Managing Attorney
Legal Assistance of Western New York, Inc. (LawNY) seeks dynamic leaders to fill two immediate Managing Attorney positions in LawNY’s Rochester office. Managing attorneys oversee the day-to-day functioning of the office, including developing future plans and projects to expand and support the work being done within the service area. The office has a revenue side budget of $4.9 million with approximately 28 contracts with various federal, state, county, and city agencies, as well as the area United Way, foundations and private donations. With over fifty administrative, paralegal, attorney and AmeriCorps staff members, the Rochester office engages in programming that impacts the housing, income, health and education of our community members. The Rochester office currently manages both local Monroe County projects and regional programs that serve LawNY’s fourteen county service area. Due to the growth of the office, we expect to fill two positions. The office is located in the Telesca Center for Justice building, and successful candidates are expected to work closely and collaboratively with other area civil legal services programs.
Responsibilities: These are the most significant responsibilities and primary functions of the positions.
Key Responsibilities:
- Provides general administration of the office, including the development, preparation and submission of grant reporting.
- Manages and supervises staff and ensures compliance with program, grant and personnel policies.
- Maintains active involvement in the advocacy efforts of the office.
- Establishes and implements office procedures for staffing assignments, supervision, intake and case distribution.
- Ensures adequate quality control of casework through the development and implementation of training opportunities and supervision protocols.
- Formulates strategies for resource development, including the development, preparation and submission of grant applications.
- Maintains and develops relationships and/or collaborative efforts with current funders, community leaders, not-for-profit agencies, grass roots organizations, other public interest offices and governmental and elected officials.
- Maintains adequate space, equipment, supplies and other resources for the office.
- Participates in the LawNY management team, meetings of the Board of Directors, and regular LawNY committee meetings.
- Maintains and develops relationships with current funders, community leaders, not-for-profit agencies, grass roots organizations, public interest offices, governmental and elected officials and local bar associations.
Organization Information:
LawNY is a not-for-profit law firm providing civil legal services to low-income clients in a 14 county area of western New York. LawNY has been providing high quality legal representation for 53 years. LawNY was created by a merger of three regional legal service programs in 2004, and today has over 170 employees, including attorneys, paralegals, and a legal support team who work closely across areas of specialization to bring a holistic approach to addressing legal issues affecting our clients and community. LawNY has seven fully staffed field offices in Bath, Elmira, Geneva, Ithaca, Jamestown, Olean and Rochester, several satellite offices across Western New York, and a business office in Rochester. This position is based out of the Rochester office, located within the Telesca Center for Justice. LawNY has a revenue side budget of over $15.2 million, with approximately 90 contracts with various federal, state, county, and city agencies, as well as area United Ways, foundations and private donations.
Our 2022 cases were closed in the following practice areas: housing (44.3%); government benefits (17.4%); family law (17%); health law (9.2%); miscellaneous benefits including wills and advance care directives (5.2%); consumer law (3%); employment law (1.9%); individual rights (0.8%); and education (1.2%).
LawNY is committed to equitable inclusion across race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ability, sex, religion, economic circumstances, ethnicity, national origin, and
culture. We are increasingly committed to creating a law firm where race equity, diversity and cultural competency are integral components of our work, from client advocacy to internal operations. We are actively seeking applicants whose work incorporates this perspective and whose lived and professional experience contributes to sustaining an environment that enables staff and clients to feel empowered, valued, respected, and safe.
Salary: The salary for a Managing Attorney with ten years of legal services experience is $84,400, as per the LawNY salary scale. Salary is set on a standardized organizational salary scale based on years of job experience.
Benefits: We provide a superlative package of fringe benefits including:
- 94% employer paid health insurance, with significant HSA contributions to offset high deduction plans.
- 100% employer paid dental and disability insurance.
- $50,000 automatic life insurance.
- Remote Work Policy: New staff are able to work from home up to 3 days per week during their 6 month probationary period with manager approval. This increases to 5 days per week once successfully finished with a probationary period with manager approval.
- LawNY is committed to providing a work-life balance to their employees. We encourage and support a 35 hour work week to ensure our employees have this balance.
We also provide a very generous leave package including, in the first year of employment, 20 days of vacation plus 13.5 holidays and two floating holidays. Employees also receive 12 sick days and five personal days per year. New parents receive 20 days of paid new parent leave.
LawNY staff may qualify for public interest law school loan forgiveness programs.
Qualifications: These are the traits, attributes, attitudes, and skills that speak to candidates’ ability to succeed in the positions. While no candidates will possess all of the requirements listed, the ideal candidates will have many of the following qualifications. LawNY encourages each candidate to think about their own personal knowledge, skills, and experience, as well as professional skills and experience, in relation to the list of qualifications.
- (Required) Minimum of five years of legal experience as an attorney, with a preference for experience within civil legal services.
- (Required) Admitted to practice and in good standing in New York State, eligible for admission without examination, or able to be admitted pro hac vice.
- (Required) Experience supervising others and managing projects.
- (Required) Demonstrated ability to develop and undertake initiatives.
- Demonstrated support of an organizational culture of diversity, equity and inclusion.
- Demonstrated leadership on critical issues facing low-income people.
- Demonstrated ability to command the trust and respect of staff members, community groups and the legal community.
- Experience related to serving individuals from historically oppressed populations.
- An understanding of the concepts of institutional and structural racism and their impact on underserved and underrepresented communities.
- Strong interpersonal and communication skills, including a commitment to providing trauma-informed services.
- Humility in working with colleagues and clients across the spectrum of diversity, including race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, immigrant status, religious identity, physical and mental disabilities and/or limited English proficiency.
- Ability to work under deadlines and manage multiple tasks.
Application Instructions:
To apply, submit your cover letter, resume, and three references through LawNY’s BambooHR platform, here. References will not be contacted until after any interview, and will not be contacted without your knowledge. To promote social justice and achieve our mission, LawNY is committed to maintaining a diverse staff and creating an inclusive and respectful workplace. In your cover letter, please include an explanation of how you think that your lived and/or professional experience or background has prepared you to contribute to support a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion in LawNY’s processes.
Please apply before March 10, 2023 for full consideration. The job will remain posted until filled. If not filled by this date, applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. You will receive a confirmation email when your application has been received on our HR platform. LawNY will contact you to inform you whether you have been offered an interview. Questions or Accommodations? Contact Sandra Coyne at scoyne@lawny.org.
Legal Assistance of Western New York, Inc. (LawNY®) is an equal opportunity employer. LawNY® strongly encourages applications from Black, Indigenous and People of Color, women, LGBTQIA+ individuals, people with disabilities, and persons from other underrepresented groups whose background may contribute to working in and sustaining an environment that enables staff and clients to feel empowered, valued, respected, and safe. LawNY welcomes applications regardless of race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy, national origin, age, disability, genetic information or any other consideration protected by law.