Risk Attorney - Government Agency

NYCHA is seeking a Counsel with extensive experience in liability claim adjustment, ideally with prior experience with an insurance company in insurance coverage and torts.

In this critical risk management role, you will initially provide a comprehensive assessment of NYCHA’s insurance coverage and indemnification requirements for third parties and NYCHA’s litigation practices and strategies related to the same in order to maximize third party insurance and indemnity protections, with a special focus on mitigating liabilities associated with construction-related injuries.

Upon conclusion of that assessment, you will be a key part of the team responsible for implementing, enforcing and monitoring robust indemnification and insurance protocols and contract requirements to protect the Authority from these exposures.

Key Responsibilities

Comprehensive Claim Assessment:

• Claims Assessment & Risk Identification: Analyze NYCHA’s existing claims data to identify frequency and severity metrics and trends, further delineated by classes of contract (by scope and size) as well as specific contractor activities that present a high risk of generating claims against NYCHA.
• Contractual Best Practices: Establish and define best practices for contract requirements pertaining to high-risk work. This includes proposing minimum insurance coverage limits, permissible and impermissible policy exclusions, optimal indemnification provisions.
• Insurance: Review current insurance compliance review processes and recommend changes to improve third party compliance while maintaining low overhead and speed of processing.
• Third-Party Claim Management: Review current litigation management processes and practices and recommend changes to improve the claim tendering process.
• Stakeholder Review: Identify and collaborate with other stakeholders throughout NYCHA whose participation in these contractual, insurance and legal practices may be required to shape and execute an effective program.
• Workflow & Budgetary Impact: All recommendations must include a reasonable and realistic estimate of the workflow and budgetary implications including, without limitation, the anticipated impact on NYCHA costs and resources.
• Compliance & Internal Controls: Review and recommend rigorous internal controls and auditing mechanisms to ensure agency-wide compliance with all established insurance best practices, contract requirements, and vendor review protocols.
• Standard Procedure: Successful candidate shall include recommendations as to whether existing or newly proposed practices and processes should be formalized in a Standard Procedure or be otherwise formalized.
• Publishing and Review Cycle: The Comprehensive Claim Assessment shall be presented in a format approved by the Law and Risk Management Departments, with clear recommendations and critical paths to achieving those recommendations. The Comprehensive Claim Assessment shall be reviewed and updated on an annual basis, supported by updated metrics and amended to include new, and newly proposed practices and processes.
• Third Party Claim Implementation & Enforcement
• Based on the review and acceptance of recommendations issued during the course of the Comprehensive Claim Assessment, the staffer shall implement all accepted recommendations as directed by the relevant Department Director or alternately shall defer to the relevant Department Director to implement.
• Litigation & Claim Support: Investigates all third-party indemnity and insurance claims to obtain the operative and relevant contracts and required insurance policies and performs review of the same. Assists in drafting, issuing and tracking claim tender letters and responding to legal or insurance company correspondence related to the same. Recommends and monitors enforcement of noncompliance remedies.
• NYCHA Partner Policy Review: Supplementing the existing insurance compliance process, Successful candidate shall execute the recommended review of NYCHA Partner (Vendors and other Contract partners insurance policies.
• Management & Monitoring – Arising from the Comprehensive Claim Assessment, Staffer shall own any revision or update to the Standard Procedure (if applicable), shall monitor and manage all compliance, internal controls and auditing mechanisms, and shall be responsible for updating the Comprehensive Claims Assessment on an annual basis, supported by updated metrics and amended to include new, and newly proposed practices and processes.

Minimum Qualification Requirements

Admission to the New York State Bar; and four years of recent full-time responsible, relevant, satisfactory legal experience subsequent to admission to any bar, eighteen months of which must have been in the supervision of other attorneys, in an administrative, managerial or executive capacity, or performing highly complex and significant legal work.

Incumbents must remain Members of the New York State Bar in good standing for the duration of this employment.

Required Skills

• Substantial legal experience specializing in insurance coverage and tort law, with a strong understanding of New York Labor Law claims.
• Substantial insurance experience in liability claim adjustment with a focus on Property Management & Construction claims.
• Proven track record of drafting effective contractual insurance requirements and developing institutional risk-management protocols.
• Proven track record of performing analysis of third-party litigation, insurance claims, and insurance compliance processes.
• Proven track record of successfully performing all above referenced work at large and complex institutions or organizations, while considering the needs of myriad internal and external stakeholders.

To Apply

To apply for this assignment, please submit your cover letter and resume.

Pay: $130,000.00 - $150,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Loan forgiveness
• Paid time off
• Parental leave
• Vision insurance

Work Location: Hybrid remote in New York, NY 10007