Family Defense Practice Legal Administrator

Overview

The Bronx Defenders (BXD), an innovative, progressive, holistic defense office in the South Bronx, seeks an energetic individual with a commitment to public defense to fill a position as a Family Defense Practice Administrator.

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

• Serve records request forms and letters on record-holding entities and obtain records if they are immediately available
• Follow up with record holding entities to collect records, communicate the status of records requests to advocates, update status of records requests in Legal Server as well via Excel spreadsheet
• Retrieve records from record holding entities and clients
• Copy case records (paper or electronic/digital) for experts, clients, or other parties
• Produce records for experts and other parties electronically or in person
• Request family court records for all practices
• Assist clients in the office with signing authorization forms, notarization (when notary license is obtained), and providing metrocards
• Mail FDP case-related correspondence including letters to clients when court is missed, court orders and general client correspondence
• Maintain Family Defense Court Files
• Create file folders in SharePoint
• Order and deliver supplies
• Return court files to the office
• Receive, download, upload, categorize and organize all discovery content that may be in emails, e-files, or from any portable storage produced in relation to Family Defense cases
• Ensure that the discovery produced correlates with a BXD case
• Organize all discovery on SharePoint
• Ensure that discovery is properly maintained on BXD’s systems
• Notify assigned defender when all discovery is downloaded and ready for attorney access
• Coordinate with the assigned defender and ensure that reciprocal discovery is properly uploaded onto BXD systems and provided to the assigned adversaries
• Request and retrieve court files in all boroughs for the Family Defense Practice
• Serve Discovery and Demand on Legal Aid and ACS
• Serve18b attorneys via USPS
• Draft subpoenas and occasionally serve subpoenas when requested (up to four a year)
• Binder Prep for trials and trainings

Qualifications

• Minimum of two years working in an administrative capacity

Candidates must demonstrate

• Commitment to working in and with racially and socioeconomically marginalized communities
• Ability to effectively and respectfully communicate, collaborate and connect with people from various backgrounds, identities, experiences, and positions
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to work well independently as well as collaboratively with lawyers and non- lawyers from various practice areas
• Meticulous attention to detail
• Ability to multitask, maintain order and meet deadlines in a fast-paced, high-stakes environment
• Effective organization, time management and problem-solving skills
• Ability to exercise excellent judgment, discretion, and confidentiality around sensitive issues
• Ability to receive constructive feedback, demonstrate introspection, and shift behavior accordingly

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 within the bargaining unit. 

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

This role requires five days per week in person (Monday – Friday, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm) for the first 6 months of employment, followed by a minimum of three days per week in person.

Salary is commensurate with experience. For candidates with 2-5 years of directly relevant experience, the salary range for this position would be approximately $72,100 to $75,863. 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.

To apply, please submit 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.

Applications will be accepted through November 30, 2026.

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.

Salary is commensurate with experience. For candidates with 2-5 years of directly relevant experience, the salary range for this position would be approximately $72,100 to $75,863. 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.