Staff Attorney/Senior Staff Attorney

About CAASE

Mission and Vision

CAASE envisions a community free from all forms of sexual exploitation, including sexual assault and the commercial sex trade. CAASE addresses the culture, institutions, and individuals that perpetrate, profit from, or support sexual exploitation. Our work includes prevention, policy reform, community engagement, and legal services.

About the Opportunity

Job Function

CAASE is hiring for a Staff Attorney or Senior Staff Attorney to start in January 2025. CAASE provides free legal services to survivors of sexual assault, sex trafficking, and cyber sexual abuse. CAASE attorneys are involved in all aspects of CAASE’s substantive legal work, from development of legal strategies to implementation. They handle a variety of complex cases within the legal department, including protective orders, cyber sexual abuse and revenge porn, employment law, and enforcing the rights of sexual assault survivors within the criminal justice system. Attorneys may also provide training to community partners on crime victims’ rights and legal options for sexual assault survivors.

Responsibilities

Direct Legal Services

CAASE attorneys carry an active caseload of up to 18 clients and are expected to work independently according to the organization’s policies and procedures. Specific tasks include:

• Meet with, assess comprehensive legal needs of, and provide legal advice and representation to survivors of sexual assault, sex trafficking, and cyber sexual abuse.
• Provide advocacy and representation to survivors seeking civil protection and/or relief and to survivors seeking to have the criminal justice system investigate and prosecute perpetrators of sexual assault and exploitation.
• Address the civil legal needs of survivors related to privacy, physical safety, education, employment, housing, and financial compensation matters.
• Utilize civil rights remedies, including the Illinois Civil No Contact Order Act, Stalking No Contact Order Act, Domestic Violence Act, Gender Violence Act, Trafficking Victims Protection Act, Rights of Crime Victims and Witnesses Act, and Victims’ Economic Security and Safety Act to represent survivors of sexual assault and exploitation in civil matters.
• Maintain organized and detailed case files and client database.

External Partnerships and Community Engagement

• Collaborate with Chicago-based rape crisis centers and advocates in providing comprehensive services to victims, including engaging and communicating with specific advocates on clients’ cases.
• Develop and present educational programming on CAASE’s legal services program and the legal rights of survivors for Chicago-area attorneys, community leaders and rape crisis center advocates.
• Represent CAASE in community-based coalitions, task forces and campaigns as assigned by the Managing Attorney.

Status: Full time, exempt.

Reports to: Managing Attorney

This position is primarily remote, but court appearances and other duties require in person availability in Chicagoland.

Education and Experience

Applicants must have a Juris Doctorate and admission to the Illinois Bar in good standing.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Strong research, writing, and litigation skills.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and comfort working with survivors, victim’s advocates, State’s Attorneys, police, employers, school administrators, and other attorneys.
• Demonstrated commitment to working against all forms of violence against girls and women and on behalf of all survivors of sexual assault and exploitation, regardless of sex, gender identity, race, ethnicity or economic circumstances. Demonstrated commitment to feminist principles of identifying and opposing all forms and manifestations of inequality.
• Commitment to developing innovative legal and policy responses to sexual assault through the provision of legal representation and advocacy to survivors of sexual harm within the criminal justice system, the civil justice system, and other venues applicable to survivors, including educational or employment settings.

Salary and Benefits

The starting annual salary for this position is $70,000 - $78,000 and may be negotiable depending on experience. CAASE strives to provide a comprehensive and equitable benefits package, including health and dental coverage with employer contributions to premiums, optional vision coverage, and employer paid life insurance. CAASE offers a robust 401k plan with a 2.5% employer contribution regardless of employee elections. CAASE offers remote work stipends to partially cover phone and internet expenses for those to whom it applies. CAASE also has generous paid time off, including regular vacation time, flexible sick time which can be used for mental health, preventative health and family wellness, regular paid holidays (including floating holidays,) and long term paid medical and parental leave.

Values

Social and institutional systems do not adequately serve survivors of sexual violation. Sexual violation disproportionately harms people from marginalized communities, including girls and women, people of color, LGBTQ people, people with disabilities, people living in poverty, and immigrants. To best support survivors, CAASE confronts the inequities that fuel or intersect with sexual harm. Our dedication to this work is reflected in our values.

Dignity | We respect the inherent humanity of all people and strive to expand opportunities for personal autonomy.

Accountability | We answer to survivors and collaborate with allies as we seek to hold those responsible for harm accountable.

Progress | We create individual, institutional and cultural change by using innovative approaches to ending sexual harm.

Equity | We commit to building a world where every person, with consideration for their intersecting identities and unique circumstances, has the same access to opportunity and power.

Application Instructions

Please submit a resume, substantive cover letter, and writing sample to hr@caase.org. No phone calls please. If you need any assistance or accommodation during the application process, please contact hr@caase.org.

CAASE does not discriminate against job applicants or employees on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, ethnicity, sex (including sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, gender stereotyping, pregnancy and childbirth status) religion, national origin, age (40 and over), mental or physical disability, neurotype, marital status, genetic predisposition or carrier status, military status, veteran status, arrest record, status as a survivor of domestic violence, status as being under an order of protection, lack of a permanent mailing address or using the mailing address of a shelter or social service provider, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

Salary and Benefits

The starting annual salary for this position is $70,000 - $78,000 and may be negotiable depending on experience. CAASE strives to provide a comprehensive and equitable benefits package, including health and dental coverage with employer contributions to premiums, optional vision coverage, and employer paid life insurance. CAASE offers a robust 401k plan with a 2.5% employer contribution regardless of employee elections. CAASE offers remote work stipends to partially cover phone and internet expenses for those to whom it applies. CAASE also has generous paid time off, including regular vacation time, flexible sick time which can be used for mental health, preventative health and family wellness, regular paid holidays (including floating holidays,) and long term paid medical and parental leave.