Executive Director
Executive Director
Exempt Position Description
The Legal Aid Society (LAS) seeks a dynamic individual to lead the historic agency as it approaches its 100-year anniversary of service to the community. The Legal Aid Society serves a fifteen-county area in Kentucky, including the city of Metro Louisville, providing a wide array of free civil legal services that focus on the safety, stability, and health of individuals and families.
As the designated Legal Services Corporation Grant Recipient for the Louisville Metro and surrounding areas, LAS provides services to over 5,000 individuals annually. LAS serves among a strong non-profit and volunteer network, seeking to holistically address the needs of its clients. LAS partners with the community to provide services that address community needs and achieve positive outcomes in matters that more often than not directly affect a client’s basic needs - such as family matters, housing, income, and freedom from domestic violence.
Mission and Vision: The mission of the Legal Aid Society (LAS) is to pursue civil justice for people in poverty. LAS exists to serve and partner with the diverse Kentucky communities in which our clients reside, seeking to advocate for justice, seek equal access to the justice system, and fight for equal justice under the law for the most vulnerable in our community. Justice for all is our vision and is the center of all that we do.
Location: The Legal Aid Society serves fifteen Kentucky counties: Breckinridge, Bullitt, Grayson, Hardin, Henry, Jefferson, Larue, Marion, Meade, Nelson, Oldham, Shelby, Spencer, Trimble and Washington. Our clients live in rural, urban, and suburban areas.
Services: LAS team members serve the fifteen-county region providing a full array of free civil legal services, which address critical civil legal needs related to our clients’ safety, stability, and health.
Purpose of Job: The Executive Director of the Legal Aid Society is responsible for the administration of LAS’s operation throughout the region, engaging in the management of the
law firm as well as the strategic planning of the agency’s activities in furtherance of the mission.
Governing Body: The Executive Director is appointed by and reports to the Legal Aid Society (LAS) Board of Directors.
Work Environment: Work is performed in the office setting and in the community. The Legal Aid Society’s primary office is located in Louisville, Kentucky. Work is underway to expand the agency’s physical presence across the fifteen-county service area.
Essential Job Functions and Leadership Attributes
Dynamic and Leadership
• Leads with strength, knowledge, compassion, and vision.
• Thrives working with and serving a diverse client population and staff.
• Values the LAS team, seeking to develop and support the staff that provides the services to LAS’s community.
• Is committed to public service, embracing the skills of a servant leader, modeling the attributes necessary to inspire and lead the LAS staff and management team.
• Acting with expertise and knowledge, develops and carries out policies that further the mission of the firm.
Visionary Leadership
• Envisions success for the agency, developing policies and protocols to support program services that advance the mission of the agency.
• Conducts needs assessment work to shape the priorities of the agency, which are submitted to the board for approval annually.
• Oversees a comprehensive needs assessment every three years, engaging in in-depth analysis of services, trends, needs, census data, stakeholder input, and other pertinent areas in conformance with LSC regulations
• Leads and oversees a strategic planning process periodically, developing strategic visions and plans to ensure the provision of high-quality and impactful services to LAS’s client
community.
• Serves as the holder of agency historic knowledge, ensuring preservation of the agency’s history and implementation of policies to uphold the agency’s integrity in the future.
Governance and Oversight
• Works effectively with the board, reporting significant activities, developments, and generally the work of the agency.
• Works with the board to recruit and train board members, develop materials for board meetings, and to develop policies consistent with the mission of the agency.
• Submits reports to the board in conformance with the board’s governance policies, LSC regulations, and in conformance with good governance of the agency’s work.
• Drafts resolutions for the board’s consideration.
• Serves as the primary oversight on the drafting and implementation of resolutions related to the requirements of LSC regulations.
Financial Oversight and Fund Development
• Raises funds to support the work of the agency in concert with the development management staff. Cultivates private donors, engages corporate sponsors, and pursues
new grants.
• Oversees and assists with the identification of new funding opportunities and the capacity to raise additional resources to support LAS operations.
• Conducts lead oversight of the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) grant, ensuring that all reporting requirements are met, and the agency conforms its practices and services to
the regulations set forth by Congress.
• Ensures the programmatic and fiscal integrity and accountability of LAS programs and operations.
• Oversees the creation and amendment of budgets as needed, with consideration and cost containment where appropriate.
• Assures fiscal integrity of the program.
• Works with Board Budget and Finance Committee to conduct financial planning and to implement board financial strategies.
Legal Management
• Maintains effective relations with and oversight of the LAS leadership team and staff, overseeing the management of the legal work of the firm.
• Supports continued career and professional development.
• Reviews program legal product for quality assurance.
• Assures implementation of and compliance with of the program’s Case Acceptance
Policy and Priority Setting Plan.
• Develops program productivity standards.
• Oversees recruitment, retention and termination of management and non-management staff.
• Ensures sound management practices within the confines of the law.
• Engages in labor relations activities with the agency’s union staff, the Legal Aid Workers’ Union (LAWU), including regular communications with the LAWU president.
• Represents management in contract negotiations appointing managers to serve alongside the ED in labor negotiations.
External Leadership and Representation of LAS
• Engages with leaders of the client community, including Multi-County Clients Council, to identify community needs and maintain the trust of the client community we serve.
• Have impeccable character and be respected in the community, bringing good relationships to LAS and fostering respect for the agency in the community.
• Commands the respect of members of the bar, the judiciary, and others in positions of authority or influence in the community.
• Develops and maintains strong relationships with community partners, representing LAS on committees, boards, workgroups, and commissions that dovetail with LAS’s work.
• Is visionary in seeking out new partnerships and innovative collaborations with community partners and other legal aid agencies.
• Represents LAS at statewide legal aid activities, including collaborations with the other three Kentucky LSC-funded legal aid programs.
Find more information about Legal Aid Society at www.yourlegalaid.org.
Qualifications:
1. Must have demonstrable commitment to understanding and addressing issues of low-income constituents.
2. Must have J.D. and be admitted to practice in Kentucky and in good standing, or must be eligible for admission to the Kentucky Bar under Kentucky Supreme Court Rule 2.112 if admitted to practice in another state.
3. Must have a minimum of ten (10) years’ experience in practice of law.
4. Must have skills to use office technologies, including case management software and remote technologies.
5. Must have strong interpersonal skills and have the ability to lead supervise and motivate staff.
6. Must be able to balance administrative, supervisory and client advocacy responsibilities.
Other: The statements contained in this job description reflect general details necessary to
describe the principal functions of this job, the level of knowledge and skill typically required,
and the scope of responsibility. It should not be considered an all-inclusive listing of work
requirements. Individuals may perform other duties as assigned, including work in other
functional areas to cover absences or relief, to equalize peak work periods or to otherwise
balance the work load
Interested candidates should apply by submitting a resume, a list of three references, a writing sample, and a cover letter indicating their interest in the position and in serving Legal Aid’s client community. The position will remain open until filled, but applicants are advised to submit their materials by July 9, 2021.
Materials should be submitted electronically at:
https://recruiting.myapps.paychex.com/appone/MainInfoReq.asp?R_ID=3707685
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement: The Legal Aid Society is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to and values a diverse workforce to serve a diverse community.
We support the principles of equal opportunity, diversity, equity, and non-discrimination. We seek to ensure that no person employed or served by LAS will encounter discrimination on the basis of age, color, disability, sex, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation, Veteran’s status, or any other status protected by law.