Staff Attorney - LGBTQ+ Advocacy Project (Bronx) bei Legal Services NYC

BRONX LEGAL SERVICES SEEKS STAFF ATTORNEY FOR OUR LGBTQ+ ADVOCACY PROJECT

We are seeking an experienced attorney to join our LGBTQ+ Advocacy Project as a staff attorney.

Our Organization

Bronx Legal Services, the largest provider of free civil legal services in the borough, is part of Legal Services NYC’s network of local programs throughout New York City. Our mission is to advance society’s promise to its most vulnerable members: that they are entitled to equal access to our legal system. For over 55 years, we have provided civil legal services that help our clients meet their essential needs and have challenged the systemic injustices that keep them poor.

Bronx Legal Services prides itself on its Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) efforts. As a social justice organization, we are committed to fighting for a workplace that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive. Our DEIB committee and numerous affinity groups work to foster collegial relationships among staff and allow staff to explore and advocate for racial justice and anti-oppression growth within our organization and through our legal work. All employees are expected to learn about, seek to understand, and work to realize our DEIB goals.

The LGBTQ+ Advocacy Project

The LGBTQ+ Advocacy Project is a general practice unit that provides comprehensive legal services in a single location for the LGBTQ+ community. The Project provides representation in a broad-range of civil legal needs including community and economic development; public assistance, social security, and other benefits; healthcare; advance directives and planning; housing preservation; and, consumer law. The Project also engages in affirmative litigation challenging discrimination and other systemic abuses faced by LGBTQ+ and HIV-affected communities.

Our LGBTQ+ Advocacy Project is part of our combined team: the Public Benefits Unit & LGBTQ+ Advocacy Project.

The Opportunity                                                          

We are seeking a staff attorney as a result of a grant. The staff attorney will provide comprehensive legal services to LGBTQ+ residents of the Bronx, with a primary focus on health law and health access and a secondary focus on family law/intimate partner violence. The staff attorney’s primary role will be providing direct representation in various civil matters. The staff attorney will conduct community education, provider education, off-site intake, and outreach, including intake at community health centers that are already part of our existing medical-legal partnerships. We expect this staff attorney to provide wide-ranging services, with an emphasis on individual representation, that improve the social determinants of health for LGBTQ+-identified Bronx residents.

The staff attorney will report to the Supervising Attorney of the Public Benefits & LGBTQ Advocacy Units.                 

Qualifications

• Admission to the New York State Bar;
• At least two years of combined experience in one or more of the following practice areas: health/home care, family, or public benefits (non-legal experience will be considered);
• Prior experience representing LGBTQ+ people required;
• Prior experience representing litigants at administrative hearings and in City, State, or Federal Courts required;
• Commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) and utilization of DEIB lens in the project, work, and representation;
• Ability to adapt quickly and correct course as well as to identify and achieve goals in an evolving project;
• Superlative communication and interpersonal skills, with an aptitude for building relationships with people across all walks of life;
• Grace, kindness, and empathy, particularly when under pressure, for our clients, team, and agency partners;
• Excellent teacher, facilitator, educator, trainer, coach, and mentor;
• Belief in our ability to create systemic change and commitment to working towards that goal;
• A demonstrated passion for social justice and a commitment to working with low-income communities and communities of color to advance equity;
• Ability to identify trends in our high volume of individual cases that could be addressed by strategic action or creative interventions;
• An understanding of the dynamics of intimate partner/domestic violence and trafficking, as well as the effects abuse, crime, and trauma have on individuals and communities;
• Good writing skills, particularly with taking complex processes and presenting them in a way that is easily understandable and accessible for wide audiences;
• Excellent organizational skills and strong facility with numbers;
• Experience working with low-income people;
• Prior health law experience or prior experience in a medical setting (including a medical-legal partnership), public health, or health policy strongly preferred; and,
• Fluency or proficiency in Spanish or another language commonly spoken by Bronx residents is strongly preferred.

Only candidates selected for interviews will be contacted. No telephone calls. We will not review résumés or other applications sent via any other method, such as Indeed or LinkedIn.

Bronx Legal Services acknowledges that applicants from groups that have been historically marginalized are less likely to apply for positions unless they feel that they meet 100% of a job description’s qualifications. We understand that the ideal candidate might not completely meet the criteria listed above or be equally proficient in each area; we especially encourage applicants who are impacted by LSNYC’s work to submit their application anyway.