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Strategies for recruiting and rebuilding the Law Department

0:56:31

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3 min

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Council Member Powers inquires about strategies to recruit talent and rebuild the Law Department's workforce. Muriel Goode-Trufant outlines several approaches to attract and retain legal professionals.

Competitive attorney salaries have been implemented to match other public employers.
The department offers remote work options to improve quality of life for employees.
Partnerships with area law schools provide clinics and opportunities for students to experience the department's work.
Active participation in bar associations and offering CLE credits helps showcase the department to potential recruits.

Keith Powers

0:56:31

Thank you.

0:56:33

I want to go back to some questions that, councilor wrestler touched upon, which is recruiting and rebuilding the agency.

0:56:39

It's something that came up in the last hearing as well, which is how to recruit, the best individuals to come serve for the city and the law department and, of course, also rebuilding the the ranks to get up to the to the headcount necessary to do the work, and that, of course, affects us in the city council and affects the taxpayers.

0:56:57

Can you talk about a little bit your strategy to be employed or ways you might help recruit people to come work for the little city of New York?

0:57:05

There's obviously lots of competition out there for folks who who, have a a law background, a law degree.

0:57:13

How do we how do we recruit the best talent to come serve for the city?

0:57:17

What what what what are ways that you might, employ?

0:57:23

What tax you employ to help bring those people into the ranks of public service?

0:57:27

And how would how can we, you know, rebuild that number from, I think, 765 up to closer to the 900 or 800 of of people working in your department?

Muriel Goode-Trufant

0:57:39

Certain of the work, was, wonderfully done by judge Heinz Radix.

0:57:46

She, made certain that our attorney salaries are now competitive with other public employers.

0:57:54

At at one point, during the pandemic, we lagged behind, even our, colleagues at the district attorney's offices.

0:58:04

So in such a situation, it was difficult, to recruit, judge Heinz Radix, made certain that that got corrected.

0:58:14

Additionally, as with, other, managerial titles throughout the city, employees of the law department can, elect to do some remote work that is also aided, in recruiting and providing, a quality of life.

0:58:35

Beyond that, there are various other things that that we have done.

0:58:39

We partner with area law schools, to, provide clinics where students can come in and see and appreciate what they what we do.

0:58:49

Sometimes, people don't apply because they don't know, all of the fun that we have at the law department.

0:59:00

But once we acquaint them with the types of work that we do and the range of matters that we have, there are people who who are are drawn to us and, the opportunities we have with the various law schools and I think we have partnerships with, virtually every law school in the area has provided a pathway, a a feeder, into the law department.

0:59:27

We are also active in various bar associations.

0:59:33

We are an accredited CLE provider.

0:59:36

And so, there are a range of opportunities that, we give for people to see us, to see what we do, and to, learn more about our work so that they might be tempted to join us.

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Goode-Trufant's outside appointments and COIB clearance

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Law Department's budget and staffing adequacy