Appellate Immigration Attorney

A little about us!

Our vision is to live in a world where people have the right to move and resettle across borders with dignity and respect.We work towards this vision through our mission: defending immigrants against deportation, promoting community education and empowerment, and engaging in policy advocacy. We also work towards this vision internally by building a horizontal, consensus-based organization.

Our team: We started in 2013 with a team of 1.5 and now are 20 (2 based in San Jose and 18 in San Francisco). Our majority POC staff and board of directors are diverse in their migration backgrounds, and extremely supportive of each other. What brings us together is our dedication to our work, each other, and the larger movement for immigrants’ rights.

Our work: We operate on three levels: direct legal representation, policy advocacy, and community empowerment and education. Attorneys at Pangea participate in traditional lawyering – zealously representing immigrants in their removal proceedings and appeals.Attorneys also act as movement lawyers – working with clients, their families, grassroots organizers, legislators, and media to create systemic change. Our goal for representation is not only to achieve positive legal outcomes for each client, but also to provide our clients with opportunities for politicization and social transformation, thus advancing the larger movement for immigrant justice.

Our offices: Pangea currently has offices in San Francisco and San Jose, California. This position is geographically flexible and remote applicants are encouraged to apply. The attorney will be able to work from San Francisco, from San Jose, and/or from home.

Our internal work: Pangea is more than a job; it’s an opportunity to become a director and share ownership in an organization that reflects the values we want to see in the world. Over the last 12 years, we have built an organization where everyone receives equal pay, authority is delegated by consensus, and everyone’s responsibilities are equally important regardless of organizational role. All employees serve on 1-2 organizational “hubs” that help run, build, and strengthen our organization. After 9 months of employment, new employees are voted on to become co-directors of the organization and voting members of at least one hub. We are committed to continuing to develop our organizational model guided by our social justice ideals, and we invest significant time in its upkeep and growth.

We are hiring an appellate immigration attorney to primarily represent immigrants in appellate and federal court proceedings.

Job Title: Appellate Immigration Attorney

Primary Responsibilities

• Represent clients before the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) and in federal courts, primarily petitions for review at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and in habeas petitions before federal district courts in California. Representation includes: entering appearance; developing case strategy; compiling and/or reviewing evidence; conducting legal research; drafting and submitting motions and briefs; negotiating with opposing counsel; and appearing at oral argument in individual cases. Representation may also involve direct communication with and counseling of clients, either alone or together with other Pangea staff, depending on capacity and language abilities.
• Provide supervision, mentorship, document review, and editing for other Pangea legal team members representing clients in habeas petitions and appeals.
• Coordinate litigation efforts with outside partners.
• Stay current on relevant new BIA, circuit court, and Supreme Court precedent decisions, and share updates and analysis with Pangea’s legal team.
• Create template briefs or language on novel legal issues likely to impact numerous Pangea clients.
  • Help to maintain and grow Pangea as a democratically-run organization, and actively participate in an organizational “hub.”

Required Skills and Experience

• • License to practice law in the United States
  • Excellent written communication skills
  • 3+ years of relevant appellate work
  • Attention to detail, while still able to see the big picture

Bonus Skills and Experience

• CA bar membership
• 9th Circuit Court admission
  • Excellent verbal communication skills
  • Ability to wear multiple hats and juggle various responsibilities/roles

Alignment with Pangea’s Points of Unity

We are looking for someone who can relate to and embody our Points of Unity. These are the internal organizational principles that our team created together in 2015, and we frequently turn to them when creating new policies or making difficult decisions.

• We believe that all people are equal in rights and should be free to move. We dream of a world without borders.
• We were created to fill a gap in free and low fee deportation defense services.
• We recognize that education, legal empowerment, and policy advocacy are essential to changing perspectives around migration and migrants’ rights.
• We believe in the oneness of all people and we embrace the common humanity of every person; our interactions are guided by love.
• We treat every person we meet as an individual with a unique story.
• We are committed to excellence and providing high quality services.
• The law is a living document. Its flaws do not constrict us. We use it strategically to ask boldly for the best for our community.
• We are positive and solution oriented. We value fresh attitudes, innovation, and creativity. We challenge conventional thinking in order to redefine what is possible.
• We practice humility. We listen, learn, reflect, evaluate, and grow.
• We value our team’s individual and collective well-being. We create mechanisms to support well-roundedness and our team’s mental, physical, and spiritual health.
• We recognize a tension between serving as many people in need as possible, taking challenging, legally complex cases, and valuing our own health and well-being. We strive to maintain a balance between these three goals.
• We are committed to equity regarding compensation, responsibilities, and shared ownership.
• We strive to create an organization that is both financially sustainable and autonomous.

• • Staff have a 4 day work week (Mon-Thurs) and our physical office is closed Fridays.
  • We offer health insurance through Kaiser (Silver Plan) at no cost to staff, and cover 50% of dependent premiums.
  • We offer up to $4,400 per year in health reimbursements for things like glasses, therapy, or co-pays.
  • We offer up to $5,000 per year in childcare reimbursements.
  • We have a Simple IRA plan with an automatic 2% employer contribution.
  • We pay for professional membership fees, trainings, coaching, and staff development.
  • Our vacation benefits start at 12 days in the first year and increase with tenure up to 20 days per year.
  • We close our office for 13 holidays a year, as well as a week over the winter holidays.