Supervising Attorney, Prisoners’ Rights Project (PRP)

The Legal Aid Society ‘s Criminal Defense Practice seeks an experienced, committed and talented lawyer to join a team of skilled advocates as a Supervising Attorney in the Prisoners’ Rights Project (PRP).

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, protection from solitary confinement, 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 collaboration among the various Legal Aid practices is frequent. 

ESSENTIAL DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES

Legal Duties

• Maintain an active caseload of pending and new litigation to advance PRP’s goals
• Together with other supervising attorneys, oversee integration of individual client intake and advocacy into policy and litigation
• Substantively direct legislative and administratively policy initiatives, frequently in close collaboration with other units of Legal Aid and external stakeholders
• Engage directly in all aspects of litigation and collaborate with other attorneys in setting litigation strategy and priorities and managing cases
• Work collaboratively and collegially with pro bono counsel and colleagues in other parts of Legal Aid; community groups; legislators, and other stakeholders
• 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

Team Development and Supervision

• Assist the Director of PRP in the daily operations and direct supervision of the legal work of the unit
• 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.
• Conduct 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. 
• General managerial duties, administrative tasks, and data collection.  

Additional supervisory responsibilities

• Identify and implement unit management and accountability practices to improve performance.
• Resolve employee conflict, complaints, and address union concerns, with guidance from Human Resources.
• Hire and supervise interns and volunteers.

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 the New York bar, or eligibility to waive into 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 to apply)
• Demonstrated strong commitment to racial equity and civil rights
• 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

Preferred qualifications:  

• Experience litigating class cases and enforcing consent decrees
• Experience with policy advocacy
• Experience supervising lawyers and legal staff

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES

Position Based Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: 

• Deep substantive knowledge of civil litigation techniques
• Demonstrated excellent legal analysis
• Demonstrated strong writing skills
• Ability to foster and encourage teamwork and communication
• Ability to consciously create and enhance a diverse workplace culture that is supportive, collaborative and affirming to clients and colleagues
• Ability to monitor and maintain a high standard of professionalism, representation and client service in all aspects of work, including maintaining excellent communication with incarcerated clients and others

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 create and implement effective communication plans. 
• Ability to provide meaningful performance feedback for professional development including having difficult conversations and resolving sensitive employee issues.   
• Reinforce and maintain staff accountability and morale

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 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: $102,120-$172,675 

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.