Attorney in Charge - PDD Boston Central Office

Overview

The Public Defender Division of the Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS), the Massachusetts public defender agency, is excited to announce the opening of the new Boston Central Office. We are seeking an experienced attorney to be the first Attorney in Charge of the Boston Central Office. This new office will be located at 75 Federal Street, Boston and will take case assignments in the Boston Municipal Court, Central Division and Charlestown Division.

Courts Served

The PDD Boston Central Office will represent clients in cases that originate out of the Boston Municipal Court, Central Division and Charlestown Division as well as take Superior Court cases in Suffolk Superior Court.

Agency Overview

CPCS is the state agency in Massachusetts responsible for providing an attorney when the state or federal constitution or a state statute requires the appointment of an attorney for a person who cannot afford to retain one. The agency provides representation in criminal, delinquency, youthful offender, family regulation, guardianship, mental health, sexually dangerous person, and sex offender registry cases, as well as in appeals and post-conviction and post-judgment proceedings related to those matters. The clients we represent are diverse across every context imaginable and bring many unique cultural dimensions to the matters we address. This reality creates a critical need for CPCS staff to be culturally competent and able to work well with people of different races, ethnicities, genders and/or sexual orientation identities, abilities, and limited English proficiency, among other protected characteristics.

Office Overview

The newly created PDD Boston Central Office will be located at 75 Federal Street and will represent clients in cases that originate out of the Boston Municipal Court, Central Division and Charlestown Division as well as take Superior Court cases in Suffolk Superior Court. The PDD Boston Central Office will include four Supervising Attorneys, approximately 22 Trial Attorneys, two Social Services Advocates, two Investigators, a Paralegal, a Supervising Administrative Assistant and two Administrative Assistants. The Trial Attorneys will be a mix of experienced and new attorney staff.

Position Overview

The Attorney-in-Charge of the Boston Central Office is expected to perform a multitude of functions and responsibilities that are unmistakably attendant to being the leader of a high functioning trial office within the agency. The Attorney-in-Charge supervises and assists staff Trial Attorneys to ensure the zealous advocacy and effective representation of every assigned client entrusted to our legal care. The Attorney-in-Charge is responsible for managing the Supervising Staff Attorneys, along with all other defense team personnel assigned to the office, which is comprised of Social Service Advocates, Investigators, and highly trained Administrative Assistants. The Attorney-in-Charge is expected to maintain an active, albeit reduced caseload, and it is also incumbent upon the Attorney-in-Charge to provide the same fullness and excellence of representation, no different than any other Trial Attorney, while consistently striking a balance between those responsibilities, and the required managerial duties and obligations of an Attorney-in-Charge.

Qualifications

• Eligible to practice law in this jurisdiction as a member of the Massachusetts bar in good standing, or as an attorney in another jurisdiction who is eligible to engage in limited Massachusetts practice under Supreme Judicial Court Rule 3:04;
• A minimum of seven years of experience handling criminal cases, at least four of which were as assigned counsel for indigent persons in criminal cases;
• Access to an automobile in order to travel to courts, clients, and investigation locations that are not easily accessible by public transportation;
• Access to home internet access sufficient to work remotely.

Skills

• Significant Superior Court or equivalent jury trial experience;
• Administrative and managerial skills and supervisory experience;
• A demonstrated commitment to the principle of zealous advocacy in the representation of indigent persons in criminal cases;
• Able and committed to complete annual performance evaluations in a timely and comprehensive manner;
• Strong interpersonal and analytical skills;
• Ability to work in community and defense-oriented capacity, both independently and collaboratively;
• Foreign language skills, Spanish in particular, are desirable.

Responsibilities

• Supervise and assist trial lawyers in the development of trial strategies, motions practice, and myriad other tasks that trial lawyers must undertake;
• Supervise and develop non-attorney support staff in the office;
• Understand, communicate, and ensure compliance with the agency’s Personnel Policies;
• Be thoroughly familiar with the CPCS case management system, including the ability to generate and interpret case statistics and reports;
• Ensure that attorneys’ schedules and caseloads are reasonable and conform with CPCS guidelines, performance standards, and practice advisories;
• Ensure that case files are properly maintained and scanned at the conclusion of each case;
• Assign all cases promptly;
• Ensure that all cases are promptly opened and closed in the agency’s case management system;
• Ensure that all cases are promptly checked for conflicts of interest, and when discovered, reassign those cases immediately;
• Ensure that detailed running sheets for each case are current and electronically maintained;
• Ensure that annual performance evaluations are completed for all staff in a timely and comprehensive manner;
• Disseminate information about recent developments in the law, CPCS policies and practices, and other relevant matters to staff in a timely manner;
• Provide ongoing in-house training to ensure continued excellence by all staff in furtherance of the CPCS mission statement;
• Foster positive relationships within the community and courthouses, and ensure that a professional relationship and leadership role is maintained with the assigned private bar in the county;
• Provide zealous and effective representation of the AIC’s own clients consistent with PDD guidelines and performance standards;
• Attend regular meetings with other office heads, Managing Directors, and the Deputy Chief Counsel to discuss management and policy issues.

EEO Statement

The Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS) is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, ethnicity, sex, disability, religion, age, veteran or military status, genetic information, gender identity, or sexual orientation as required by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and other applicable federal and state statutes and organizational policies. Applicants who have questions about equal employment opportunity or who need reasonable accommodations can contact the Chief Human Resources Officer, Sandra DeBow-Huang, at sdebow@publiccounsel.net.