Civil Rights Attorney

LAJC seeks a full-time attorney to advocate across multiple campaigns in its JustChildren and Civil Rights & Racial Justice Programs with a focus on criminal legal reform, juvenile justice, school policing, and prison healthcare. This position is co-supervised by the JustChildren Legal Director and the Civil Rights & Racial Justice Legal Director. The attorney will have a variety of responsibilities but will focus primarily on litigation.

Responsibilities will include: • Lead complex federal litigation, including LAJC’s class action prison healthcare lawsuit • Co-teach our Civil Rights Clinic at the University of Virginia School of Law • Provide legal advice and representation for low-income families in education cases (e.g., special education, suspension and expulsion, discrimination, etc.) and juvenile justice cases (e.g., serious offender review hearings, services during confinement and re-entry, etc.) for the purpose of investigating systemic violations • Develop impact campaigns seeking reform in Virginia’s public education and juvenile justice systems • Advocate across campaigns seeking to end the criminalization of poverty and people of color in Virginia through police accountability, pretrial reform, and just treatment of people confined to carceral institutions • Advocate for legislation, regulations, and policies that support our advocacy goals, and attend and testify at legislative committee meetings, state agency meetings, and local government meetings • Partner with community organizers and grassroots leaders to develop and implement systems change initiatives • Produce publications, including reports, issue briefs, fact sheets, op-eds, and blog posts • Draft press releases, organize press conferences, and respond to media inquiries • Utilize LAJC’s social media and action alert software