Attorney (3+ years' experience)

The Public Interest Law Center, a nationally renowned 57-year-old nonprofit, uses high-impact legal strategies to advance the civil, social, and economic rights of communities in the Philadelphia region facing discrimination, inequality, and poverty. We use litigation, community education, advocacy, and organizing to secure access to fundamental resources and services. Our practice areas include employment, environmental justice, healthcare, housing, public education, and voting.

In the last 15 months, the Law Center has been especially focused on responding to the Trump administration’s unprecedented threats to democracy, the rule of law, and the most vulnerable in our society. We have represented transgender youth and their families in quashing sweeping subpoenas demanding their sensitive medical records, intervened to prevent the federal government from obtaining private voter information that would be used to fuel baseless challenges to voter eligibility, stopped the early termination of consent decrees imposed to remedy discriminatory lending, and sought to continue a race discrimination lawsuit dropped by the EEOC “based solely on a Presidential directive.” We do all this while working to ensure safe, affordable housing for renters, adequately funded public schools, access to employment for people with criminal records, preservation of urban community gardens, and the counting of every vote.

The Law Center is seeking applications for a full-time attorney to work on our major initiatives across multiple project areas, including public education and housing. Reporting to the Legal Director, the attorney will be responsible for all aspects of litigation, including identifying high impact cases, developing legal theories, and conducting factual investigation, research, discovery, trial, appeals, and enforcement. They are expected to stay informed about the challenges facing the diverse communities in which we work and to identify high-impact litigation solutions where appropriate.

The attorney also will be responsible for developing and implementing a wide range of additional strategies to achieve clients’ goals, including advocacy, organizing, community education, and coalition building.

The Law Center will consider candidates at a range of experiences, but candidates should have at least three years’ litigation experience (including judicial clerkships). The best candidates will demonstrate:

• excellent analytical abilities and well-developed legal research and technical skills;
• demonstrated excellence in written work, including legal briefs and non-legal publications;
• trial or other dispute resolution experience;
• experience in developing complex civil litigation or legal strategies;
• initiative, creativity, and an entrepreneurial approach;
• strong organization skills, sound workload management, persistence, and excellent follow-up skills;
• experience working with clients from diverse backgrounds, including those experiencing poverty, with disabilities, with limited English proficiency, and with criminal histories;
• collaborative skills and capacity for teamwork with colleagues, clients, and co-counsel;
• familiarity with communications initiatives, including speaking with press and crafting messages for external partners; and
• commitment to our mission.

The position is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Law Center has a hybrid workweek, which consists of three days in the office – Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays – for all staff, with an option to work remotely on Mondays and Fridays.

The Law Center offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes medical, dental, and life insurance; short-term and long-term disability coverage; retirement plan with employer contribution; ample paid time off and holidays; paid parental leave; and paid family and medical leave.