Education Justice Counsel

The Children’s Law Center of Massachusetts (CLCM) seeks a passionate and creative attorney to provide holistic legal advocacy to children and youth facing barriers to a quality education. This is an excellent opportunity to join a team of supportive, creative colleagues focused on providing zealous legal representation to children and youth. The ideal candidate will have expertise in education law, a deep understanding of the challenges faced by systems-involved students, and a strong commitment to ensuring that all students have access to a quality education, regardless of background or resources.

The Opportunity: Client-centered and client-directed legal representation and advocacy to students who may have disabilities, are English learners, are immigrants, face exclusion or pushout, are homeless, are systems-involved, or are otherwise not receiving the education to which they are entitled. CLCM counsel will also collaborate to address broader systemic inequalities, including policies and practices of school districts that impede certain students from receiving a high quality education and which arise from the representation of individual students. Practice will encompass matters before schools, administrative bodies, and state and federal courts. Collaborate with and engage youth, their families, sponsors, and community providers around student rights and the right to a high-quality education. Engage in systemic and community advocacy that furthers the interests of children/youth served by CLCM.

Qualifications:

• Admission to the Massachusetts bar is required.
• Demonstrated legal experience (1-3 years minimum) in areas of education law, immigration law, family law, juvenile court (foster care/juvenile justice) and other related substantive areas required. Prior experience representing children and youth is highly valued.
• Being bilingual/bicultural is strongly preferred, particularly fluency in Spanish.
• Knowledge of trauma-informed principles and demonstrated commitment to serving individuals who may have experienced poverty and/or discrimination is highly valued.
• Ability to establish trust and connection with children and families of diverse backgrounds, lived experience, communications styles, and cultures highly valued.
• Must have excellent legal writing, research, and oral advocacy skills. Strong organizational skills, an ability to multi-task, self-start, prioritize tasks, delegate as appropriate, manage time and cases effectively, and to work collaboratively as well as independently.
• Strong desire to identify creative strategies to address barriers and as outgrowth of direct representation to pursue legal projects with broad impact, and in providing outreach and community legal education.
• Demonstrated ability to learn new databases and new technologies.

Salary/Benefits: Salary is commensurate with experience and starting range $71,500 to 74,500K. Generous benefits package: Individual medical and dental insurance with premium 100% covered; 403(b) program with employer match eligibility; student loan repayment assistance program for eligible attorneys; numerous professional development opportunities; paid leave including sick, vacation, personal and holidays. Hybrid Workplace with the expectation that staff maintain a regular in-person presence at CLCM’s Lynn Office and conduct client meetings and other case related work in-person. CLCM’s Lynn office is accessible on the commuter rail and MBTA bus; parking available.

To Apply: Please send – 1) letter of interest 2) resume and 3) legal writing sample via e-mail, with subject: CLCM Ed Atty to j.chou@clcm.org. Applications will be reviewed when received.

The Organization: The CLCM is a not-for-profit legal services organization providing legal advocacy to indigent children and youth in matters pertaining to immigration, education, foster care, and juvenile justice. CLCM provides individual representation and engages in strategic and community advocacy to expand children’s equitable access to achieve their own life goals. Our work is driven by the principle that every child – regardless of where they were born - should have equitable access to a safe and stable home, to relationships with supportive adults, to an education and community support, and to other opportunities that will allow them to successfully transition to young adulthood.

CLCM is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, class, color, disability, ethnicity, faith, gender, national origin, race, sexual orientation, or gender identity/expression. We welcome and encourage applicants from a broad range of backgrounds and lived experiences.