Housing Rights Staff Attorney (or Senior Staff Attorney)

Type: Fixed term up to 2 years, regular, exempt, full-time position. This position is part of a collective bargaining unit represented by CWA Local 9410. J.D. and California bar membership required. Location: San Francisco. This is a hybrid role that is required to work in the office 2 days a week. Travel is expected throughout Northern California.

About the Role

The Housing Rights Staff Attorney (or Senior Staff Attorney) will chiefly engage in legal representation of California tenants and tenant groups, with a focus on Bay Area tenants and tenant groups in San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, and Sacramento counties. This position is a key member of our Housing Rights team, which adopts a multi-pronged approach to housing defense and anti-displacement, in which the legal representation informs our systems-change work involving impact litigation, narrative change, and policy advocacy.

Staff actively participate in community coalitions and work closely with tenants and grassroots advocates to use policy and impact strategies to protect and advance the rights of low-income communities of color. Another critical component of the program is providing holistic legal services and know-your-rights education to low-income and immigrant tenants who face threats of displacement due to gentrification, harassment, discrimination, and other intimidation tactics. There may also be the opportunity to engage in some instances of cross-programmatic work.

About the Organization

ALC is the nation’s first legal organization focusing on advancing and defending the civil rights of Asian and Pacific Islander (API) communities. Since 1972, ALC has fought for access to affordable housing in San Francisco’s Chinatown, litigated high-profile civil rights cases, advocated for the passage of landmark policy changes, and provided an array of services, including community education, advocacy, and direct client representation to further the rights of low-income immigrants and communities of color.

ALC is based in San Francisco, a hub of the Asian American rights movement, progressive politics, and social justice activism. Our building in Chinatown is the first mixed-use, affordable housing co-op in San Francisco, serving as a model for preserving affordable housing in the city and protecting tenants’ rights.

Responsibilities

• Provide high-quality legal representation to tenants at all stages in unlawful detainer litigation primarily in state court, affirmative litigation in either state or federal court, and administrative proceedings.
• Represent and counsel tenant groups in organizing tenants or campaigns and support tenant-led campaigns and tenant organizing through strategic legal advocacy.
• Manage active and fast-paced caseload of housing rights cases, including maintaining client files, records, and notes, as required by case needs and grant-reporting requirements.
• Conduct intakes and as necessary provide legal advice and counsel to tenants through clinics, held twice a month, and legal consultations.
• Identify systemic problems through direct services work and possibly participate in resulting impact litigation and advocacy efforts.
• Develop policy analysis around housing issues that impact low-income and immigrant tenants.
• Develop and work on impact litigation cases, including multi-tenant and building-wide housing cases.
• Collaborate with Communications staff to develop stories with ALC clients and their communities and execute narrative-shifting strategies.
• Contribute to legal research and analysis to inform or guide ALC strategies for litigation and advocacy to build power among immigrant Asian, Arab, Middle Eastern, and Pacific Islander communities.
• Build and sustain relationships with grassroots community partners who support tenants and/or do anti-displacement work in San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Sacramento, and other California counties.
• Conduct Know Your Rights trainings and other legal education for tenants and community partners.
• Participate in coalitions and provide training, technical assistance, strategy development, and accessible written materials to community organizations and other stakeholders whose work touches on low-income California immigrant tenants.
• Collaborate with other staff in the Housing Rights Program and perform other duties as needed.

Qualifications

• B.A./B.S. and J.D. degrees. California bar membership required.
• At least two (2) years of experience conducting state court litigation or providing legal representation or advice (in any practice area); five (5) or more years of experience is required for a Senior Staff Attorney and highly desired.
• Demonstrated commitment to low-income, immigrant, and/or API/AMEMSA communities.
• Excellent skills in legal research, analysis, and written and oral advocacy.
• Demonstrated ability to think creatively, be strategic, and exercise good judgment especially among varied community stakeholders.
• Strong interpersonal, organizational, and presentation skills.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and as part of a team to manage multiple cases and projects in a timely manner, and meet deadlines under time pressure.
• Highly motivated self-starter with a willingness to learn and grow.
• Ability to work flexible hours, including some weekends and evenings.

Skills

• Previous experience in housing law, eviction defense, fair housing, and/or administrative law practice (highly desirable).
• Previous experience in direct services, litigation, policy advocacy, and/or community lawyering (highly desirable).
• Previous experience working with clients who require interpretation and/or translation (highly desirable).
• Fluency in a non-English language, particularly Cantonese, Mandarin, Spanish, Tagalog, or Vietnamese (highly desirable).

Benefits

ALC’s comprehensive benefits package includes:

• Generous vacation and paid holidays.
• Medical, dental, disability, and life insurance coverage (ALC pays 100% of premiums for employees and 75% for qualified dependents).
• A flexible spending account (FSA).
• Commuter benefits.
• 401(k) retirement plan with employer non-elective contribution and match.

Pay

The Housing Rights Staff Attorney salary range is $87,550 - $137,620. The Senior Staff Attorney’s salary range is $113,912 - $148,629. The compensation is determined based on relevant years of experience and in accordance with the negotiated salary scale in the union contract for this position. This position is eligible for language premiums for demonstrated proficiency in a language other than English that is regularly used in their job duties. The annual premium is $1,500 for oral proficiency and $1,500 for written proficiency in each language.

Schedule

• Hybrid role required to work in the office 2 days a week.
• All ALC staff are expected to participate in regular check-in meetings with their supervisor/supervisees, staff meetings, team meetings, and other organization meetings, as required. This includes two (2) annual retreats, an anniversary celebration dinner, and meetings as needed in the San Francisco Bay Area.
• Travel is expected throughout Northern California.
• Flexible hours, including some weekends and evenings.