Director for Economic Justice and Pro Bono Initiatives

About Fordham

Founded in 1841, Fordham is the Jesuit University of New York, offering an exceptional education distinguished by the Jesuit tradition to more than 16,000 students in its nine colleges and schools. It has residential campuses in the Bronx and Manhattan, a campus in West Harrison, N.Y., the Louis Calder Center Biological Field Station in Armonk, N.Y., and the London Centre in the United Kingdom.

About the role

Reporting to the Executive Director of the Feerick Center for Social Justice, the Director for Economic Justice and Pro Bono Initiatives leads the Feerick Center’s multi-faceted economic justice work, including ensuring the smooth on-the-ground running of clinics and the provision of high-quality, limited-scope pro bono services, and oversees all operational and programmatic aspects of the Feerick Center’s new pro bono initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Plans and develops initiatives related to the Center’s economic justice work and leads the Center’s economic justice advocacy efforts, including legislative campaigns, amici briefs, and engagements with relevant stakeholders, policy makers, and court officials.
• Oversees all operational and programmatic aspects of Economic Justice Programs and Pro Bono Initiatives at the Center, including operating volunteer-staffed, limited-scope, court-based legal clinics, providing other limited-scope pro bono services, developing pilots, organizing service trips and supervising remote pro bono opportunities.
• Oversees all aspects of pro bono management, including developing and maintaining legal templates and forms, program manuals, policies, protocols, recruiting, training, supervising, and recognizing the Center’s volunteers, both attorneys and law students.
• Serves as the principal point of contact for the day-to-day operation of the consumer debt defense programs for key constituents, including court personnel, legal services partners, and volunteers.
• Oversees all aspects of the Center’s case management system in connection with pro bono services and ensures integrity of data collection and tracking.
• Helps identify and pursue funding opportunities and manages grant reporting in connection with the Center’s consumer defense and other pro bono initiatives.
• Spearheads community engagement efforts to ensure community- and client-centered programming in connection with the Center’s consumer defense and other pro bono initiatives.
• Helps develop Know-Your-Rights and outreach materials in connection with the Center’s pro bono initiatives.

Management responsibilities

• Supervises individual contributors (admin, clerical, maintenance) and, based on scope, occasionally other managers.
• Handles hiring, training, development, performance management, and corrective action, with significant input on compensation decisions.

Requirements

• J.D. degree.
• Admitted or eligible for admission to the bar of the State of New York.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience as a lawyer, preferably in a civil legal services organization and preferably providing consumer defense.
• Experience with pro bono and volunteer management.
• Fluency in Spanish and English.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated commitment to race equity, anti-racism, and economic justice in the workplace and in providing legal services.
• Demonstrated analytical, legal writing, and advocacy skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills and team player with the ability to work in a positive, collaborative, and inclusive environment.
• Self-motivated worker with strong initiative, ability to work independently and with superior judgment.
• Exceptional organizational skills and ability to balance multiple projects and deadlines.
• Exceptional attention to detail.

Preferred qualifications

• Minimum starting salary $105,000; maximum starting salary $130,000.