Litigation Counsel

Make a difference! We stand for the rights of people that have disabilities....JOIN US!

Individuals who are Deaf or Disabled are encouraged to apply.

Location: Remote (within California Only), Sacramento, Oakland, San Diego, Los Angeles, Fresno, or Ontario

SALARY RANGE (Depending on Experience): $113,144 - $165,704 annually

We base salary and position offers on experience and an internal equity analysis.

Employment Status: Exempt; Regular; Full time (37.5 hrs)

EXCELLENT BENEFITS including 8% 401k Match, a LRAP (Loan Repayment Assistance Program) that pays up to $300 per month depending on salary and debt and a language a language differential up to $250/mo. Health (HMO and PPO options), dental, vision; basic life insurance; short-term and long-term disability insurance; and flexible spending accounts (medical, dependent care and commuter).  Additionally, we offer ample vacation, sick/wellness leave and eighteen paid holidays (including the last week in December) and more…..  We are a Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) - eligible employer. 

Application Deadline: Open until filled. 

WHO WE ARE

Disability Rights California (DRC) defends, advances, and strengthens the rights and opportunities of people with disabilities.

DRC works for a world where all disabled people have power and are treated with dignity and respect. In this world, people with disabilities are supported, valued, included in their communities, afforded the same opportunities as people without disabilities, and make their own decisions.

DRC values all forms of human diversity. We are committed to a culture of belonging where all people are welcome. In order to be effective advocates for all people with disabilities, we must address discrimination in all its forms, including the unique challenges faced by people who experience the intersection of multiple systems of discrimination.

Mental Health Practice Group

We are a statewide team of passionate attorneys and advocates who enforce and expand the civil rights of people living with mental health disabilities.  We strive to pursue litigation and advocacy that strikes a balance between responding to pressing needs, proactively anticipating future needs, and identifying innovative ways to affirmatively expand the law on behalf of individuals living with mental health disabilities.

Much of our current work includes advocating on behalf of clients in locked facilities, including psychiatric institutions, jails, juvenile halls, and immigration detention centers, and working to divert or release people from such institutions.  We also work to improve access to community-based alternatives to institutions and homelessness, to ensure that such services are provided in a manner that is trauma-informed and culturally affirming, to eliminate law enforcement involvement in crisis responses, and to address the intersectional needs of adults and young people living with mental health disabilities. 

In order to enforce and expand the rights of people living with mental health disabilities, the Mental Health Practice Group engages in individual and systemic litigation, investigations and monitoring, and policy advocacy.  Our team works collaboratively on lawsuits and projects.  We are also adopting community lawyering and identity-conscious approaches to our advocacy in order to ensure that our advocacy seeks out and responds to the voices of people of color with disabilities and members of the LGBTQIA2S+ community with disabilities.

A few of the Mental Health Practice Group’s recent or prospective lawsuits and advocacy strategies include:

·      Disability Rights California v. County of Alameda, No. 20-5256 (N.D. Cal. filed July 30, 2020) (Olmstead case seeking greater community-based mental health services to prevent individuals with mental health disabilities from needlessly cycling between psychiatric hospitalization, homelessness, and jail, and highlighting the disproportionate impact on Black Alameda County residents), https://www.disabilityrightsca.org/cases/drc-lawsuit-against-alameda-county;

·      Opposition and prospective legal challenges to SB 1338 or “CARE Court” (2022) (multi-faceted, statewide advocacy to oppose, and challenge after enactment, state legislation to create a new system of court-imposed mental health treatment and services using legislative/policy, movement lawyering, and litigation components and in statewide collaboration with many partners).

·      Hart, et al. v. Clendenin, et al., No. 20-1559 (C.D. Cal. filed Aug. 5, 2020) (one of the first lawsuits in the country to challenge the dangers posed by COVID-19 to high risk patients in a state psychiatric hospital and to seek the discharge or transfer of patients out of the facility) https://www.disabilityrightsca.org/cases/hart-v-clendenin;

·      Mays v. County of Sacramento, No. 18-1259 (E.D. Cal. filed July 31, 2018) (comprehensive class action settlement requiring Sacramento County to remedy unconstitutional and dangerous conditions in its jails, including those related to inadequate medical and mental health treatment, suicide prevention, and solitary confinement),   https://www.disabilityrightsca.org/cases/mays-v-county-of-sacramento;

·      Disability Rights California v. County of San Benito, No. 19-01833 (N.D.Cal filed April 4, 2019) (comprehensive settlement addressing coercive responses to mental health crisis, expanding access to community-based services, and improving patients’ rights).

PURPOSE OF THE JOB

The Litigation Counsel plays a significant role in shaping DRC’s litigation and advocacy vision, including working with the Mental Health team, the Litigation Counsel Team, and other DRC teams and staff to identify complex legal and policy challenges to create and drive forward our systemic work.  The Litigation Counsel also helps to ensure the excellence of DRC’s legal work by providing leadership, mentorship, and supervision to Practice Group attorneys and other DRC staff.  The ideal candidate will have an unwavering commitment to excellence, a deep understanding of the intersectional issues faced by our clients, and a commitment to using the law to develop creative strategies toward movement-building goals. 

The Litigation Counsel is responsible for developing and implementing a variety of advocacy strategies, and for mentoring and supporting the practice group attorneys. Structurally, the Litigation Counsel reports to a designated Managing Attorney, who provides the general and administrative leadership, strategic direction, and overall management and supervision of the members of the practice group. In practice, the Litigation Counsel and Managing Attorney co-lead the team’s advocacy.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

Essential functions are the job responsibilities an employee must be able to perform, with or without reasonable accommodation.  Litigation Counsel essential functions include the following:

Litigation and Advocacy Leadership

·      Develop legal, policy, and other systems-change advocacy initiatives to address the needs of disabled Californians and their families;

·      Identify and address complex legal challenges through investigation, impact litigation, policy advocacy, and strategic planning;

·      Lead teams in litigation or major policy advocacy which may include targeted representation, complex litigation and/or appeals, or major policy advocacy at the state level;

·      Mentor and train practice group attorneys in litigation and policy advocacy work;

·      Support and oversee litigation teams, including facilitation of crossover legal issues and coordination of litigation practice group members;

·      Monitor, summarize, and analyze case law, legislation, and administrative policy and practices for staff and other organizations.

·      Collaborate with other agencies and organizations to address new or recurring problems faced by our clients.

Management/Administrative

·      Participate as a member of the DRC legal management team to assist in the development and advancement of the Legal Advocacy Unit’s strategic direction;

·      Collaborate with other Litigation Counsel to fulfill various administrative and litigation-related responsibilities;

·      Identify and develop substantive and skills-based training for staff; and

·      Co-review and approve the team’s requests to commence new litigation.

Community-Based Advocacy

·      Develop and sustain relationships with organizations led by people with disabilities and key stakeholders within the disability community;

·      Engage in community-based advocacy and coalition building to uplift community-defined solutions; and

·      Prepare training materials, publications, reports, or prepare presentations about legal work, which may include reports to funding entities and the Board of Directors.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

Litigation Counsel provide leadership, training, mentoring, and direct supervision to Practice Group staff on systemic litigation and advocacy.