Staff Attorney

Staff Attorney Statewide Advocacy Support Unit

Temporary Full-Time One Baltimore 4 Jobs Project

Maryland Legal Aid announces the availability of a full-time staff attorney position, as part of its Community Lawyering Project, based in its Baltimore City office. Maryland Legal Aid has been awarded a one-year grant to provide legal services to participants of job training programs in Baltimore City. The programs target African-American individuals aged 16-29 from low-income and distressed neighborhoods. Some of the job training programs are supported by the Baltimore City Mayor’s Office of Employment Development’s 1B4J (One Baltimore 4 Jobs) program, which has received federal funds to provide job opportunities for the target population. The project attorney will conduct on-site “legal check-ups” of participants of the training programs, file petitions to expunge criminal records where appropriate, address other civil legal needs of participants, and develop expertise in child support matters and other substantive areas identified as creating barriers to achieving meaningful employment. Anyone interested in applying must send an updated resume and cover letter to Amy Petkovsek, Director of Advocacy for Training and Pro Bono.

Duties and Responsibilities:
1. Screen training program participants for eligibility and make referrals, as appropriate;
2. Conduct preliminary and subsequent interviews with participants and administer “legal check-ups” to comprehensively assess participants’ needs for civil legal services;
3. Conduct factual investigations, analysis, and legal research;
4. Advise clients of results of investigations and research and counsel clients about their options;
5. Prepare legal documents, including, but not limited to, correspondence, pleadings, motions, discovery, memoranda of law, briefs, and other legal documents;
6. Develop case theories and strategies for the representation of clients;
7. Prepare cases and represent clients in negotiations, hearings, trials, and appeals;
8. Work closely with non-profit organizations, representatives of local government, community groups and other legal providers to conduct trainings of participants, and community outreach and education and to support appropriate strategies that benefit the target population;
9. Support Maryland Legal Aid’s Community Lawyering Project by assisting with expungements and other clinic needs when feasible. 10. Conduct “Know Your Rights” legal information sessions with job training program attendees.
11. Work with pro bono attorneys, students, and volunteers to collaborate on 1B4J clinics and initiatives.