Contact Us

MIE
PO Box 27010, 7782 Crittenden Street
Philadelphia, PA 19118
(267) 277-3404 (phone)

Email Us

Senior Litigation Counsel

Description: 

BayLegal seeks a talented litigator with a strong commitment to public interest and social justice advocacy to join our team as Senior Litigation Counsel.  The Senior Litigation Counsel is responsible for leading and supporting teams of litigators bringing major impact and affirmative cases that arise out of BayLegal’s direct services work, and supervising, mentoring, and training attorneys and advocates engaged in litigation. This position is based in one of BayLegal’s regional offices, location to be worked out between BayLegal and the successful candidate. See COVID19 Remote work section below. As a member of BayLegal's regional practice, there may be travel within BayLegal's broader service areas to address the regional nature of poverty and as necessary for training and broader advocacy. The Senior Litigation Counsel reports to the Director of Litigation.

As a Senior Litigation Counsel you will have the opportunity to:

  • Learn and assist with the diverse legal needs of underserved and marginalized communities throughout the Bay Area to reduce homelessness, enhance stability and address social injustice;
  • Work with BayLegal staff to investigate, initiate, and litigate affirmative cases and major impact cases in a broad range of substantive law areas, including housing law and homelessness prevention, economic justice, consumer law, family law, immigration law, civil rights, and legal issues affecting the reentry population, youth, and veterans;
  • Oversee litigation and ensure the highest quality of legal work; 
  • Provide training, supervision, mentorship and support to staff attorneys working on litigation matters; 
  • Help increase BayLegal’s capacity to engage in affirmative and impact advocacy, including by organizing periodic litigation skills trainings for BayLegal staff attorneys;
  • Oversee BayLegal attorneys’ fee practice;
  • Work with BayLegal’s development and communications teams to promote BayLegal’s mission and resource development; and
  • Engage in other tasks and projects that further BayLegal’s mission and operations as a non-profit.
Requirements: 

Qualifications of the Successful Candidate:

  • Admitted to the CA State Bar.
  • 5 or more years of experience litigating cases in state and federal trial and appellate courts.
  • Demonstrated commitment to working for social justice and racial justice.
  • Experience with public policy advocacy at local, state, or national levels.
  • Excellent written and oral advocacy skills.
  • Self-directed, creative thinker, and strategist.
  • Experience supervising and mentoring attorneys, volunteers, and support staff.
  • Ability to work well with colleagues and community allies in a variety of settings, including high-pressure environments.
  • 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.

COVID-19 remote work: Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, all BayLegal employees are currently working remotely from home. While BayLegal has implemented detailed health and safety protocols to minimize risk of exposure and have an evolving plan for reopening our local offices, we anticipate remaining primarily remote at least throughout the rest of 2020. All employees are expected to be able to primarily work remotely from home until BayLegal determines it is safe to reopen offices. All employees are issued BayLegal computers, provided with appropriate supplies and BayLegal covers reasonable work-related expenses. BayLegal has implemented and continues to explore additional technologies to make working remotely as efficient and connected as possible. All employees receive a flat-rate monthly amount to cover the use of personal IT equipment, including internet. Due to the COVID-19 crisis and its impact on personal lives, BayLegal is open to providing flexibility regarding work schedules and part-time or full-time employment to the extent feasible for the position.

To Apply: 

BayLegal thrives on our diversity and we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to building a culturally diverse workplace and strongly encourage women, persons of color, LGBTQ individuals, veterans, persons with disabilities, and persons from other underrepresented groups to apply.  Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. Please send the following materials to jobs@baylegal.org, and reference “Senior Litigation Counsel” in the subject line of the email:

  • Cover letter including responding to question below (does not need to be limited to one page).
  • Resume.
  • Writing Sample.  Please submit a sample of your legal writing that is representative of your own work (not something highly edited), and indicate the names of individuals (if any) who provided you with edits or comments on the writing sample.
  • Litigation and Advocacy Experience and Case List.  Please provide a general overview of your experience litigating matters in state and federal trial and appellate courts, and your public policy experience.  In addition, please provide a list of the most significant cases in which you have appeared as counsel.  For each case on your list, please provide a citation to the decision (or, if none was published, the name of the case and the case number); a brief description of the case and why it is significant; and a brief description of your role in the case (e.g. whether you were sole, lead or associate counsel, and what significant litigation tasks you undertook).   If there are more than 10 cases that fit this category, please limit your response to the 10 most significant cases.
  • 3 references, which should include at least one individual whom you have supervised and one individual who supervised you.
  • BayLegal may request that candidates respond to a short writing prompt at a later date.

As part of your cover letter, please address the following:

BayLegal’s clients are low- and very low-income members of our communities. They include persons of color, LGBTQ individuals, working poor, seniors, veterans, people with disabilities and persons from other underrepresented groups. To ensure our organization is best serving these populations, BayLegal strives to promote an evolving set of behaviors and attitudes amongst our staff, as well as policies that enable us to work effectively in all cross-cultural situations, with clients, with our coworkers, and with the community. We see this as a commitment to enhance the provision of our services to all clients; to raise the level of positive client outcomes; and to create an inclusive and respectful workplace in which differences are acknowledged and valued.

How do you think your personal background or experiences, professional or otherwise, have prepared you to serve our client base effectively and to contribute to our commitment to humility, inclusion, and diversity? Feel free to think broadly about your response to this question, applying various aspects of your life and personal experiences.

Information

Submission Deadline: 
October 30, 2020
Organization Information: 
Bay Area Legal Aid
1735 Telegraph Avenue
Oakland, CA 94612
United States
Phone: 510-250-5225