STAFF ATTORNEY

Maryland Legal Aid announces a full-time staff attorney position available to qualified applicants. 

Maryland Legal Aid has been awarded funding to provide legal services to enrollees of job training programs in Baltimore City.  The training programs target African-American individuals aged 16-29 from low-income and distressed neighborhoods with an emphasis on those areas most impacted by the recent civil unrest brought about by the death of Freddie Gray in police custody.  The project supports the Baltimore City Mayor’s Office of Employment Development’s 1BFJ (One Baltimore for Jobs) program, which has received federal funds to provide job opportunities for the target population.  The project attorney will conduct “legal check-ups” of approximately 300 enrollees of the training programs, file petitions to expunge criminal records where appropriate, ensure that other civil legal needs of enrollees are met, and develop expertise in child support matters and other substantive areas identified as creating barriers to achieving meaningful employment. 

 
Duties and  Responsibilities:Qualifications:

1.  Screen training program enrollees for eligibility and make referrals, as appropriate;

2.  Conduct preliminary and subsequent interviews with enrollees and administer a “legal check-up” tool to comprehensively assess enrollees’ needs for civil legal services;

3.  Conduct factual investigation, analysis, and legal research;

4.  Advise clients of results of investigation and research and counsel clients about their options;

5.   Prepare legal documents, including but not limited to, correspondence, pleadings, motions, discovery, discovery responses,  memoranda of law, briefs and other legal documents;

6.  Develop case theory and strategy for the representation of clients;

7.  Prepare cases and represent clients in negotiation, hearings, trials and appeals;

8.  Work closely with non-profit organizations who will conduct training of enrollees and with local government, various other community groups and legal providers to conduct community outreach and education, and to support appropriate strategies that benefit the target population;

9.  Continue professional development and education through attendance at Maryland Legal Aid-sponsored training and other programs.