Senior Staff Attorney - Crim/Imm and PCR

The Immigrant Legal Resource Center Is Hiring! 

Crim/Imm and Post-Conviction Relief Senior Staff Attorney  

The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) is seeking a full-time Senior Staff Attorney based in California. This is an exempt position that reports to one of ILRC’s Senior Managing Attorneys. The ILRC currently has a hybrid work model that requires two in-office days per week. 

The ILRC is a national nonprofit legal support center headquartered in San Francisco with staff in Washington, D.C., San Antonio, Laredo, Houston, and Austin, TX, Southern California, and the San Joaquin Valley of California. The mission of the ILRC is to work with, educate, and enhance the capacity of immigrants, community organizations, and the legal sector, in order to build a democratic society that values diversity, dignity, and the rights of all people. Founded in 1979, the ILRC is regarded as one of the foremost experts on engaging immigrants and developing their leadership in the democratic process, providing expertise on complex issues of immigration law, procedure and policy, and engaging in advocacy and educational initiatives on policies that affect immigrants. We are a team-based organization that makes most of its decisions in a collaborative fashion that allows for significant staff input. 

Summary of this position: The Senior Staff Attorney will further the ILRC’s technical support, capacity building, and policy work on behalf of immigrants and the practitioners who defend their rights, particularly public defenders and others who advocate for noncitizens with crim/imm issues. This position requires expertise in crim/imm and post-conviction relief.  

Job Responsibilities: The Senior Staff Attorney will participate in several programs, including, but not limited to: 

• Primarily focusing on providing technical information and support to public defenders who represent noncitizen defendants in criminal proceedings, and to immigration advocates, especially non-profit and pro bono advocates, who represent noncitizens with crim/imm issues in immigration proceedings. This includes: 
• Analyzing new legal developments and writing practice advisories, geared toward audiences such as attorneys, paralegals, community members, or policymakers; 
• Preparing and leading webinars and in-person seminars on a variety of topics in immigration law with a focus on crim-imm and post-conviction relief; 
• Working as a team to create or update materials, including online materials like the California Quick Reference Chart; 
• Writing, updating, and editing select chapters in ILRC manuals, including chapters focused on post-conviction relief, immigration consequences of crimes, and criminal bars to immigration relief;  
• Working as an “Attorney of the Day” to answer individual case questions; and 
• Cultivating relationships with public defender offices in rural areas of California.  
• Providing information, training, and support to help communities understand, organize, and fight to preserve their rights in the immigration and criminal legal systems;  
• Working with coalitions on campaigns against restrictions on immigration relief, attacks against due process, ICE enforcement, crim/imm, post-conviction relief, and other emerging issues, and working for local, state, or federal policies that support the rights of immigrants, especially those who have had some contact with the criminal legal system;  
• Analyzing state and federal legislation that affects crim/imm, post-conviction relief, ICE enforcement, due process of immigrants, removal defense, and eligibility for relief. As needed, drafting legislation, advising legislative staff and other parties, and testifying before legislature; 
• Strategizing around stories and media opportunities to drive local and national campaigns for immigrant rights; 
• Representing ILRC, and as necessary taking a leading role, in collaboratives to support immigrant rights; 
• Writing grant proposals, writing reports, and managing deliverables for foundation grants, and representing the ILRC in meetings with funders and supporters; 
• Traveling for trainings, funder visits, and other events throughout California and to some extent throughout the United States; and 
• Providing amicus support as needed, in cases before the BIA, California courts of appeals, the Ninth Circuit, and the Supreme Court. 

