Staff Attorney (12 months)

POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT (MAY 2021)

GENEVA, NEW YORK

FULL-TIME STAFF ATTORNEY (12 Months)

The Geneva office of Legal Assistance of Western New York, Inc.® (LawNY®) is hosting a one year, full time staff attorney position, sponsored by the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York to focus on eviction and foreclosure defense services. This position is a year-long position which will run from June 1, 2021 until May 31, 2022.

LawNY® is a not-for-profit organization which provides civil legal services to low-income clients in a fourteen-county region in western New York State. The Geneva office serves Ontario, Wayne, Livingston, Yates, and Seneca Counties in western New York.

LawNY® practices in a wide variety of courts, including justice court, state and county court, bankruptcy court and federal court, as well as administrative agency proceedings. Program staff includes attorneys and paralegals who work across areas of specialization to bring a holistic approach to addressing issues affecting our clients and communities. LawNY® focuses on meeting the legal needs of individual clients, as well as addressing systemic problems that create barriers for clients living in poverty.

Core responsibilities include:

• Maintain a full-time caseload representing eligible clients facing eviction and/or foreclosure.
• Develop specialized knowledge in one or more of the following substantive areas of poverty law: Real Property/Foreclosure and Landlord/Tenant defense.
• Experience in foreclosure due to delinquency on mortgages or property taxes, low income homeowner issues, landlord/tenant, fair housing, federal and state housing programs, code enforcement, mobile homes, redevelopment and land use, homelessness, bankruptcy, consumer issues, and the intersection of all these issues with racial justice.
• Advocate in a variety of legal settings, including but not limited to litigating in various levels of New York State and federal courts, appellate practice, bankruptcy practice, mediations and negotiations, transactional work and administrative law hearings.
• Collaborate with other LawNY®advocates, the private bar, human services providers, non-profit organizations and community, client or other advocacy groups to address the issues facing directly-impacted community members., including providing community legal education.

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 striving to transcend the construct of race and be an anti-racist law firm. We encourage staff to bring their whole selves to work each day and pledge to celebrate every aspect of who they are. 

Desired Skills: the ideal candidate will have many of the following qualifications:

• Prior legal experience, particularly with low-income and other oppressed communities and clients.
• Experience with the courts and agencies in the Geneva service area, or capability to successfully build relationships with directly impacted community members, courts, and community agencies
• Strong oral and written communication skills for a wide variety of audiences.
• Strong fact-gathering and interview skills
• Strong problem-solving abilities, time management, and organizational skills.
• Ability to work under deadline and manage multiple tasks.
• Ability to work effectively both independently and in a team.
• Ability to empathize and sensitively respond to people in crisis situations.
• Lived experience with our client communities is an advantage but is not required.
• Understanding of the principles of race equity analysis and the intersection of racism and poverty and their application to LawNY’s organizational life and to our work.
• Excellent use of Google Drive/GSuite, Word, and Excel; database programs.
• Fluency in Spanish is an advantage but is not required.

Salary: Salary is dependent on experience and based on a pay scale with annual increments. Beginning salary for a Staff Attorney with no prior experience is $50,000 and the salary for a Staff Attorney with five years of relevant experience is $57,500 as per the LawNY® salary scale. We also provide an excellent package of fringe benefits including health, disability, and life insurance as well as generous leave provisions.

Start Date: We will be conducting interviews the first week of June, and would like applicants to start as soon as possible.

LawNY® maintains an extensive safe operations plan and seeks to ensure the safety of both our staff and our clients. All staff are still required to fulfill their professional obligations, which will require direct in-person contact with clients and in-person appearances in court or administrative agencies as needed to perform the functions of their role.