Staff Attorney (New York Statewide)

Position: Staff Attorney

Department: Racial Justice Center

Terms of Employment: Regular Full-Time/Exempt/ Local 2320 Union (NYCLU staff is currently working in a Hybrid model; a minimum of two days in-office each week, in addition to other in-person work requirements such as legislative visits, community events, and court appearances).

Location (s): 55 Broadway, New York, NY 10006 / New York Statewide

Salary: $92,000- $111,000 (Current starting salary for a lawyer with 2 years of experience is $92,000; for 6 years, $111,000; in accordance with Attorney Pay Scale).

Application Deadline: Applications will be considered until the position is filled.

The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) is one of the nation's leading advocates on behalf of constitutional rights and liberties. Founded in 1951, as the New York affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, the NYCLU is a not-for-profit, nonpartisan organization with more than 90,000 members and supporters, and eight offices statewide. We work in the courts, in the legislatures and on the streets to advocate for racial and economic justice, free speech, freedom of religion, privacy and equality before the law for all New Yorkers. For more information, please visit our website: .

Racial Justice Center (RJC) was established in 2023 to expand and deepen the NYCLU's racial justice portfolio. The NYCLU Racial Justice Center is in deep collaboration with the NYCLU departments and centers with all of the NYCLU priorities. The RJC also leads its own advocacy, legislation, and litigation docket. Primarily focuses on environmental justice, Indigenous rights, and restorative efforts.

DEI VISION STATEMENT

The NYCLU is committed to building an equitable, inclusive, and anti-racist workplace that centers the voices of marginalized and directly impacted communities. This commitment strengthens our mission to protect civil liberties and advance justice across New York. We welcome candidates of all backgrounds to apply, including people of color, women, LGBTQ+ individuals, people with disabilities, formerly incarcerated people, and others whose experiences reflect the diversity of the communities we serve.

SUMMARY DESCRIPTION

The NYCLU seeks an experienced, innovative, and dynamic racial justice legal expert who thrives in a collaborative, fast-paced organization. The candidate should have the ability to skillfully implement and/or support the NYCLU’s interdepartmental approach to racial justice and broad docket of civil rights and civil liberties issues. This position will play a key role in executing the NYCLU’s Racial Justice Center’s strategic priorities.

The staff attorney will have a particular focus on the intersectionality of racial justice with NYCLU priority areas, such as environmental racism and its impacts on school-aged children, Indigenous rights, and restorative justice matters including racial disparities in education. The staff attorney will utilize a range of strategies to advance racial justice in New York State, including legal research, identifying legislative priorities and threats, joining, and seeking new litigation, and civic engagement, including submitting public comments, testifying at hearings, Know Your Rights education, movement lawyering, coalition development, and strategic communications.

This position is situated in NYCLU’s Racial Justice Center and directly reports to the Racial Justice Center Director.

ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES

• Community-centered legal advocacy that allows those impacted to meaningfully participate in solution driven campaigns.
• Independently review state and local legislation and engage in related legislative advocacy and lobbying in connection with the Racial Justice Center strategic priorities.
• Engaging in pre-litigation analysis including evaluating and following up on intakes; conducting factual investigations and legal analyses; utilizing the Freedom of Information Law; and drafting demand letters.
• Work in close collaboration with the NYCLU’s legal department on developing RJC litigation strategies to promote and expand racial justice litigation priorities including close collaboration with the legal department in developing claims, preparing pleadings and briefs, conducting discovery and depositions, handle hearings and trials, and argue motions and appeals.
• Developing and conducting litigation in federal and state courts and in administrative forums. All NYCLU attorneys are responsible for identifying possible litigation and advocacy, preparing pleadings, motions, and briefs; conducting discovery; presenting oral arguments; and handling all aspects of appeals.
• Develop strong relationships with civil rights advocacy organizations and represent the NYCLU in multi-organization coalitions and working groups.
• Prepares and delivers testimony at public hearings and drafting public comments.
• In collaboration with NYCLU communications staff, provide expert commentary to the media, participate in media briefings, and contribute to op-eds, blog posts, and other publications.
• Work closely with staff across the NYCLU—including the Education Policy Center, Legal, Policy, and Field Departments, and our Regional Offices—to ensure that the NYCLU has an integrated approach to furthering the RJC’s mission and broadening the scope of the RJC issue areas.

QUALIFICATIONS

• At least 3-5 years of relevant experience.
• Must be licensed to practice in New York State.
• Experience with litigation, drafting and amending legislation and legislative advocacy, community engagement, and leading legal priorities.
• Preferred experience working on racial justice issues, such as environmental racism, infrastructure equity, land-use laws, restorative principles such as reparations, education equity, and Indigenous rights.
• Significant experience working in policy, legal, or government settings; high familiarity with public and legislative policy, and legal procedures.
• Demonstrated ability to work successfully with organizations representing communities of color, including Black, Latine, AMEMSA, AAPI, and Indigenous communities and/or Tribes.
• Ability to work independently as well as within a team.
• Excellent interpersonal, relationship-building, and communication skills.
• Excellent research, writing, analytical, and communication skills.
• Ability to communicate complex legal and policy issues to government decision makers and the general public.
• Ability to work and communicate quickly and accurately, managing multiple projects and deliverables under pressure.
• Meaningfully commits to and supports the NYCLU’s internal and external commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Must be willing to travel throughout New York State.

HOW TO APPLY

If you would like to be considered for this position, please submit via as a single PDF document (1) a cover letter explaining your interest in the position and describing your qualifications, (2) an up-to-date resume, and (3) a writing sample of your choosing, not to exceed five (5) pages.

We strongly prefer writing samples that are recent and entirely or largely your own work. A wide variety of writing samples may be submitted, such as legal briefings or memo’s, pleadings, exert form legal research, public comments, advocacy letters, creative writing.

The NYCLU is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from all qualified individuals regardless of race, sex, gender identity or expression, age, disability, religion, national origin, citizenship, marital status , sexual orientation, veteran status, record of arrest or conviction or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We are committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and having a workforce that reflects the communities that we serve.

The NYCLU is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If you are a qualified individual with a disability and need assistance applying online, please e-mail [email protected]. If you are selected for an interview, you will receive additional information regarding how to request accommodation for the interview process.

This position may be eligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program.