Housing Supervising Attorney

Bay Area Legal Aid (BayLegal) is a non-profit law firm. Our staff provide free civil legal services to individuals and families living in poverty throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Our community-based service model includes a wide range of access points, including legal hotlines, six physical offices, and community-based advocacy clinics and intake points. We practice in multiple inter-related legal substantive areas to prevent and stop homelessness, increase economic stability, protect low-income consumers, expand access to healthcare, and enhance safety for survivors of interpersonal violence. Our clients include the working poor, families with children, foster youth, seniors, immigrants, veterans, individuals impacted by the criminal and juvenile legal systems, and persons with disabilities. The core of our community-based practice is working alongside our individual clients to protect their legal rights, resolve immediate crises and remove legal barriers to long-term stability and escaping poverty. BayLegal is also uniquely positioned to identify patterns of illegal practices and engage in opportunities to protect the legal rights rights of low-income communities and increase efficiency and effectiveness of public services through broader advocacy and impact litigation. BayLegal’s San Francisco Housing Practice Team focuses on preserving housing for tenants who are low-income in San Francisco. As part of San Francisco's Tenant Right to Counsel Initiative, the team provides full-scope legal representation to tenants in Unlawful Detainer eviction proceedings, and advocates for tenants living in federally subsidized housing on a range of housing-related issues.

Position: BayLegal seeks an attorney with significant housing law experience and a strong commitment to public interest and social justice to join our Housing Law practice group in San Francisco as a Supervisor. This position is based in our San Francisco office and involves traveling throughout the county and potentially the Bay Area as necessary to best serve our low-income clients.

Key Responsibilities:

• Learn about and engage with the differing legal needs of low-income communities in the broader Bay Area and contribute to BayLegal’s work and mission to reduce homelessness, enhance stability, break systemic cycles of poverty, and address social injustice.
• Assist Managing Attorney in mentoring and supervising the legal work of attorneys, advocates, and volunteers in the San Francisco housing team and in other regional offices or teams to ensure overall effectiveness and high-quality client services, strategic policy advocacy and litigation, including:
  • Direct supervision of individual casework, including reviewing writings and pleadings, observing intakes and hearings, and co-counseling cases as needed to assure high-quality advocacy;
  • Regular/weekly review of new and ongoing cases, intake trends, case strategy, and advocacy opportunities;
  • Review of open and closed cases of staff as to quality, quantity, priorities, and compliance with BayLegal policies and funder requirements;
  • Guide staff in developing and executing appropriate advocacy strategies, whether through individual client representation, community outreach and education, policy advocacy and/or impact litigation. and
  • Identify and facilitate training opportunities and periodic updates on evolving legal services issues and barriers.
• In coordination with team supervisors and Managing Attorney, facilitate case review or weekly team meeting, including providing opportunities for non-housing attorneys to bring their related questions.
• Assist Managing Attorney in the professional development of staff members by:
  • Helping construct individual professional development and training plans;
  • Mentoring unit staff and encouraging experiences or trainings geared to advocacy skill improvement; and
  • Evaluating individual performance and providing regular constructive feedback.
• Carry a client caseload and/or perform direct client services commensurate with supervisorial responsibilities.
• Engage with, build and foster broad public-private partnerships, including with governmental agencies, courts, community-based organizations, and pro bono partners, to ensure integrated services, client outreach and address systemic barriers facing BayLegal's client community.
• Identify issues that require systemic advocacy, establish goals, and engage in policy advocacy and litigation.
• Help to track and report on successes and grant funding deliverables and identify opportunities to share with staff and stakeholders regarding BayLegal's housing practice, its successes and importance.
• Assist with other tasks and initiatives that support BayLegal's mission, goals and operations as needed.

Required Qualifications:

• Member of CA Bar in good standing or admitted to practice in another state and eligible to practice in California for at least 3 years under the California State Bar rules for the Registered Legal Services Attorney Program. Candidates who have recently passed the CA Bar or graduated and will be taking the bar exam at the next sitting are welcome to apply.
• Five or more years of practice as a licensed attorney, including at least one year of supervisory experience, and at least two years of direct legal services experience working in eviction defense and civil litigation, with courtroom experience.
• Commitment to complying with all California Rules of Professional Conduct, BayLegal funding requirements, and firm standards, policies, and practices.
• Current proficiency, and ability to improve proficiency, in technological equipment, hardware, and software necessary to perform duties of the position.
• Humility in working with colleagues and clients, and individuals of all identities, experiences, and perspectives.
• Willing to be on-site at BayLegal office or advocacy site as needed to support needs of staff and office, currently at least three days per week.
• Must have received or be willing to receive the COVID-19 vaccination by date of hire to be considered.
• Knowledge and understanding of issues facing individuals who are low-income, unhoused, impacted by the criminal legal system or other public systems and institutions, and/or violence.
• Demonstrated commitment and interest in partnering and working with individuals who are low-income, housing unstable, impacted the criminal legal system or other public systems and institutions, and/or violence.
• Experience developing and leading projects, including defining scope of work, overseeing compliance, progress and tracking, meeting deadlines, evaluation, and reporting.
• Experience with inter-agency collaboration and a demonstrated history of working well with public, nonprofit, and private partners, including non-legal community-based organizations and service providers.
• Experience leading a dynamic team with varied communication styles, learning styles, and levels of professional experience and identifying professional development opportunities and working with staff on setting and achieving goals for professional growth.
• Experience recognizing, addressing, and resolving interpersonal conflicts.
• Knowledge of issues impacting social justice advocates such as secondary trauma and burnout.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Sense of humor, curious and self-directed.

Hybrid Work Option: BayLegal is committed to the health and safety of our staff, clients, and community. BayLegal employees are expected to work on-site and in-person at a designated BayLegal office or community-based advocacy site at least three (3) days per week and may work remotely from home on a part-time basis. Employees are expected to reside in California and at a distance allowing them to commute to their physical BayLegal base location during the standard work week.

​​​​​​​Compensation and Benefits: We offer a family friendly environment, and compensation based on competitive public interest salaries along with a generous benefits package.

BayLegal's benefits package includes 100% employer covered medical, dental, and life insurance for employees and up to 60% for dependents; BayLegal student debt reimbursement program; long term disability insurance; employee assistance program; wage differentials for multi-lingual employees whose non-English language skills are regularly used in the provision of tasks and pass a request test of fluency and/or proficiency; dependent childcare employer contribution program; employer paid CA Bar license and/or social work license fees; and 401k retirement plan with BayLegal contribution following first year. BayLegal has a generous paid leave policy which includes 15 holidays each year; vacation (starting at 13 days and increasing with additional years of employment); 3 floating holidays each year (days chosen by employee); sick leave; and parental leave.

The estimated annual salary range is $105,000 - $135,000 (placement in range determined primarily by years of related experience).

Work Environment and Physical Demands:

Work Environment: This position is primarily sedentary. When in office, the applicant can expect to be working at a desk in a temperature-controlled office, in a modular space or individual office. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate. Regular in-person appearance in court and some travel to client housing is required.

Physical Demands: While performing duties of job, employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls; reach with hands and arms; talk and hear. Employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 20 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.

Applications: BayLegal is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Recruitment, placement and promotions are conducted without regard to an individual's race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability status, veteran status or sexual orientation, or any other classification protected by Federal, State, and local laws & ordinances. We will consider qualified candidates with a criminal history in a manner consistent with the requirements of all Federal, state and local laws. All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply. Reasonable accommodations are available upon request. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

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