Attorney - civil

The Legal Aid Society’s Civil Practice is seeking an experienced and talented lawyer with a deep commitment to public interest leadership, practice, and policy. This Attorney-in-Charge of Civil Citywide Units will join a dedicated team of staff across all five boroughs who are representing NYC residents across a broad spectrum of specialties through our Economic Equities Project (Community Development Unit, Consumer Law Unit, Predatory Lending and Foreclosure Project, and Tax Law Unit), Education Law Practice, Employment Law Unit, Government Benefits & Disability Advocacy Project, Family Law/DV Unit, and Health Law Unit.

The Attorney-in-Charge will provide coordination and support to these units and supervise the Directors of these units. The Attorney-in-Charge of Civil Citywide Units reports to the Attorney-in-Charge of the Civil Practice. They will be responsible for the smooth and effective running of the Citywide Units, oversight of the grants supporting these units, and providing legal and organizational leadership. This role also includes participation in Practice-wide management discussions and decision-making, and maintaining relationships with stakeholders in the legal, courts, and service communities, as well as with funders.

Essential Duties/Responsibilities

Legal Strategy & Oversight

• Coordinate with Law Reform Unit in the development of impact and/or affirmative litigation
• Coordinate with Law Reform Unit in the development of advocacy strategies
• Analyze legal issues, develop legal strategy, and supervise the implementation of legal strategies
• Provide oversight of pro bono initiatives

Program & Grant Management

• Assist with the fundraising for and development, implementation and reporting of programs
• Provide oversight on all grant reporting from Citywide Units
• Assist with planning and conducting citywide and statewide coalition meetings and task forces

Community Engagement

• Develop and maintain community support and relationships with community-based organizations, advocates, government agencies, elected officials and the courts
• Represent the Civil Practice and The Legal Aid Society in the community

Team Development and Supervision

• Lead organizational and culture development for the unit
• Supervise and mentor Directors and provide support to staff across the Citywide units
• Monitor and maintain a high standard of representation and client service
• Respond to client, community and staff concerns
• Evaluate needs and identify necessary resources to address the needs of the Citywide units
• Identify, delegate, and document work responsibilities, roles, and procedures to meet the mission of the department
• Schedule employee hours, assign work, approve time off and remote work schedule requests following the guidance of LAS policy and procedures
• Attend management meetings, participate in management trainings, and utilize current employment policies, practices and guidance as provided by management and Human Resources
• Implement management and supervision practices that affirmatively support equity and inclusion in the workplace
• Supervise direct reports in setting performance standards, provide routine feedback as well as coaching/counseling, and issue disciplinary action as needed
• Identify and provide training and development opportunities and ensure mandatory trainings are completed
• Resolve employee conflict, complaints, and address union concerns, with guidance from Human Resources

Professional Development And Other Duties As Assigned

• Participate in continuous professional development
• Continuously learn about forms of bias in the workplace and demonstrate affirmative behaviors that support an inclusive work environment
• Other duties as assigned

Qualifications

Required qualifications:

• Admission to NYS Bar
• 10+ years of legal work experience, at least 5 of which involved supervising and mentoring attorneys
• Capable of working in many different forums
• Demonstrated commitment to and experience in public interest law and civil legal services
• Demonstrated commitment to policy advocacy and administrative reform
• Demonstrated commitment to addressing fundamental issues of poverty and justice within a comprehensive civil legal services model of representation.
• Commitment to exploring alternative approaches for legal practice
• Ability to work in and value a collaborative team model

Preferred qualifications:

• Minimum of 7 years of legal practice with a specialization in one or more of the subject practice areas preferred
• Excellent litigation skills and experience litigating individual and group cases
• Grant-reporting and fundraising experience preferred

Knowledge, Skills And Abilities

• Knowledge in various practice areas within civil legal services practice
• Excellent oral and written advocacy skills
• Ability to provide meaningful performance feedback for professional development including having difficult conversations and resolving sensitive employee issues
• Interpersonal and communication skills that enable healthy and productive working relationships
• Ability to perform duties with the highest regard for confidentiality, integrity, and respect

Physical, environment, travel, and other duties required:

• Mostly sedentary, significant time using a computer and monitor; communicating and meeting using video
• Will require travel within NYC, across the five-borough region

Salary And Benefits  

The salary range represents a good faith estimate of the range we expect to pay for this role. The actual salary offered may vary depending on many factors, including but not limited to job-related knowledge, skills, and experience, as well as collectively bargained salary steps for unionized roles.  

Salary Range: $182,000

The Legal Aid Society offers a generous benefits package including health insurance, paid vacation, disability, and life insurance, and more. Click here to read more about benefits.

