Attorney (Senior) - Equal Access and Housing

About the role

The Equal Access and Housing Practice Group seeks a senior attorney who will lead, mentor, and work collaboratively on various advocacy initiatives to end discrimination against people with disabilities and increase access.

The goal of our team’s work is to provide individualized help to improve housing stability and access to private and public programs for people with disabilities while meeting federal and state grant requirements.

Responsibilities

• Develop, lead, and/or participate in litigation—including class action lawsuits, complex litigation, and/or appeals—that is responsive to the needs of individuals with disabilities.
• Represent individual clients in negotiations, mediations, administrative proceedings, and judicial proceedings.
• Supervise and/or mentor the work of attorneys, advocates, fellows, clerks, and/or interns/externs, as assigned.
• Prepare and/or coordinate training materials, publications, reports, or special projects, or make presentations about legal work as necessary.
• Provide technical assistance and substantive training to other Disability Rights California staff in areas of expertise, and participate in the identification and development of substantive and skills-based training for staff.
• Collaborate with other agencies and organizations to address new or recurring problems and issues in the provision of services to clients.

Requirements

• Juris Doctor degree (JD) and admitted to the California State Bar plus seven (7) years of experience practicing law or internal candidates who have worked at DRC for two continuous years and have six years of legal experience.
• Excellent advocacy skills (research, writing, analytic, and oral).
• Demonstrated ability to lead multiple and complex advocacy projects, build strong relationships, and work well in collaboration with others.
• Demonstrated commitment – through lived experience and/or employment history – to working with people with disabilities and low-income clients, and incorporating race equity and community lawyering principles into their work.
• Expertise in one or more substantive areas of law of affecting the rights of and services for people with disabilities (such as Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Due Process Clause of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), Unruh Civil Rights Act, the Disabled Persons Act, CA Gov. Code Section 11135, etc.).
• Experience in two or more of: administrative proceedings, discovery, motion practice, class action litigation, trial advocacy, or appellate practice related to the position.
• Four (4) years of successful results in litigation—including class action lawsuits, complex litigation, and/or appeals, administrative proceedings, writs, or single plaintiff / single defendant lawsuits.
• Experience working with persons with disabilities and/or experience working with persons from multi-ethnic communities.
• Experience in the disability rights or justice movement and/or extensive contacts in the disability community;
• A strong sense of professional responsibility and ethics.
• An ability to meet deadlines and perform multiple tasks while maintaining attention to detail.
• The ability to work independently with appropriate supervision.

Desired Qualifications

• Able to communicate fluently and write effectively in Spanish or an Asian language; or able to communicate using American Sign Language.
• Experience with and/or extensive contacts in ethnic or language distinct communities.
• Understanding of how to incorporate race equity and community lawyering principles into their work.
• Able to maintain positive relationships with diverse groups of people.

Pay

$89,436 - $130,958 annually (Band 12 - Based on experience and internal equity analysis)