Family Defense Practice Supervising Attorney

Overview

The Bronx Defenders – an innovative, progressive, holistic defense office in the South Bronx – seeks an experienced Family Defense Attorney with a commitment to public defense to work as Supervising Attorney in our Family Defense Practice (FDP). 

Founded in 1997, The Bronx Defenders is a public defender nonprofit that has developed a nationally recognized model of representation called holistic defense, which provides people with teams of lawyers, social workers, and advocates to defend them zealously in court as well as to address the underlying drivers and enmeshed penalties of legal system involvement.  

Since opening our doors, we have grown into an organization of more than 400 staff members defending nearly 20,000 New Yorkers each year in criminal, family, civil, and immigration proceedings who face incarceration, family separation, eviction, and deportation, among other devastating consequences.  

Today we are reimagining the role of public defense even further, using community organizing and engagement, legislative advocacy, and impact litigation to partner with the communities we represent to bring about long-lasting systemic change.  

We also share our model and lessons learned with current and future public defenders. We run two legal clinics at NYC law schools and train public defenders from one end of the country to the next on how to move to a holistic model of representation.  

Family Defense Practice 

As residents of the most heavily disinvested borough in the city, families in the Bronx experience the highest rates of family policing and parent-child separation. We serve as the primary institutional provider defending parents and caretakers against the painful and unnecessary removals of their children in the Bronx. Together, our attorneys, social workers, and parent advocates provide the legal defense and support necessary to keep families together and interrupt generational cycles of family court involvement.  

Responsibilities

Reporting directly to the Managing Director of the Family Defense Practice, the FDP Supervising Attorney will represent a reduced caseload while providing direct supervision, support, and guidance to staff attorneys. Supervisors will act as a liaison between court staff—including judges, clerks, 18-b attorneys, Legal Aid Society, and Family Court Legal Services—and BxD attorneys while assisting with Family Defense Practice programming, development and training.

The Supervisor will supervise attorneys at various levels of experience including law graduates in their first legal position after law school, which will require intensive training, supervision, and mentoring.

Direct Representation

• Represent a reduced number of people in Article 10 and related family court matters
• Staff a reduced number of intake shifts
• Supervise intake shifts
• Model best practices with the court, the people we defend, colleagues, and adversaries

Direct Supervision

• Supervise Family Defense Practice attorneys
• Conference cases with supervisees regularly to determine litigation strategy and ensure high-quality representation with the goal of reunifying families as quickly as possible
• Evaluate supervisees’ referrals to ensure holistic, client-centered representation
• Observe supervisees’ in-court advocacy and provide timely and constructive feedback
• Assist with and review litigation preparation
• Co-counsel and supervise litigation
• Monitor caseloads to ensure equitable distribution among supervisees 
• Manage BxD case management and data entry to ensure supervisees’ cases are kept up to date and accurate
• Assist in arranging coverage of cases
• Approve time-off requests and timesheets
• Evaluate case and calendar management, direct representation, and relationships with the judiciary and adversaries in the courthouse
• Encourage and evaluate supervisees’ collaboration and support of their colleagues through case conferencing, coverage, etc.
• Encourage and support the professional development of supervisees
• Facilitate ongoing trainings and mentorship for attorneys, interns and advocates, providing ongoing feedback and evaluation, and ensuring effective collaboration between all members of the legal team
• Support supervisees in meeting the expectations of their job responsibilities and notify the Deputy Director when additional support is necessary
• Evaluate performance and provide constructive feedback to supervisees, aiding them in their professional development and growth in the role

Liaison in the Courthouse

• Be available as a point of contact for the judiciary and adversaries while representing the interests of and advocating on behalf of supervisees and the people we represent

Communicate and Collaborate with Supervisors, Team Leaders and Managing Directors

• Participate in Family Defense Practice supervisor meetings
• Work with other supervising attorneys and the Managing Director to coordinate and assist with adequate supervision coverage of staff attorneys, including in-court supervision
• Assist in the development of best practices, new trainings, projects and initiatives in the Family Defense Practice
• Assist with internal and external trainings and breakout sessions for FDP advocates, BxD staff, and external partners
• Advance holistic advocacy on the team and in the office

