Senior Staff Attorney

Full-time, permanent, exempt union position (Local 2320) based at the New York Civil Liberties Union in New York, NY. NYCLU staff currently work in a hybrid model with required in-person days.

About the role

The NYCLU seeks a senior staff attorney (6 or more years of legal experience) to conduct litigation and related advocacy in the NYCLU’s legal department. The senior staff attorney will work on the full range of NYCLU issues, with a particular focus on immigration and immigrants’ rights, as well as challenging institutional and systemic racism that undermines civil rights and civil liberties, reproductive justice, criminal legal system reform, the rights of LGBTQ communities and gender equity, government transparency, free expression, equal protection, police misconduct, student rights, and surveillance and privacy.

The NYCLU’s Legal department is comprised of seventeen lawyers, a director of legal operations, an investigator, three paralegals, a data research analyst, and a legal assistant. Legal Department staff work on a wide range of civil rights and civil liberties cases in federal and state courts and in administrative tribunals. They also support the legislative, advocacy, communications, and field work of the NYCLU.

Responsibilities

• Conduct litigation in federal and state courts and in administrative forums, including preparing pleadings, motions, and briefs; conducting discovery; presenting oral arguments; and handling appeals.
• Engage in pre-litigation analysis and advocacy, including evaluating and following up on intakes; conducting factual investigations and legal analyses; utilizing the Freedom of Information Law and the Freedom of Information Act; and preparing demand letters.
• Participate in public education on civil liberties and civil rights issues through speaking engagements and published writings.
• Collaborate with leaders and staff across the NYCLU—including the Education Policy Center, Racial Justice Center, Policy, Communications, and Field Departments—to ensure an integrated approach to addressing injustice.
• Supervise and mentor law students as part of the NYCLU summer-intern program and contribute to the professional development of other members of the legal department.
• Develop relationships with pro-bono partners and networks.

Requirements

• Excellent writing, research, analytical, and communication skills.
• Six or more years of legal experience, with a preference for significant public-interest litigation experience.
• Demonstrated ability to think strategically and advocate effectively, including coordinating with teams working on public-interest litigation or advocacy.
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively in a diverse public-interest setting and to foster and support diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace.
• Demonstrated commitment to the goals and priorities of the NYCLU.
• Admission to the New York Bar.

Qualifications

• Prior experience with immigration, impact litigation, civil rights, or constitutional law is a significant plus.
• Fluency in Spanish is a plus.

Pay

Salary is subject to the NYCLU’s attorney salary scale, which is based on years of legal experience. The current full-time starting salary for a lawyer with 6 years of experience is $113,500.

Benefits

This position may be eligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program.