The Rhode Island Office of the Attorney General is seeking a candidate for a Special Assistant Attorney General (SAAG) position within the Civil Division. The attorney in this position will be expected to work in the Government Litigation Bureau.

 

About the Office of the Attorney General: The Attorney General is the state’s top lawyer and law enforcement official, protecting and serving the people and interests of Rhode Island through a broad range of duties. Every day, the Office’s attorneys fight to ensure the public safety of the state’s communities, improve the economic security of its citizens, safeguard the state’s spectacular natural resources, and restore the public’s trust in government. Assistant and Special Assistant Attorneys General represent the people of Rhode Island in civil and criminal matters before trial courts, appellate courts, and the supreme courts of Rhode Island and the United States. The Office is unique among attorneys general offices across the country. Out of fifty states, only two other offices share the same broad criminal mission. The Office’s attorneys prosecute complex and violent crimes but also functionally serve as one of the nation’s largest district attorney’s offices, prosecuting all felonies throughout the state.

 

Civil Division: The Civil Division defends the State through its Government Litigation Bureau and brings litigation and other initiatives through the Public Protection Bureau. 

 

Within the Civil Division, the Government Litigation Bureau, leads litigation on behalf of the state, counsels the Attorney General and other government officials, and performs a range of regulatory duties. This also includes the Attorney General’s Open Government Unit which is responsible for helping to ensure government in Rhode Island is carried out in an open and transparent manner.  

 

The Public Protection Bureau, recently created within the Civil Division, is comprised of four units – Healthcare, Consumer and Economic Justice, Environmental and Energy, and Civil & Community Rights. Each of these units affirmatively develops legal work and initiatives by using the legal authority of the Office of Attorney General to advance and protect dignity, quality of life and equity for all Rhode Islanders. 

 

From identifying and pursuing landmark civil actions against businesses and individuals that have harmed Rhode Islanders to defending state laws, state agencies, state general officers, legislators, and employees, the Division and its attorneys are at the forefront of matters being litigated before trial courts, appellate courts, and the supreme courts of Rhode Island and the United States.

Duties and Opportunities: For this position, a SAAG in the Civil Division, working with colleagues and senior attorneys, will be responsible for case development, pre-trial litigation, negotiation, written and oral argument, regulatory and agency advising and trial work. The applicant will be expected to carry a full civil litigation caseload in the capacity as first and as second chair, and be expected to draft, file, and argue motions/legal memoranda, as well as litigate, in state and federal court on behalf of the state of Rhode Island, its agencies, and its officers or employees. Cases range from straightforward negligence claims to complex litigation and Constitutional claims. This position may also support the Attorney General’s Open Government Unit. 

 

Opportunities for Special Assistant Attorneys General in the Civil Division are offered to ensure professional growth and development. These opportunities include attending National Association of Attorney General trainings and conferences throughout the country, serving on state, local, federal, and/or non-profit boards, commissions, working groups, and/or task forces as a designee of the Attorney General, providing substantive expertise to legislative or policy initiatives, and supervising student interns as part of the Office’s legal internship program.

 

Eligibility: The successful applicant must have a law degree from an accredited law school and be an active member in good standing of the bar of any jurisdiction. If not a member of the Rhode Island Bar, the candidate must be eligible for admission to the Rhode Island bar and, if necessary, be willing to take the Rhode Island bar examination.