Director of Legal Education and Professional Development

Legal Services NYC (LSNYC) fights poverty and seeks racial, social and economic justice for low-income New Yorkers. For over 50 years, we have challenged systemic injustices that trap people in poverty and provided legal services that help our clients meet basic needs for housing, income and economic security, family and immigration stability, education, and health care. LSNYC is the largest civil legal services provider in the country; our staff of more than 600 people in neighborhood-based offices and outreach sites across all five boroughs helps hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers annually. We partner with scores of community-based and client-run organizations, elected officials, public agencies, pro bono lawyers, and the courts to maximize our effectiveness. Our work fights discrimination and helps to achieve equity for all low-income New Yorkers.

About the role

The Director will manage LSNYC's Justice Learning Center (JLC), including CLE programming, onboarding, skills training, supervisory and management training, and resources that support high-quality, client-centered advocacy across LSNYC's citywide practice. The JLC provides a wide array of substantive, skills, ethics and professional practice courses to LSNYC staff, the larger public interest legal community, and the pro bono bar. The courses are taught by experienced instructors, including LSNYC experts, private lawyers, law school professors, and leading lawyers from the public interest community.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement an annual training strategy and calendar that responds to LSNYC's organizational priorities, practice needs, and staff development goals.
• Design, coordinate, and evaluate CLE and professional development programs, including substantive law, litigation and advocacy skills, ethics, professional responsibility, client-centered practice, trauma-informed practice, technology, supervision, management, and leadership development.
• Partner with practice leaders, borough and citywide offices, Human Resources, Compliance, and other stakeholders to assess training needs and promote consistent, high-quality practice across LSNYC.
• Develop and maintain onboarding curricula and training pathways for new staff, including attorneys, advocates, supervisors, and managers, in coordination with Human Resources, practice leaders, and local office leadership.
• Supervise Learning Center staff, consultants, instructors, and training projects, as applicable.
• Maintain CLE compliance systems, attendance records, course evaluations, training materials, and online resource libraries.
• Develop resources to help LSNYC advocacy staff prepare community legal education presentations and materials.
• Support Human Resources in developing training for non-attorney staff, including onboarding, supervision, management, and organization-wide professional development programs.
• Use feedback, participation data, and other measures to evaluate training effectiveness and improve future programming.

Requirements

• J.D. from an accredited law school
• At least ten years of experience practicing law
• At least five years of experience designing, planning, facilitating, or evaluating legal education, CLE, or professional development programs.
• Demonstrated knowledge of poverty law, civil legal services, and issues affecting low-income communities.
• Experience supervising staff, managing projects, and working collaboratively across teams.
• Strong curriculum design, facilitation, organizational, and project management skills, informed by adult learning principles.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, including the ability to translate complex legal and practice issues into clear training materials.
• A demonstrated passion for social justice and commitment to low-income people and communities.

Qualifications (Preferred)

• A degree or certificate in education, adult learning, organizational development, instructional design, or in a related field.
• Familiarity with training-related technology (webinars, etc).

Benefits

LSNYC offers an excellent benefits package including health, dental and vision plans, contributions to a 403(b) plan, and generous leave time.

Pay

Salary Range: $142,000–$185,000 USD, commensurate with experience.

Schedule

This is a hybrid position based in New York City with a minimum of 5 in-office days over each two-week period.