Staff Attorney, Immigrant Justice Team

About the role

The Legal Aid Society is seeking two immediate openings for an attorney in the Immigrant Justice Team, part of the Criminal Defense Practice. One position will be for the Queens CDP office and the other is yet to be determined.

Responsibilities

• Be part of the defense team representing non-citizen clients in criminal court.
• Advocate on behalf of clients in state criminal proceedings and in related matters involving the application of federal, New York State, and New York City law.
• Consult with and advise non-citizen clients and criminal defense attorneys on the potential immigration consequences of their criminal cases and seek, consistent with our 6th Amendment duty, to mitigate those consequences where possible.
• Train and educate LAS staff and community members on criminal-immigration issues and emergent trends.
• Engage in policy advocacy on behalf of clients.
• Depending on interest and availability, represent Criminal Defense Practice clients on immigration matters including removal defense and affirmative applications.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• New York State Bar admission.
• Minimum of 3 years’ experience as a criminal defense attorney, immigration attorney, or Crim-Imm Specialist attorney (or a combination of these).
• Applicants should ideally have at least one year of Crim-Imm experience.
• Crim-Imm experience includes serving as an immigration specialist at a public defender organization or practicing removal defense or criminal defense with a substantive Crim-Imm component.
• Law school clinics, internships, volunteer work, and work as a Board of Immigration Appeals-accredited representative may count toward this requirement.
• Other comparable Crim-Imm experience will also be considered.
• Excellent research, writing, analytical, oral advocacy, and organizational skills.
• Able to work independently as well as collaboratively in a team and to manage challenging, varied, and complex cases.

Benefits

The Legal Aid Society offers a generous benefits package including health insurance, paid vacation, disability, and life insurance, and more. Click here to read more about benefits. Higher Education and Loan Forgiveness. The Legal Aid Society is a qualified employer for the purposes of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness. This position allows an employee to take advantage of PSLF and other State and Federal loan forgiveness programs. Additionally, employees who are New York residents may be eligible for assistance from New York state to assist with loan repayments, depending on years of practice. To learn more, click the links below.

studentaid.gov

hesc.ny.gov/loan-forgiveness-programs

How to apply

All applications must be completed online via the career portal. We do not accept emailed applications. Submit the following documents as a combined PDF: Cover Letter, Resume, Writing Sample.

Equal Employment Opportunity

The Legal Aid Society is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Employer. We prohibit discriminatory employment actions against and treatment of our employees and applicants for employment based on actual or perceived race or color, size (including bone structure, body size, height, shape, and weight), religion or creed, alienage or citizenship status, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity (one’s internal deeply-held sense of one’s gender which may be the same or different from one’s sex assigned at birth); gender expression (the representation of gender as expressed through, for example, one’s name, choice of pronouns, clothing, haircut, behavior, voice, or body characteristics; gender expression may not conform to traditional gender-based stereotypes assigned to specific gender identities), disability, marital status, relationship and family structure (including domestic partnerships, polyamorous families and individuals, chosen family, platonic co-parents, and multigenerational families), genetic information or predisposing genetic characteristics, military status, domestic violence victim status, arrest or pre-employment conviction record, credit history, unemployment status, caregiver status, salary history, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

The Legal Aid Society is committed to a work culture of zealous advocacy, respect, diversity and inclusion, client-oriented defense, access to justice and excellent representation. We are dedicated to building a strong professional relationship with each of our clients (people), to understanding their diverse circumstances, and to meeting their needs. Our ability to achieve these goals depends on the efforts of all of us and our ability to build strong relationships with our colleagues. Every member of our community is expected to continuously learn about the dynamic, evolving, and emerging field of knowledge of identity, bias, and systemic forms of oppression and participate in productive efforts to dismantle bias in all forms.