NATIONAL LEGAL DIRECTOR

The National Legal Director serves as a thought leader, manager, and litigation supervisor, working collaboratively to develop and execute MJC’s legal strategy.

The position reports to and serves as a partner to MJC’s Executive Director in actualizing MJC’s mission across all parts of the organization, including litigation and advocacy, external and internal communications, operations, and development. In partnership with, and with direct supervision of office directors, the National Legal Director oversees the implementation of MJC’s legal strategy, striking an appropriate balance between national cohesion and office-level autonomy.

The National Legal Director is a member of the Leadership Team and collaborates to provide strategic organizational leadership.

Who We Are:

MJC is a national nonprofit civil rights organization. We represent people who have been harmed by America’s criminal legal system, seeking to vindicate their rights, elevate their story, and hold people with power accountable. We do this primarily through cutting-edge litigation and advocacy across the country, on end-to-end issues in the criminal legal system, from policing, to prosecutorial discretion, to rights of indigent defendants, to mass incarceration, to prison conditions, to wrongful convictions and the death penalty. For more information on our work, visit www.macarthurjustice.org.

The criminal legal system disproportionately harms people of color, people from low-income communities, people who were formerly incarcerated, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ individuals. We strongly encourage people who identify within these and other communities underrepresented in the legal profession to apply. All applicants must have and be committed to the cultural competence required to work with clients, co-workers, and community partners who come from different backgrounds and experiences.

What You’ll Do:

Strategy & Leadership

• • Develop and refine the overall strategic direction for MJC’s legal work to pursue MJC’s overarching mission, values, and strategic goals most effectively in collaboration with the Executive Director and office directors
  • Serve as a strategic partner to the Executive Director and leadership team in actualizing MJC’s mission
  • Regularly interface with MJC’s Managing Director of Operations, Director of Communications, and Director of Development to maximize strategic alignment.
  • Participate in Board meetings and serve as a corporate officer

Implementation & Management of Legal Program

• • Lead the design and implementation of a realistic and concrete plan to execute the organization’s legal strategy
  • Oversee MJC’s legal function, including direct supervision of the organization’s five office directors, and indirect oversight of the organization’s full legal team of about 50 professionals
  • Motivate, nurture, and connect a diverse, inclusive, and high-performing team
  • Direct the case approval process, including reviewing proposed new matters for mission alignment and impact, as well as ensuring adequate staffing and resources for matters in collaboration with office directors, prior to approval by the Executive Director
  • Develop performance management metrics and a professional development program for all legal professionals in the organization in partnership with the Managing Director of Operations and Director of Human Resources
  • Develop routines to assess the impact of MJC’s legal work and support a culture of constant learning and improvement in partnership with office directors and support from the Director of Human Resources
  • Advise and serve as a thought partner on case strategy, as necessary or as requested by office directors
  • Where necessary, oversee, edit, and approve major filings and litigation decisions in particularly high-profile or complex matters

External Relations & Development

• Build external relationships and serve as an advocate for MJC with external audiences.
• In collaboration with office directors, maintain existing external partnerships and identify and build relationships with potential new partners and allies, including law firms who support our work as co-counsel or provide other litigation support to MJC
• As needed and in collaboration with the Director of Communications and Office Directors, act as spokesperson with external audiences concerning organization-wide advocacy, including the media and funders
• Work collaboratively with other organizational leaders in cultivating and pursuing development opportunities for MJC

Legal Ethics and Compliance

• • Serve as the organization’s primary contact for important issues of professional responsibility and legal ethics
  • Counsel MJC on compliance requirements and risk mitigation

Qualifications

Education: Bachelor’s Degree and J.D. degree required

Skills and Experience:

• At least 10 years of litigation experience, including experience in complex civil rights litigation
• At least 5 years of experience managing others in litigation, including lawyers, legal fellows, legal interns, and paralegals
• Experience overseeing a legal practice, including extensive experience collaborating with outside co-counsel and private law firms
• Ability to think creatively and strategically about the direction of a legal program
• Excellent legal research, writing, and analytical skills
• High emotional intelligence and cultural competency
• Ability to plan, manage, and be decisive under a tight deadline with the ability to multitask and be flexible and effective in fast-paced and high-pressure situations
• Ability to collaborate across offices, departments, and geographies and to work effectively with colleagues at all levels of the organization
• Understanding of the important role litigation plays in exposing injustice, raising visibility, and movement building
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to promote the legal program

Knowledge, Abilities, and Commitments:

• A collaborative and team-driven management style appropriate to leading a group of highly accomplished and experienced office directors; in other words, a “first among equals” approach that requires directiveness at times, but values collaboration, trust, and shared vision as indispensable components of effective leadership
• Alignment with MacArthur Justice Center’s mission and values
• A passion and demonstrated interest in social justice reform; experience in the criminal legal system, public policy, or related fields is strongly preferred
• The ability to move start-up projects from concept to completion and adapt as needed based on learning and input from others while also demonstrating initiative, responsiveness, and thoughtfulness
• Strong analytical and strategic thinking, along with the ability to manage stressful situations
• Excellent judgment, integrity, and commitment to personal responsibility and accountability
• Strong written and oral communication skills, including the ability to make complex issues understandable and relevant to external audiences
• Ability to prioritize projects, meet deadlines, and work collaboratively as part of a team to support others in doing the same
• Willingness to honor the diverse experiences of MJC staff and clients

License and Certifications:

Admission to a state bar, and willingness to obtain admission to the state where the National Legal Director will be based, within one year of hiring.

Travel:

Moderate domestic travel for organizational meetings, travel to state offices, and case-related needs.

LOCATION:

MJC operates on a hybrid schedule and requires some days in the office each week. The National Legal Director must reside within commuting distance to any of the following offices: Washington DC, Chicago, IL, St. Louis, MO, New Orleans, LA or Oxford, MS.

TO APPLY:

Please submit the following:

• • A cover letter addressing your experience relevant to the considerations above,
  • A resume and
  • Professional references

The starting salary range for this position is $190,000 – $225,000, commensurate with years of experience and includes an excellent benefits package that includes employer-sponsored health, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance, EAP, FSA plans, 401K, and a generous paid-time-off policy. Learn more about our benefits at macarthurjustice.org/benefits/

MJC is a (PSLF) eligible employer. For more information visit:

studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service#qualifying-employment

MJC offers an excellent benefits package that includes employer-sponsored health, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance, EAP, FSA plans, 401K, and a generous paid-time-off policy.