Training Law Graduates

• Provide close, consistent and direct in-court supervision
• Conduct case conferences at least weekly for first-year attorneys
• Review and sign off on all written work of attorneys until they’re admitted to the Bar
• Work with practice and litigation supervisors to update, plan, and execute Training Team’s intensive orientation and training program and weekly trainings
• Supervise admission of law graduates to the bar as expediently as possible

Training and Development

• Develop ongoing trainings and mentorship for attorneys, interns, and advocates, providing ongoing feedback and evaluation, and ensuring effective collaboration between all members of the legal team
• Collaborate with the Training Directors in FDP to implement cross-practice training relevant to scope of work for new staff, advocates and interns
• Assist in the development of best practices, new trainings, projects and initiatives in the Family Defense Practice
• Facilitate internal and external trainings, including trainings for BxD advocates, attorneys, interns, and external partners
• Maintain a system to track the outcomes achieved in cases
• Maintain in-house resources including, but not limited to, research articles, expert lists, sample court orders and stipulations, model motions, reply briefs and other materials related to custody, visitation, paternity, guardianship and family offense cases
• Advance holistic advocacy on the team and in the office through fielding internal referrals across the office

Qualifications

To be eligible, candidates must have:

• Minimum of 3 years of practice as an attorney representing parents charged of abuse and neglect
• Ability to practice in New York or ability to practice pro hac vice until they are admitted to the New York State Bar Association  

Candidates must demonstrate:

• Commitment to holistic, client-centered representation of parents charged with abuse/neglect of their children and at risk of losing custody
• Understanding of how systemic oppression affects marginalized communities and their experience in the family regulation and criminal legal system
• Experience working in and with racially, ethnically and socioeconomically marginalized communities
• Ability to effectively and respectfully communicate, collaborate and connect with people with various backgrounds, identities and experiences 
• Ability to work well independently as well as collaboratively within an interdisciplinary team of lawyers and non-lawyers
• Strong research, writing and courtroom advocacy skills
• Strong analytical skills and capacity to employ non-legal resources in cases
• Strong Supervisory and mentoring skills as demonstrated by success in:
• developing and mentoring supervisees
• providing intentional and constructive feedback
• balancing needs of supervisees against their own caseload
• Ability to thoughtfully navigate conflict between supervisees and the people we represent, colleagues, adversaries, and court actors
• Ability to multitask, maintain order and meet deadlines in a fast-paced, high-stakes environment 
• Meticulous attention to detail
• Ability to think critically and creatively in fast-paced settings, finding innovative solutions to unique obstacles
• Ability to receive constructive feedback, demonstrate introspection and shift behavior accordingly
• Ability to exercise excellent judgment, discretion, and confidentiality with sensitive matters

This is a hybrid position that will require at least 21 hours/week of in-person work. 

• Salary is commensurate with experience.  For candidates with 310 years of directly relevant experience, the salary range for this position would be 
• approximately $108,717

1. 132,07

 Full-time employees are also eligible for a comprehensive benefits package including but not limited to medical, dental and vision coverage; a 403(b) plan with employer contribution; a generous vacation, sick leave, and parental leave policy.

Approximately 70% of The Bronx Defenders' staff, including attorneys and non-attorneys, are represented by UAW Local 2325 - Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (AFL-CIO). This position is not within the bargaining unit.  

This position is exempt. By law, nonexempt employees are compensated hourly based on their annual rate and therefore are entitled to overtime, whereas exempt employees are not.  

To apply, please upload your resume and cover letter in one document. Your resume will be used to determine your salary based on the number of years of directly relevant professional experience and should include all relevant professional experience. Applications without a written cover letter will not be considered.

The Bronx Defenders is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to maintaining a workplace that embraces staff with a diversity of backgrounds, identities, and experiences. We acknowledge the ways in which systemic oppression and injustice can undermine access to professional opportunities and are committed to conducting hiring and promotion processes that are equitable and accessible to those commonly excluded from the workforce. We do not discriminate against and in fact specifically encourage applicants from marginalized communities to apply, including those who identify as Black, Indigenous, people of color, queer, transgender, gender non-conforming, disabled, neurodivergent, and those directly impacted by criminal, civil, family, and immigration legal systems. We value lived as well as professional experience and particularly welcome applications from the Bronx community that we serve.