Staff Attorney (Housing Unit— Eviction Prevention)

Two Positions

Community Legal Services, Inc. of Philadelphia is a non-profit public interest agency providing free civil legal services to low-income Philadelphia residents.  As the largest provider of free civil legal services in the Philadelphia area, CLS is both locally and nationally renowned as a premier legal services provider dedicated to ensuring access to justice for all low-income individuals and communities.  CLS has eight legal units covering a wide range of civil legal services.  The Housing Unit, located at our 1424 Chestnut Street office, fights for the stability of vulnerable individuals and families by preventing homelessness through legal advocacy and promoting housing quality and affordability for low-income tenants.

The Staff Attorneys will represent clients in both public housing and private landlord-tenant matters. The Staff Attorneys’ position primarily entails a focus on zealous representation of a significant number of individual clients each week in court hearings and administrative hearings. The positions also entails helping to identify systemic issues and engaging in systems and policy advocacy work in consultation with the managing attorney. The Staff Attorneys will also have housing related intake duties and supervision of staff and interns as needed.

Lawyers in the Housing Unit zealously represents private, public, and subsidized housing tenants in matters involving eviction, illegal lockouts, fair housing violations, termination or loss of subsidy, substandard housing, and discrimination, as well as barriers to stable housing for those with criminal records or domestic or sexual violence issues. Representation includes all the elements of litigation including client interviewing, investigation, discovery, identifying and preparing witnesses and exhibits, pleadings, briefs, and representation at hearings at trial level and appellate levels as appropriate in state and federal court.

• Lawyers may also be asked to provide supervision and support to paralegals, social workers, and interns who are providing advice, brief service, and some representation.
   
• Lawyers in the Housing Unit engage in non-litigation focused advocacy, including policy, administrative and legislative advocacy and racial justice initiatives, as well as organizing and teaching community and professional education sessions on a variety of issues, including lead paint elimination, domestic violence, criminal records, federal housing policy,  tenant eviction laws, preservation of affordable housing, etc.
   
• Lawyers in the Housing unit also work with the Managing Attorney to establish connections to community and government agency partners and to develop impact advocacy strategies to remove barriers to housing and general access to the courts for low-income individuals and families.

This position will include some supervision and training of paralegals and student interns.

This is a full-time position covered by the collective bargaining agreement between Community Legal Services, Inc. (CLS) and the Philadelphia Legal Services Union N.O.L.S.W./Local 2320/UAW.  The current minimum starting salary is governed by that agreement and is subject to change according to the provisions of the current collective bargaining agreement.  Raises and benefits are also governed by that agreement.

Community Legal Services, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer.  CLS, Inc. does not discriminate in the selection of employees on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, sexual identity, genetics, age, national origin, disability, or veteran status.  In addition to federal law requirements, CLS complies with all applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment.  This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall and transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.