The Legal Aid Society’s Civil Practice has one staff attorney position in the Brooklyn Neighborhood Office as part of a new initiative, created by Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, Legal Hand in Brownsville, Brooklyn. Co-located in the Brownsville Community Justice Center, Legal Hand creates neighborhood storefronts staffed by trained community volunteers who provide free legal information, assistance and referrals to help resolve issues in areas such as housing, family law, benefits, employment law and consumer law and prevent problems from turning into legal actions. The staff attorney will provide back-up training and assistance to the community volunteers assisting the community with legal information at the Legal Hand office in Brownsville.
In addition, the staff attorney will divide their time between either the Housing Unit, or the Family/DV Project and the Consumer Law Project. The Housing Practice handles a broad range of individual and group tenant representation at the trial and appellate levels, including holdovers, nonpayment proceedings, Housing Authority administrative hearings and State court appeals. The Family/DV Project provides comprehensive direct legal assistance to survivors of domestic violence in a broad range of civil matters, including orders of protection, divorces, custody, visitation, child support, spousal support, property rights, disability, housing, public benefits, health, employment, and immigration. As part of the Family/DV Practice, the staff attorney will also work in conjunction with several community‑based organizations that are our partners in this city‑wide collaboration to provide reciprocal referrals, training, back‑up case consultation, clinics, outreach and joint community education on various issues affecting survivors of domestic violence. The attorney will also actively participate in City and Statewide committees and task forces regarding DV issues. The Consumer Law Project provides representation, legal assistance, legal advocacy, and education to clients who are vulnerable to the abusive practices of unscrupulous lenders and creditors, handling issues such as access to financial services, debt collection, debt settlement company abuses, credit fraud, identity theft, medical debt, auto fraud and student loans.
In this position, you will: represent clients in administrative hearings, City, State and federal court proceedings and affirmative litigation, and advocate with local, State and federal agencies; train and engage in community outreach and education for individuals, community volunteers, local community-based organizations and advocates; conduct policy advocacy; coordinate and collaborate with other groups and organizations; work with pro bono lawyers; conduct off-site intake, including during evening hours; provide advice, counsel and advocacy to community members in Brownsville, Brooklyn on a variety of legal and consumer issues; train and supervise community volunteers to provide other local community members with legal information on a range of civil legal matters. This includes substantive law and skills training and day-to-day monitoring of volunteers; conduct and supervise intake and assessment for clients, and facilitate referrals to partnering service providers; complete administrative tasks as assigned by supervisor, such as those related to grant reporting; perform additional tasks as assigned by supervisor; and other duties as assigned.
The ideal candidate must have: a J.D. degree; membership in good standing of the New York State Bar; excellent written and oral advocacy skills; the ability to work independently as well as collaboratively in a team and manage a high volume of cases; the ability to coordinate and collaborate successfully with other groups and organizations; excellent organizational skills; the ability to work with pro bono lawyers; experience in providing civil legal services in consumer law; the ability to manage a demanding case load; and excellent time management, priority-setting and organizational skills. Proficiency in languages other than English is desirable, but not required.
To Apply: The Legal Aid Society is reducing its carbon footprint and therefore paper applications are not accepted. All applicants must submit a cover letter, resume, references, the Applicant Questionnaire (http://www.legal-aid.org/questionnaire.html) and the Applicant Information Form (http://www.legal-aid.org/info_form.html) electronically in a single PDF document by 12/15/16 to Shervon Small at attorneyjobscivil@legal-aid.org and include the Job Reference Code: CIVIL-2016-064 in all correspondence and in the subject line of your email. If one or more of the required items are missing or if the application is not in a single PDF, your application will not be processed.
The Legal Aid Society is an Equal Opportunity Employer – Women, People of Color, Gays and Lesbians, Transgender People, Veterans and people with disabilities are encouraged to apply.
