Staff Attorney

Under limited supervision, to practice law aggressively on behalf of eligible clients. The primary role of this position is to represent their defendant in the criminal court system. This encompasses arraignments, pretrial hearings, settlement conferences, trails and sentence hearings. They defend adults and juveniles at the federal, state and local level. This position combines courtroom representation of individual parents with systems and policy advocacy to improve outcomes for vulnerable families. It will entail significant courtroom advocacy with a heavy focus on high-quality client representation.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES
· Participate in all aspects of litigation including, but not limited to, client interviews, factual investigation, legal research, discovery, preparation of legal documents, negotiations, trials, and appellate work in both State and Federal Courts; to appear at administrative hearings.
· Provide direct representation to youth and adults, which includes gathering, mitigating evidence and advocating for their legal interests in administrative proceedings;
· Work with the local agencies to ensure interdisciplinary model provides the best possible representation to the clients, identifying ways to support clients in meaningful ways beyond the hearing representation;
· Manage administrative aspects of the clients appointments, including communicating with local agency staff, ensuring adequate coverage of assigned dockets, and properly recording time spent on program activities;
· Maintain a case management system, record case notes for each client, communicate with staff, record outcomes and complete proper case documentation;
· Develop and cultivate relationships with coalition members (Aftercare workers, service providers, and law enforcement);
· Participate in weekly case review meetings to discuss the pending cases in the program;
· Attend staff meetings, legal team meetings, and other program meetings as assigned;
· Keep abreast of changes in the law and participate in identified trainings to further legal knowledge and skills;
· Perform such other duties as the position requires or as assigned by the Director of Litigation or the Supervising Attorney.