn a variety of areas of the law and provide reliable legal advice and opinion
• Ability to work under pressure and meet tight deadlines
• Skilled at interpersonal relations, particularly the ability to forge consensus out of divergent views of many different University constituents without losing their trust and confidence and the temperament .to work with a wide variety of personalities
• Ability to manage time effectively, which in turn supports the ability to handle many matters simultaneously
• Confidence without arrogance and the ability to react calmly in a crisis
• Professional and thoughtful demeanor, including objectivity and detachment when needed

Key Competencies at uOttawa:

Here are the required competencies for all or our employees at uOttawa:

Planning: Organize in time a series of actions or events in order to realize an objective or a project. Plan and organize own work and priorities in regular daily activities.

Initiative: Demonstrate creativity and initiative to suggest improvements and encourage positive results. Is proactive and self-starting. Show availability and willingness to go above and beyond whenever it is possible.

Client Service Orientation: Help or serve others to meet their needs. This implies anticipating and identifying the needs of internal and external clients and finding solutions on how to meet them.

Teamwork and Cooperation: Cooperate and work well with other members of the team to reach common goal(s). Accept and give constructive feedback. Able to adjust own behaviour to reach the goals of the team.

The University of Ottawa embraces diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We are passionate about our people and committed to employment equity. We foster a culture of respect, teamwork and inclusion, where collaboration, innovation, and creativity fuel our quest for research and teaching excellence. While all qualified persons are invited to apply, we welcome applications from qualified Indigenous persons, racialized persons, persons with disabilities, women and LGBTQIA2S+ persons. The University is committed to creating and maintaining an accessible, barrier-free work environment. The University is also committed to working with applicants with disabilities requesting accommodation during the recruitment, assessment and selection processes. Applicants with disabilities may contact hrtalentmanagement@uottawa.ca to communicate the accommodation need. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.

Note: if this is a union position: The hiring process will be governed by the current collective agreement related to the union affiliation noted above; you can click here to find out more.

If this is a front-line position with responsibilities to interact with students, selected candidates must be rated at the Low Advanced proficiency level or higher for both oral comprehension and reading comprehension in their second official language. The rating is determined by a proficiency test designed by the Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute.

Prior to May 1, 2022, the University required all students, faculty, staff, and visitors (including contractors) to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as defined in Policy 129 – Covid-19 Vaccination. This policy was suspended effective May 1, 2022 but may be reinstated at any point in the future depending on public health guidelines and the recommendations of experts.

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