Supervising Housing Attorney

Make the Road New York (MRNY) builds the power of immigrant and working-class communities to achieve dignity and justice through organizing, policy innovation, transformative education, and survival services. Make the Road New York operates community centers in Bushwick, Brooklyn; Jackson Heights, Queens; Port Richmond, Staten Island; Brentwood, Long Island and White Plains, Westchester County. With a membership of 28,000, MRNY tackles the critical issues facing our communities, including workplace justice, tenants’ rights, immigrant rights and civil rights, TGNCIQ justice, public education, health care access, and immigration reform. (TGNCIQ = transgender, gender non-conforming, intersex and queer). MRNY is a newly unionized workplace.

MRNY is a multi-service organization. Our member-led organizing committees -- which work on the issues named above -- implement strategies to combat shared problems, and develop leadership and the capacity for civic participation. We also provide an array of high-quality bilingual services: We offer English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), Spanish-language literacy, computer literacy, citizenship preparation, and in-school and after-school youth programs. We have a robust legal program that offers direct representation across a spectrum of practice areas, including employment law, immigration law, housing and benefits, and TGNCIQ civil rights; we also take on impact litigation as a strategy for achieving broad change. Our health program offers facilitated enrollment into health insurance programs and SNAP benefits, a community health worker home visit program, nutrition education and emergency food pantries, health care navigation, and more.

CURRENT OPENING:

Legal and Support Services at Make the Road New York

The Department of Legal and Support Services at MRNY works to strengthen the organization’s organizing work by (1) providing legal and support services to high-need immigrant communities and help meet the immediate needs of MRNY’s members; (2) helping to envision and implement leverage strategies (including strategic litigation) that help win our organizing campaigns; and (3) providing technical legal support for policy work. The Department currently employs approximately 45 attorneys and advocates. Our legal team is integrated into all aspects of the organization’s work. The Housing & Benefits legal team consists of a supervising attorney, three staff attorneys and an intake and outreach paralegal.

Make the Road New York (MRNY) seeks a bilingual (Spanish & English) full-time Supervising Attorney with expertise in housing law. The Supervising Attorney will oversee our Housing and Benefits practice to provide cutting-edge eviction defense and housing quality enforcement in aggressively gentrifying neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens. The Housing and Benefits legal team collaborates closely with our organizing team to focus on anti-harassment and prevention of displacement around our neighborhood offices in Bushwick. The Supervising Attorney will provide policy and campaign support on the areas of housing and public benefits. The Supervising Attorney will also have a small docket of housing cases representing both individuals and groups of tenants in enforcing their rights and fighting tenant harassment.

The Supervising Attorney will be based in our Brooklyn office. MRNY currently has a hybrid work schedule with 3 days per week in person (including court time) and 2 days remote.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES, BUT NOT LIMITED TO:

• Oversee the provision of housing-related legal services to low-income tenants and tenant associations in neighborhoods facing strong displacement pressure.
• Provide exceptional supervision and support to a team of 5-7 housing attorneys and advocates.
• Collaborate with MRNY organizers to build, support, and represent tenant associations.
• Work closely with MRNY members and organizers to support MRNY members and organizing campaigns through strategic litigation, legislative advocacy, research, media work, and action support that strengthen MRNY’s tenant organizing.
• Provide technical legal support for MRNY’s robust housing-related policy and organizing campaigns, including drafting legislation; training other staff and members on the legal aspects of campaigns; writing reports; lobbying visits in support of policy campaigns; drafting materials (for the press, funders, the membership, elected officials, and other advocates) on our key policy campaigns and victories; responding to media inquiries; and representing MRNY at meetings with elected officials and coalition partners.
• Coordinate community outreach, including tenant association meetings, community education efforts, including through the creation of written materials, popular education workshops, and legal clinics.
• Maintain a small docket of housing cases, including but not limited to complex holdovers, nonpayment proceedings, HP actions, Article 78 proceedings, and administrative hearings.
• Participate in team, department meetings; collaborate with external partners; and assist with tracking and highlighting cases as necessary for development and grant reporting.
• Continuous learning regarding movement lawyering (theory and application) as well as other critical concepts that underscore our organizational approach to building power, such as racialized capitalism.
• Coordinate with the Legal Grants team and assist with grant reporting for the Housing and Benefits legal team.
• Participate in the leadership of the Legal Department to advance organizational goals and to develop and maintain strong funding relationships to sustain our housing and benefits work.

JOB REQUIREMENTS:

• Eligible to work in the U.S.
• Admission to practice law in New York State
• Spanish language fluency
• At least 4 years of housing litigation experience
• Commitment to social justice, community building, and housing as a human right
• Ability to supervise, mentor and develop staff
• Interpersonal and organizational skills of the highest caliber
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, high-energy environment
• Experience with populations that make up major portions of Make the Road’s membership – such as documented and undocumented immigrants, individuals facing domestic violence, members of TGNCIQ communities, those who have experienced the criminal legal system, and youth
• Interest in supporting community organizing, campaigns, and policy and advocacy initiatives

JOB COMPETENCIES:

• Self-starter with strong organizational skills and strong attention to detail
• Be highly professional and team oriented with a passion for excellence and eagerness to help the department meet our goals.
• Ability to multi-task, prioritize, and complete assignments under strict deadlines with minimal supervision in a fast paced environment.
• Ability to work under pressure
• Have a working knowledge of spreadsheets, Microsoft Office suite, and using a database (ideally Salesforce)
• Flexible work schedule, some evenings or weekends required
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• High level of accountability and initiative; eager to do team work to support the organization as a whole

MRNY SALARY AND BENEFITS:

MRNY offers an excellent benefit package including health insurance, 401K, and generous paid vacation, sick, personal days. The salary range for this position is from $104,500 to $112,500.

Make the Road believes that social change is best achieved through grassroots community-based organizing that flows directly from and engages the community demanding the change. As a membership-based organization, we are committed to providing equal employment opportunities regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, criminal history, or Veteran status. We strongly encourage those from historically excluded groups to apply.