We welcome qualified applicants of all backgrounds and believe a diverse team leads to the best outcomes. We invite you to explore our website to learn more about our Office and team members, our work, and our many practice areas.
Current openings
Health and Hospitals Team
We are seeking a talented, highly motivated attorney to join our Health and Hospitals Team, which provides legal advice to the County’s health care delivery system. This Team counsels Santa Clara Valley Medical Center (SCVMC), a 731-bed acute care hospital and Level 1 trauma center and 50-bed psychiatric hospital; O’Connor Hospital, a 358-bed acute care hospital; Saint Louise Regional Hospital, a 95-bed acute care hospital; and a network of health centers and urgent care clinics across Santa Clara County. Additionally, the County is in the process of integrating Regional Medical Center into its health system. Attorneys also serve as legal counsel to the Behavioral Health Services Department; the Public Health Department; the Custody Health Services Department; the Emergency Medical Services Agency; and Valley Health Plan, the County’s Knox Keene-licensed, publicly-sponsored health plan.
The ideal candidate will have a range of experience furnishing general advice and counsel to large health care providers and/or plans. Desirable skillsets include, but are not limited to, health care contracting; regulatory compliance, including with regard to state and federal claims, billing, consent and data privacy, finance and cost reporting, pharmacy, and/or Federally Qualified Health Center requirements; experience advising hospital and clinic quality and risk departments, including on responses to federal and state survey activities; and payor-side managed care experience, including with complex delegation agreements and provider dispute/grievance resolution. Familiarity with California’s health care regulatory landscape, including requirements set forth by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), the Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC), and the Department of Healthcare Access and Information (HCAI), would be an asset.
Labor and Employment Team
We are seeking an attorney to assist our Office in advising County departments regarding a wide array of labor and employment matters, including hiring, training, and disciplining employees; reasonably accommodating employees and complying with employee-leave laws and policies; negotiating and finalizing labor contracts; drafting personnel policies; and complying with the County’s Merit System Rules and state and federal labor, employment, and equal opportunity laws. Team attorneys also represent the County before the Santa Clara County Personnel Board, arbitrators, the Public Employment Relations Board, and other state and federal administrative agencies. We are particularly interested in candidates with experience with labor union negotiations, collective bargaining, and other facets of California labor law.
Civil Rights, Tort, and Employment Litigation Team
We are seeking an experienced employment litigator for our Civil Rights, Tort, and Employment Litigation Team. This Team defends the County in lawsuits filed against not only the County, but also its officials, and/or its employees. In addition to employment cases, the Team’s docket includes a wide variety of other subject matter areas, including tort, civil rights, medical malpractice, and dangerous condition of public property actions to name a few. Our litigators handle all phases of litigation in state and federal trial and appellate courts. Additionally, our litigators represent all County departments and have developed expertise in the work of each department to provide advice and training on risk management issues to improve policies, practices, and to minimize legal exposure to the County. We are interested in candidates who would like to work in a collaborative and dynamic public-sector litigation practice, have experience in employment litigation, and five (5) or more years of litigation practice. Experience in the other specific types of cases described above is desirable, but not required.
Finance, Government Operations, and Technology Team
We are seeking attorneys to join our Finance, Government Operations, and Technology Team, which provides essential legal advice to the Board of Supervisors, County Executive, Assessor, Clerk of the Board, Facilities and Fleet Department, Finance Agency, County Library, Procurement Department, Registrar of Voters, Technology Services and Solutions Department, Privacy Office, and Information Security Office to fulfill the public service mission of the County. The Team’s practice is grounded in honing expertise in public law, including the Brown Act and the Public Records Act. Attorneys also practice in specialized areas including public contracting, finance, property taxation, public works, and technology, data security, and privacy. The Team’s attorneys research and analyze many areas of law, craft ordinances and policies, negotiate contracts, comment on legislation, and help solve challenging problems for the County departments and officials they advise. Team members also participate in highly significant litigation related to property taxation and election-related matters. We are particularly interested in candidates with experience in property tax and assessment appeals; public finance; and contracting.
Public Safety and Justice Team
We are seeking attorneys to join our Public Safety and Justice Team, which provides legal advice to the departments and agencies that make up the County’s criminal justice and emergency response systems including the Probation Department, Office of Pretrial Services, Office of Diversion and Reentry Services, Office of Emergency Management, Sheriff’s Office, District Attorney’s Office, and Public Defender’s Office. Public Safety and Justice attorneys assist these agencies in addressing a wide array of legal issues related to law enforcement, criminal adjudication, juvenile justice, probation, reentry services, 911 services, disaster preparedness and response, and related services. In advising the County’s public safety departments and agencies, our attorneys research and analyze many areas of law, craft policies, draft and negotiate contracts, facilitate the release of records to the public, comment on legislation, contribute to significant reform efforts, and assist the departments they advise in addressing significant and challenging issues. We are particularly interested in candidates with an aptitude for an interesting and fast-paced assignment presenting a variety of both transactional matters and contested court matters such as writ and motion hearings.
Child and Family Protection Team
We are seeking an attorney to join our Child and Family Protection Team, which provides legal advice and in-court representation to the County of Santa Clara’s Department of Family and Children's Services (DFCS) in juvenile dependency matters, which is a part of the broader Social Services Agency. This attorney will assist our Office in representing and advising DFCS in juvenile dependency proceedings. Our court-facing practice engages attorneys in regularly handling uncontested juvenile court hearings, bench trials, and appellate litigation. This Team also counsels DFCS in a wide range of child welfare and juvenile dependency related issues, including, but not limited to, child welfare emergency response and dependency investigations, juvenile dependency court case requirements, compliance with the Indian Child Welfare Act, Child Abuse Central Index grievances, and juvenile case record confidentiality questions. This Team supports the Department by providing legal advice, and also provides trainings to DFCS staff for these areas and related ones, such as paternity, court report writing, and educational rights. An ideal candidate will have experience appearing in court and in the following areas: juvenile dependency law and litigation, including appellate matters; advising social workers and DFCS-type representatives regarding a variety of child welfare-related issues, including dependency investigations, child abuse hotline issues, emergency response investigations, administrative grievance hearings or similar issues; and performing ancillary legal duties as assigned.