Higher Education and Loan Forgiveness

The Legal Aid Society is a qualified employer for the purposes of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness. This position allows an employee to take advantage of PSLF and other State and Federal loan forgiveness programs. Additionally, employees who are New York residents may be eligible for assistance from New York state to assist with loan repayments, depending on years of practice. To learn more, click the links below.   

studentaid.gov

hesc.ny.gov/loan-forgiveness-programs

WORK AUTHORIZATION

All applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States for any employer without sponsorship for a work visa or permit. We are currently unable to sponsor employment visas or permits. (However, for citizens of Canada and Mexico, LAS will provide a letter documenting employment status that is needed to obtain a TN visa.)  

How To Apply  

All applications must be completed online via the career portal. We do not accept emailed applications. Submit the following documents as a combined PDF:  

• Cover Letter  
• Resume   
• Writing Sample

For technical difficulties or questions regarding this posting, please email [email protected].  

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

As an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Employer, The Legal Aid Society prohibits discriminatory employment actions against and treatment of its employees and applicants for employment based on actual or perceived race or color, size (including bone structure, body size, height, shape, and weight), religion or creed, alienage or citizenship status, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity (one’s internal deeply-held sense of one’s gender which may be the same or different from one’s sex assigned at birth); gender expression (the representation of gender as expressed through, for example, one’s name, choice of pronouns, clothing, haircut, behavior, voice, or body characteristics; gender expression may not conform to traditional gender-based stereotypes assigned to specific gender identities), disability, marital status, relationship and family structure (including domestic partnerships, polyamorous families and individuals, chosen family, platonic co-parents, and multigenerational families), genetic information or predisposing genetic characteristics, military status, domestic violence victim status, arrest or pre-employment conviction record, credit history, unemployment status, caregiver status, salary history, or any other characteristic protected by law.  

OUR COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION

The Legal Aid Society is committed to a work culture of zealous advocacy, respect, diversity and inclusion, client-oriented defense, access to justice and excellent representation. We are dedicated to building a strong professional relationship with each of our clients (people), to understanding their diverse circumstances, and to meeting their needs. Our ability to achieve these goals depends on the efforts of all of us and our ability to build strong relationships with our colleagues. Every member of our community is expected to continuously learn about the dynamic, evolving, and emerging field of knowledge of identity, bias, and systemic forms of oppression and participate in productive efforts to dismantling bias in all forms.

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Salary And Benefits

The leadership of The Legal Aid Society believes in attracting and retaining exceptional talent committed to serving our clients. We offer a generous benefits package including health insurance, paid vacation, disability, and life insurance, and more. Salaries for our unionized jobs are governed by our Collective Bargaining Agreement. Please visit our Careers page for additional information. Salary and benefits information will be available to applicants, when and if, an offer is made.

OUR COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION

The leadership of The Legal Aid Society is committed to a work culture of zealous advocacy, respect, diversity and inclusion, client-oriented defense, access to justice and excellent representation. We are dedicated to building a strong professional relationship with each of our clients, to understanding their diverse circumstances, and to meeting their needs. Our ability to achieve these goals depends on the efforts of all of us.

COVID VACCINATION INFORMATION

The Legal Aid Society is taking precautions and implementing safety measures to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and to comply with New York City's requirements concerning Covid-19. All members of the Legal Aid community have a shared responsibility to support and comply with policies and protocols to protect the health and safety of our community. Learn more about our COVID-19 policy by visiting our website.

How To Apply

All applications must be completed online. We do not accept paper submissions. Please visit our Careers Page to review all current job postings, and instructions on the application process. For technical difficulties or questions regarding this posting, please email [email protected].

As an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Employer, The Legal Aid Society prohibits discriminatory employment actions against and treatment of its employees and applicants for employment based on actual or perceived race or color, size (including bone structure, body size, height, shape, and weight), religion or creed, alienage or citizenship status, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity (one's internal deeply-held sense of one's gender which may be the same or different from one's sex assigned at birth; one's gender identity may be male, female, neither or both, e.g., non-binary), gender expression (the representation of gender as expressed through, for example, one's name, choice of pronouns, clothing, haircut, behavior, voice, or body characteristics; gender expression may not be distinctively male or female and may not conform to traditional gender-based stereotypes assigned to specific gender identities), disability, marital status, relationship and family structure (including domestic partnerships, polyamorous families and individuals, chosen family, platonic co-parents, and multigenerational families), genetic information or predisposing genetic characteristics, military status, domestic violence victim status, arrest or pre-employment conviction record, credit history, unemployment status, caregiver status, salary history, or any other characteristic protected by law.