​Fair Employment and Housing Counsel Series

California State Personnel Board Specification

SALARY INFORMATION

Description of Series 

The classes in this series are used in the Department of Fair Employment and Housing and the Fair Employment and Housing Commission to provide a wide variety of specialized legal services in various program areas.

Incumbents in these classes may be responsible for preparing and litigating cases before boards, commissions, hearing officers, trial courts, or appellate courts; providing legal advice and opinions to management or members of the public on legal issues arising out of the programs of the Department; analyzing, proposing, and drafting legislation; preparing legal opinions; testifying before legislative committees; conducting hearings; doing legal research; and lead over lower level attorneys or other legal staff.

Entry into this class series requires membership in The State Bar of California. The class of Graduate Legal Assistant, which requires eligibility to take The California Bar examination, is also used to recruit those interested in pursuing legal careers in the State service.

Fair Employment and Housing Counsel

This is a recruitment and developmental class for persons qualified to practice law in the State of California. Incumbents assigned to Range A perform the least difficult professional legal work in the Department of Fair Employment and Housing and the Fair Employment and Housing Commission. Based upon the appropriate alternate range criteria, incumbents advance to Range B, C, and D and are assigned progressively more difficult professional legal work as their competence increases. Incumbents assigned to Range D are assigned the more complex and sensitive legal work in the Department or Commission; may serve in a lead capacity over lower level legal staff; and do other related legal work.

Senior Fair Employment and Housing Counsel (Supervisor)

Under general direction, to supervise the legal work of lower level attorneys in the Department or Commission, and in addition, may personally perform the most sensitive and complex legal work; provide policy and program direction to staff and advise the program administrator on various program legal matters. Incumbents in this class are experts in a broad or exceedingly complex area of discrimination law, labor relations law, housing and public accommodation law, or industrial relations law who plan, organize, and direct the work of a small staff of attorneys; evaluate the performance of subordinate staff and take or effectively recommend appropriate action; develop strategy and tact in handling the most complex legal issues in the Department or Commission; and do other related legal work.

Minimum Qualifications

All Levels

All candidates must have membership in The State Bar of California. Applicants who are not members of The California State Bar but who are eligible to take the California State Bar examination or are in their final year of law school will be admitted to the examination but will not be considered eligible for appointment until they are admitted to The State Bar.)

Special experience is defined as that experience in the practice of law* dealing with one or more of the following: discrimination law, labor relations law, housing and public accommodation law, or industrial relations law that will have provided a knowledge and understanding of the special problems and laws associated with securing protection of the law to persons in the labor market.

Fair Employment and Housing Counsel

Membership in the State Bar of California. (Applicants must have active membership in The State Bar of California before they will be eligible for appointment. Applicants who are not members of The State Bar of California but who are eligible to take The California State Bar examination will be admitted to the examination but will not be considered eligible for appointment until they are admitted to The State Bar.)

Senior Fair Employment and Housing Counsel (Specialist)

Six years of experience in the practice of law* of which four years includes the special experience defined above performing legal duties*. (Applicants who have completed five years and six months of the required experience will be admitted to the examination, but must complete six years of such experience before they will be eligible for appointment.)

* Experience in the "practice of law" or "performing legal duties" is defined as: (1) only that legal experience acquired after admission to any State Bar, or (2) experience as a judicial clerk for a federal court, California's state courts, or any other state's courts, or (3) legal experience acquired while practicing under a provisional license to practice law issued by the State Bar of California's Provisional Licensure Program, constitute experience in the practice of law. For an individual's judicial clerkship to qualify as experience in the practice of law or performing legal duties, the experience must have been gained after receipt of a Juris Doctor or equivalent degree.

Knowledge and Abilities

All Levels

Knowledge of: Legal principles and practice with particular reference to discrimination law, labor relations law, housing and public accommodation law, and industrial relations law; legal research methods, court procedures, and rules of evidence and procedure; administrative law and the conduct of proceedings before administrative bodies; legal terms and forms in common use; statutory and case law administered or enforced by and the purpose, organization, and procedures of the Department of Fair Employment and Housing and the Fair Employment and Housing Commission; and obligations of public officials and administrative boards and agencies.

Ability to: Analyze legal principles and precedents and to apply them to complex legal and administrative problems; perform and direct legal research; present statements of fact, law, and argument clearly and logically in written and oral form; interpret, analyze, and draft opinions, pleadings, rulings, regulations, and legislation; negotiate effectively; recognize the special legal problems of employee/employer relations and protective labor laws; effectively plan and engage in discovery, including depositions and interrogatories, and to compel production or attendance of/at same; independently prepare and present difficult and complex cases before boards, commissions, trial courts, and appellate courts; and organize and direct the work of clerical staff, professional assistants, and lower level attorneys.

A greater degree of these "Knowledge and Abilities" is required at each higher level.

Preferred or Desirable Qualifications

All employees shall have general qualifications as described by California Code of Regulations, title 2, section 172.  

Class History