Temporary Supervising Attorney, Housing Justice Helplines - New York, NY

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The Legal Aid Society's Civil Practice is seeking an experienced and talented lawyer with a deep commitment to public interest practice and policy to join a dedicated team of managers and staff of attorneys, supervisors, and paralegals as a Temporary Supervising Attorney of the Housing Justice Helpline Program.

The Civil Practice's Housing Justice Helpline provides access to high quality legal assistance via a live answer phone line open Monday through Friday during business hours. The helpline provides callers with information, legal guidance, brief services, and referrals on housing law and related matters impacting New York City tenants. The program provides assistance with a broad range of individual tenant legal matters, including but not limited to holdovers, nonpayment proceedings, HPs, and Housing Authority administrative hearings.

The Temporary Supervising Attorney will be responsible for supervising Helpline paralegal case handlers in their day-to-day work on the Housing Justice Helpline. The Temporary Supervising Attorney will also coordinate some grant projects, provide legal leadership, and prioritize legal issues. The Temporary Supervising Attorney participates in Practice-wide management discussions and decision-making and is responsible for maintaining relationships with other stakeholders in the legal, court, and service communities.

This position is funded through a temporary grant, and the continuation of the position is dependent on funding availability. The position is funded for an initial period of 12 months, with the possibility of extension based on continued funding and project needs, though continued employment is not guaranteed. If funding is not continued, the Temporary Supervising Attorney will be eligible to apply for other internal positions or be transferred into a comparable position.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES

Main Duties

• Supervise paralegals, students, and volunteers, ensuring high standards of representation and client service
• Collaborate closely with the Director of Innovative Housing Initiatives and housing, benefits, and grants management teams on all aspects of the citywide housing justice practice
• Assist with program implementation and reporting, including grant-related documentation
• Provide oversight of pro bono initiatives for the helpline
• Respond to client, community, and staff concerns
• Analyze legal issues, develop legal strategies, and supervise their implementation
• Assist with planning and conducting citywide and statewide coalition meetings and task forces
• Develop and maintain relationships with community-based organizations, advocates, government agencies, elected officials, and courts
• Represent the Civil Practice and Legal Aid in the community
• Conduct community education, training, and outreach to promote the work of the office and practice areas

Team Development and Supervision

• Schedule employee hours, assign work, and approve time off and remote work requests in accordance with LAS policies
• Attend management meetings, participate in management trainings, and apply current employment policies and practices
• Conduct supervision practices that affirmatively support equity and inclusion in the workplace
• Set performance standards for direct reports, provide feedback and coaching, and issue disciplinary actions as needed
• Identify and provide training and development opportunities and ensure mandatory trainings are completed
• Delegate and document work responsibilities, roles, and procedures to meet departmental goals
• Implement management and accountability practices to improve performance
• Resolve employee conflicts and complaints, addressing union concerns with guidance from HR
• Lead organizational and cultural change within the unit

Professional Development and Other Duties as Assigned

• Participate in continuous professional development and equity-focused learning
• 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 the New York State Bar
• Excellent litigation skills and experience litigating individual and group cases in various forums
• Demonstrated commitment to addressing fundamental issues of poverty and justice within a comprehensive civil legal services model of representation
• Excellent oral and written advocacy skills
• Demonstrated commitment to and experience in public interest law and civil legal services
• Demonstrated commitment to policy advocacy and administrative reform
• Experience working with vulnerable populations, including but not limited to seniors
• Demonstrated leadership ability
• Grant-writing and fundraising experience
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, and organizational skills
• Commitment to exploring alternative approaches for legal practice
• Ability to work in a collaborative team model

Preferred qualifications:

• Minimum of three years of legal practice strongly preferred
• Proficiency in languages other than English is desirable, but not required
• Knowledge in housing and rent arrears benefits programs is strongly preferred
• Supervisory, mentoring, and management experience preferred
• Pro bono, government, public service, and academic experience will be considered, but is not required

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES

Position Based Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Knowledge of Housing law and Benefits law
• Excellent litigation skills and experience litigating in various forums
• Excellent oral and written advocacy skills
• Ability to work in a collaborative team model
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, and organizational skills
• Commitment to exploring alternative approaches for legal practice
• Demonstrated commitment to addressing fundamental issues of poverty and justice within a comprehensive civil legal services model of representation

Supervision Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Ability to schedule, assign, and manage work and resolve problems as needed
• Ability to clearly identify roles, responsibilities, delegate tasks and hold people accountable
• Ability to provide meaningful performance feedback for professional development including having difficult conversations and resolving sensitive employee issues
• Pursue continuous learning on forms of systemic oppression of marginalized identities and establish team norms and management practices using an equity mindset and informed by inclusive practices

Organizational Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Commitment to Legal Aid Society's mission to secure equal justice before the law for all New Yorkers
• Interpersonal and communication skills that enable healthy and productive working relationships
• Ability to perform duties with the highest regard for confidentiality, integrity, and respect
• Commitment to Legal Aid Society's mission and values

Physical, environment, travel, and other duties required:

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

* For positions noted as essential, this will require either remote or in-person work during times of closure or otherwise non-typical business hours which may include evenings and weekends and during unforeseen events such as inclement weather or poor air quality conditions.

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: $99,600- $168,100

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

For technical difficulties or questions regarding this posting, please email jobpostquestions@legal-aid.org.

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.

Manhattan - Civil Practice Lower Manhattan Neighborhood Office