Legal Counsel

Legal Counsel – University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences

The mission of the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences is the development of professional health care practitioners through innovation, individualized, and quality classroom, clinical, and distance education.

The Legal Counsel for the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences (USAHS) serves as an internal subject‑matter expert in higher education law, providing strategic legal guidance and support to the institution. The role requires experience advising on a wide range of issues, including student and faculty affairs, regulatory compliance, higher education legislation, legal claims management, and governance. The goal is to ensure consistent, high‑quality, and timely legal advice for USAHS stakeholders.

The Legal Counsel will collaborate with both internal and external counsel, as needed. This position will be based on the Austin, Texas campus.

• Provide timely, consistent, sound, and practical legal advice, counseling, training, and documentation on a wide range of academic and operational matters, in collaboration with legal department staff, in a fast‑paced, complex higher education environment.
• Provide day‑to‑day legal guidance on a broad spectrum of issues, including contracts, general employee and student matters, policies, and other legal concerns.

• Manage and maintain legal records, ensuring accuracy and compliance with retention policies, and coordinate timely responses to subpoenas and document requests.
• Assist with gathering materials and records required for litigation or claims management of employee and student matters.
• Demonstrate knowledge of university governance requirements and provide support, as needed.
• Assist with the review of university policies, procedures, employee/student/faculty/clinical handbooks, and other institutional documents.
• Coordinate closely with parent entity and university general counsel to ensure review of required corporate filings in compliance with local and federal requirements.

• Negotiate, draft, and review contracts of varying sizes and complexity.
• Review and advise on MOUs, vendor agreements, and partnerships to mitigate risk.
• In coordination with Human Resources, provide annual review of employment agreements to include confidentiality, standardized patients, outside employment disclosures, reimbursement agreements tied to immigration and relocation, etc.
• Review and provide guidance on clinical affiliation agreements to identify potential risks and recommend appropriate revisions.
• Review and approve all Independent Consulting Agreements (ICAs) to ensure appropriate classification and compliance with federal and state requirements.

• Serve as a member of the Campus Response and Readiness Teams; in coordination with University General Counsel; will specifically support activities for assigned campuses.
• Assist with campus safety requirements and initiatives across all campuses and locations.
• Provide guidance and input on safety and security related policies, procedures and training programs as necessary.

• In partnership with Human Resources and department management, support training and education efforts for the campus community on key legal and compliance issues (e.g., Title IX, FERPA, employment law, HIPAA, Workplace Violence, etc.).

• Provide support to University General Counsel, as needed, on matters related to employment and immigration matters, policy review and creation.
• Contribute to resolution of issues related to employee, faculty and student conduct, accommodations, discipline, and complaints.

• Reports to:
  
  University General Counsel
• Positions Supervised:
  Not applicable

• Strong client counseling skills, from both the legal and business perspectives, with the ability to differentiate between the two.
• High degree of professionalism and ability to work independently and as a part of the legal team.
• Exceptional verbal and…