Qualifications: Requirements for the position include: 

• Experience and expertise in, and commitment to, defending the rights of noncitizens who have come in contact with the criminal legal system;  
• A minimum of seven years of experience representing clients in a crim/imm context. Criminal defense and post-conviction relief expertise preferred, but other experience employing a crim/imm analysis to represent noncitizen defendants and advise other defenders in criminal proceedings will be considered; 
• Broad knowledge of the intersection of criminal and immigration law and California post-conviction relief; 
• Excellent writing, editing, legal analysis, and oral presentation skills; 
• Ability to lead meetings attended by, write for, and communicate with a range of people, including immigration and criminal defense attorneys, community members, legislators, policy-makers, journalists, funders, and others; 
• Excellent time management skills and the ability to meet deadlines; 
• Willing to work closely with and learn from colleagues, including being willing to take direction and editing from others and to incorporate feedback;  
• A strong work ethic, including the following qualities: organized, flexible, reliable, and dependable, able to work independently, and able to handle several projects simultaneously. Comfortable in team-based efforts and a collaborative decision-making environment; 
• A willingness to travel approximately 10-15% of their time across California and at times, nationally; and 
• A current Bar membership in good standing for any state in the United States or the District of Columbia. 

It is a plus if the applicant has additional experience including: 

• Experience working closely with community organizers and non-lawyers on organizing campaigns; 
• Writing and securing grants from foundations and corporations; 
• Legal or other writing experience, for a range of audiences; 
• Training, teaching, or other public speaking experience; 
• Working in, leading, or forming coalitions; 
• Collaborating with immigrant communities, with an emphasis on supporting community leadership; 
• Coordinating civic engagement projects or working as a community organizer; 
• Second language proficiency, within the range of conversational to fluent; 
• Experience with communications work on immigration or criminal legal issues; 
• Established relationships with allied organizations in California and nationally; and 
• Experience in administrative and federal appeals. 

Salary/Benefits:  

Pay is very competitive for the field and commensurate with experience according to the ILRC salary scale for Attorneys.  The starting pay for this position is from $101,587.21 (for those seven years out of law school) An attorney hired for this position who has been out of law school for more than seven years will have a higher salary based on their law school graduation year. The ILRC offers excellent benefits, medical/dental/vision insurance, EAP sessions, a flexible spending account for medical and dependent care, vacation, and sick leave. The ILRC also sponsors a retirement plan option upon fulfillment of eligibility. Additionally, we offer an annual professional development stipend of $2,500 and from 2024 – 2027, an annual wellness stipend of $2,500. 

Applications: We will be accepting applications until May 10, 2024. We will consider applications on an ongoing basis beginning immediately. To ensure consideration of your application, please submit a cover letter explaining your qualifications for the position, your salary requirements, a current resume, a writing sample that demonstrates immigration and criminal law knowledge, and the contact information for three professional references. 

Online applications are preferred. As an alternative, you can mail your application to: 

Senior Staff Attorney Hiring Committee 

Immigrant Legal Resource Center 

1458 Howard Street  

San Francisco, CA 94103 

No phone calls please. 

As a condition of employment at the ILRC, you will be required to submit proof of vaccination and the most recent booster shot available against COVID-19.*  

The ILRC is an equal opportunity employer and does not make hiring or employment decisions on the basis of race, color, religion or religious beliefs, ethnic or national origin, nationality, sex, gender, gender-identity, sexual orientation, disability age, military or veteran status, or any other basis protected by applicable local, state or federal laws. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance and other similar state laws and local ordinances, ILRC will also consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records.  

* The ILRC provides reasonable accommodations as required by law. Employees may request an exception from vaccination requirements (if applicable), if the vaccine is medically contraindicated for them or medical necessity requires a delay in vaccination. Employees also may be legally entitled to a reasonable accommodation if they cannot be vaccinated because of a disability, or if receiving a COVID-19 vaccination conflicts with a sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance.  There may be other recognized exceptions under applicable state and/or local laws. 

Salary/Benefits:  

Pay is very competitive for the field and commensurate with experience according to the ILRC salary scale for Attorneys. The starting pay for this position is from $101,587.21 (for those seven years out of law school) An attorney hired for this position who has been out of law school for more than seven years will have a higher salary based on their law school graduation year. The ILRC offers excellent benefits, medical/dental/vision insurance, EAP sessions, a flexible spending account for medical and dependent care, vacation, and sick leave. The ILRC also sponsors a retirement plan option upon fulfillment of eligibility. Additionally, we offer an annual professional development stipend of $2,500 and from 2024 – 2027, an annual wellness stipend of $2,500.