Minimum Qualifications:

Juris Doctorate Degree required; supplemented by ten years of progressively responsible experience practicing law, to include five years lead or supervisory experience; or any equivalent combination of education, training, and experience which provides the requisite knowledge, skills, and abilities for this job.

Specific License or Certification Required: Must be registered as a member of the Georgia State Bar Association. Must possess and maintain a valid Georgia driver's license.

Specific Knowledge, Skills, or Abilities: Must be able to demonstrate proficiency in performance of the essential functions and learn, comprehend, and apply all county or departmental policies, practices, and procedures necessary to function effectively in the position.

Purpose of Classification:
The purpose of this classification is to ensure the highest level of legal representation to indigent clients who are charged with felony offenses in Fulton County Superior Court, by managing a team of attorneys, screening, interviewing and making hiring recommendations, and developing and implementing legal training programs for all attorneys in the Office of the Public Defender. The purpose of the classification is to also advocate for clients and the Office of the Public Defender by representing the office in inter-departmental meetings for the development of new and on-going court programs, and by meeting with the Appointing Authority to discuss, review and propose office policy with respect to those programs. This position also entails representing clients in special, complex, and/or high-profile cases as required.

Essential Functions:
The following duties are normal for this position. The omission of specific statements of the duties does not exclude them from the classification if the work is similar, related, or a logical assignment for this classification. Other duties may be required and assigned.

Supervises, directs, and evaluates assigned staff: develops and oversees employee work schedules to ensure adequate coverage and control; compiles and reviews timesheets; approves/processes employee concerns and problems and counsels or disciplines as appropriate; assists with or completes employee performance appraisals; directs work; acts as a liaison between employees and management; recruits and interviews candidates; makes selection recommendations; and trains staff in operations, policies, and procedures.

Organizes, prioritizes, and assigns work; prioritizes and schedules work activities in order to meet objectives; ensures that subordinates have the proper resources needed to complete the assigned work; monitors status of work in progress and inspects completed work; consults with assigned staff to assist with complex/problem situations and provide technical expertise; and provides progress and activity reports to management.

Meets with assigned attorneys to review files, provide strategic direction, assign duties and responsibilities, balance workloads; manages and advises assigned attorneys with respect to prioritizing and managing a large caseload, including establishing triage mechanisms and how to handle emergency matters; review motions, courts order and other legal documents; develops policies and standardized protocols for the investigation and defense of complex felony cases; establishes minimum expected investigation goals and educates lawyers on applicable law and procedure for each case.

Meets with Judges and their staff when necessary, to establish courtroom protocol and expectations with respect to criminal cases assigned in each courtroom; act as a liaison between the Judges and/or staff when required to resolve any issues that may arise with respect to assigned attorneys and/or office policy.

Communicates with witnesses, clients, and the general public when necessary to ensure that all parties are engaged in the process and to provides a layer of oversight to ensure that all of a client's constitutional rights are being protected, that a case is being zealously defended and to ensure that the Office will not be subject to litigation for allegations of "Ineffective Assistance of Counsel".

Develops and implements departmental training programs in order to have the best trained staff of lawyers in the County and the State with respect to representing clients charged with criminal offenses in Fulton County; ensures that every lawyer is trained on how to understand and implement the protections of the Constitutions of the United States and the State of Georgia, the laws of the State,and other relevant laws; trains lawyers to understand the policies and procedures of the Court; meets with senior and staff attorneys to assess what the needs are for each division of the office at any given time with the goal that every attorney is well versed in the law, up to date on changes in the law and how to practically implement the law on behalf of their clients; gears training to attorneys at all levels of experience; facilitates programs and brings in experts from the community in different fields, including mental health advocates, psychiatrists, immigration lawyers, government benefits lawyers and others who educate attorneys on the collateral consequences of criminal charges.

Recruits new legal interns by corresponding with Law schools throughout the country and by attending Law school job fairs and other law school programs; Communicate with Law school representatives to plan and establish the criteria which students must achieve during the internship period, where students are receiving academic credit; receives and reviews all applicant resumes; interviews and selects appropriate candidates; places selected interns in all divisions of the office; supervises and manages the students and their assigned lawyers to ensure adequate staffing levels and work assignments are being provided; provides documentation to the Law schools, The Georgia Supreme Court, The Fulton County Superior Court as necessary for students to get academic credit and/or certification to practice law pursuant to the "Third Year Practice" and "Recent Graduate" provisions of the Georgia law; provides documentation to the Offices of Bar Examiners across the country with respect to all legal interns who apply for membership in the Bar in any given State.

Reviews all applications for attorneys seeking permanent employment within the office; makes decisions on the best qualified applicants for the advertised position; selects senior or supervising attorneys from within the office to assist in an inteview of the prospective applicants; schedules and interview the best qualified applicants; makes hiring recommendations to the Appointing Authority.

Represents and serves as a liaison for the Office of the Public Defender in various meetings and with various agencies, officials, and the courts: facilitates or participates in special assignments and initiatives related to indigent defense; serves as a legislative liaison; accompanies and advises Director in policy meetings.

Additional Functions:

Performs other related duties as required.

Performance Aptitudes:

Data Utilization: Requires the ability to coordinate, manage, and/or correlate data. Includes exercising judgment in determining time, place and/or sequence of operations, referencing data analyses to determine necessity for revision of organizational components, and in the formulation of operational strategy.

Human Interaction: Requires the ability to function in a managerial capacity for a division or organizational unit; includes the ability to make decisions on procedural and technical levels.

Equipment, Machinery, Tools, and Materials Utilization: Requires the ability to operate, maneuver and/or control the actions of equipment, machinery, tools, and/or materials used in performing essential functions.

Verbal Aptitude: Requires the ability to utilize a wide variety of reference, descriptive, advisory and/or design data and information.

Mathematical Aptitude: Requires the ability to perform addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division; the ability to calculate decimals and percentages; the ability to utilize principles of fractions; and the ability to interpret graphs.

Functional Reasoning: Requires the ability to apply principles of influence systems, such as motivation, incentive, and leadership, and to exercise independent judgment to apply facts and principles for developing approaches and techniques to resolve problems.

Situational Reasoning: Requires the ability to exercise judgment, decisiveness and creativity in situations involving broader aspects of organizational programs and operations, moderately unstable situations, or the direction, control and planning of an entire program or set of programs.

It is the policy of Fulton County that there will be equal opportunity for every citizen, employee and applicant, based upon merit without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, genetics, disability or sexual orientation.