Legal Officer at Umma University

Duties And Responsibilities

• Provide Legal Advice -Using oral or written platforms, will be expected to brief team of staff members on legal issues, potential liabilities and possible courses of actions. This involves translating complicated legal jargon into language which everyone can understand, as well as taking all possible legal problems into consideration before making any recommendations. All recommendations which the Legal Officer makes must be in complete compliance with the law, and must also strive to minimize risk for the institution.
• Process Documents -Will frequently need to write and review settlement documents, contracts, agreements and more. This task makes up of a significant portion of the day-to-day work and requires both focus and precision.
• Perform Research - To continuously research legal resources such as articles, codes, statutes, judicial decisions and more. Doing so will allow the Legal Officer to stay up to date on all current laws and make well-educated legal recommendations.
• Identify Risks- To regularly analyse the actions and decisions of the institution in order to identify problem areas, suggest alternative courses of action and mitigate risk as much as possible.
• Direct Staff- To direct all claim adjusters, liability attorneys and management. With proper leadership, the legal staff can proceed with clarity, efficiency and confidence and hopefully resolve the matter swiftly.

Other Specific Duties

• Review, advise on and draft contracts, agreements, institutional and operational modalities and other legal documents, as necessary, develop new legal modalities to meet unique needs / circumstances.
• Review investigation reports and provide legal opinion to the Vice-Chancellor on matters of conduct and discipline implementation or any breaches of the institution’s rules and regulations.
• Participate in negotiations and settlement of claims and disputes.
• Represent the institution in judicial, arbitral or administrative proceedings.
• Provide guidance to and may supervise, more junior staff on straight forward matters
• Any other activity deemed appropriate by the Council and Management

Qualifications

Education

• Advanced University Degree (Master’s or equivalent) in law with a specialization in administrative, commercial and /or criminal law required. A first level university degree in law with a relevant combination of academic qualifications and experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree. Must be an Advocate of the High Court and an active member of the Law Society of Kenya.

Work Experience

• At least 4 years of progressively responsible professional legal experience is required in the practice of law in a gov- ernment or a law firm with a substantial experience in administrative, commercial and / or criminal law matters.