The Legal Aid Society seeks an experienced, committed and talented lawyer to join a team of skilled advocates as a Supervising Attorney in the Prisoners' Rights Project.

The Prisoners' Rights Project works to protect the legal rights of people incarcerated in New York City jails and New York State prisons. We do so through impact litigation seeking systemic reforms, most often as class actions in federal and state courts; legislative and oversight advocacy; policy change; and administrative advocacy directly with correctional, medical, and other agencies. Areas of priority for the Prisoners' Rights Project include health and safety, such as challenging excessive force against people in custody, sexual abuse, protection of LGBTQI people in custody, safe conditions of confinement, access to medical and mental health care, and treatment of prisoners with disabilities. A significant portion of our work is post-judgment enforcement of relief. Litigation often is co-counseled with law firms serving pro bono, and cooperation between the various Legal Aid practices is frequent.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES

• Assist the Director of PRP in the daily operations and direct supervision of the legal work of the unit
• Actively train and supervise staff attorneys, paralegals and interns
• Engage directly in litigation and collaborate with other attorneys in setting litigation strategy and priorities and managing cases
• Develop impact and/or affirmative litigation and legislative or policy advocacy
• Substantively direct legislative and administratively policy initiatives, frequently in close collaboration with other units of Legal Aid and external stakeholders
• Monitor and maintain a high standard of professionalism, representation and client service in all aspects of work
• Supervise paralegal response to individual client intake and advocacy
• Collaborate with pro bono counsel, other entities within Legal Aid, community groups, legislators, and other stakeholders to achieve PRP's goals
• Foster and encourage teamwork and communication
• Consciously create and enhance a diverse workplace culture that is supportive, collaborative and affirming to clients and colleagues
• Reinforce and maintain staff accountability and morale
• Conduct and participate in community education, training, media, and outreach to educate the public as well as other legal professionals and to promote the work of PRP
• General managerial duties, administrative tasks, and data collection
• Hiring and supervision of interns and volunteers
• Other duties as assigned

• Admission to the New York bar
• Minimum 8 years of litigation experience, with a strong preference for experience in civil rights, prisoners' rights litigation, New York correctional agencies, or law reform litigation (applicants with more experience are encouraged)
• Experience litigating class cases and enforcing consent decrees is preferred
• Demonstrated strong commitment to racial equity, civil rights
• Experience with policy advocacy preferred
• Experience supervising lawyers and legal staff in litigation and administrative advocacy is preferred, but is not necessary
• Demonstrated ability to engage in and communicate complex legal analysis
• Excellent writing, litigation and advocacy skills
• Collegiality and ability to work in and value diverse teams
• Strong interpersonal, communication, and organizational skills

SALARY TRANSPARENCY

The posting reflects the range of potential salaries for the role. The specific salary offers will be dependent on candidate qualifications, including collectively bargained salary steps for unionized roles.

Salary Range/ Salary: $94,221 to $154,684

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.

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.

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.

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. 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 .

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.

Please submit these documents as a single combined PDF when you apply via the LAS (Legal Aid Society) Recruitment Portal.

• Cover Letter
• Resume