Staff or Senior Attorney, Bilingual preferred

The New York City Anti-Violence Project (AVP) envisions a world in which all lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ), and HIV-affected people are safe, respected, and live free from violence. AVP works to empower LGBTQ and HIV-affected communities and allies to end all forms of violence through organizing and education, and supports survivors through counseling, advocacy, and legal representation.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Legal Services

• Conduct legal consultations, provide referrals or advice and counsel when appropriate;
• Provide full legal representation in Immigration matters, and legal advice and support in variety of matters, such as family law, housing, public benefits, name change, employment, probate/advanced directives, and crime victim’s rights advocacy;
• Prepare all aspects of your clients’ cases (assess viability of case, prepare and file court pleadings and responsive papers, complete legal research, prepare client and witnesses for court appearances, appear with your client and advocate during trial, interview or motion practice);
• Leadership in driving AVP as a thought leader in the LGBTQ and legal community via amicus briefs, public testimony, reports, Op-Eds and media as requested;
• Provide trainings and outreach to community members and other professionals;
• Provide legal trainings to other legal services organizations;
• Participate, and in consultation with AVP leadership, take leadership positions in in external coalitions, working groups, and task forces with other advocacy groups to advance the rights of LGBTQ survivors of violence;
• Provide holistic legal representation, coordinating with departments at AVP and referring clients to AVP’s Client Services (CS) and Community Organizing and Public Advocacy (COPA) services and programs as appropriate;
• Recruit and mentor pro bono volunteer attorneys;
• Other duties as assigned.

Administrative

• Comply with all internal policies and procedures of the legal department and AVP, including, but not limited to:
  • Maintaining complete and organized case files;
  • Entering all data accurately and in a timely manner into the Legal Department database;
  • Adhering to all funding reporting requirements and meeting deliverables;
  • Assisting with grant data collection and reporting as directed by the Deputy Director of Legal Services and the Director of Legal Services;
  • Maintain a license to practice law in good standing in the State of New York;
  • Register with the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) in order to represent clients before the Immigration Courts and the Board of Immigration Appeals;
  • Follow and adhere to the New York Rules of Professional Conduct.

Program-Related

• Attend weekly supervision with your supervisor;
• Attend weekly Legal Department meetings;
• Actively participate in AVP’s requirements related to Anti-Oppression work and actively advance anti-oppressive goals at AVP;
• Attend AVP Staff Meetings;
• Attend in-service trainings and external trainings/seminars as appropriate;
• Attend external coalition meetings as assigned;
• Assist with and attend AVP signature events

Supervisory (Senior staff attorney only)

• Mentor and supervise DOJ accredited reps, staff attorneys and/or fellows with fewer years of experience in your areas of expertise as needed;
• Attend court and administrative hearings, client preparation meetings, and other meetings with more junior attorneys and staff; provide feedback and support;
• Review written work of and provide feedback attorneys with less experience;
• Assist with case conferences and legal strategy meetings;
• Report any staffing, performance, or personnel issues to the Director of Legal Services;
• Supervise law student interns or Pro Bono Scholars as directed by supervisors.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Legal license to practice law in the State of New York, or pending admission to the New York Bar
• Admission to bar of any jurisdiction and engaged in practice of law
  • Senior Staff attorney must have a minimum of 4 years of experience
• Demonstrated experience and aptitude working with low-income, diverse communities, especially transgender, gender non-conforming, non-binary, lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer individuals, people living with HIV/AIDS, and survivors of violence (e.g., identity-based hate violence, intimate partner violence, sexual violence, state/institutional violence, stalking, bias, and discrimination);
• Demonstrated expertise in providing legal services that benefit the public interest, with preference for experience in family law and/or immigration (specifically humanitarian forms of relief), but will be expected to practice in all AVPs legal services as detailed above;
• Supervision experience preferred, or progressively demonstrated more responsibility;
• Fluency or strong proficiency in Spanish or another language preferred;
• Commitment to social justice and advancing anti-racism and anti-oppression in a work setting.

Top reasons why people love working at AVP:

• 32-hour work week & generous paid time off
• Anti-Oppression Framework that guides our work
• Commitment to transparency
• Unionized workplace

SALARY & BENEFITS

Salary: This is a full-time, at will, exempt position. Salary for 0+ years of experience starts at $70,000 Salary for 4+ years of experience starts at $80,000. Multilingual applicants who use more than one language at work are eligible to receive a $1,500 salary enhancement in addition to their base salary.

Benefits: Medical, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance, 403(b) retirement investment plan (employee contribution only), flexible spending accounts for medical and transit costs. Paid time off includes 20 days of vacation, sick time, holidays with holiday substitution options, and family leave.

Hours and location: 32-hour work week, hours are generally 10am – 6pm, Monday through Thursday and 10-2pm on Friday. This position may require some work during the evening and/or weekend to support AVP programming. The position is based in the AVP office in Manhattan and will require a hybrid of both remote and in-person work.

AVP is a unionized workplace and members of the bargaining unit are represented by the Office Professional Employees International Union Local 153. Supervisory roles are management roles, and therefore are not members of the union.

AVP is committed to providing equal employment opportunity to all qualified individuals and endeavors to hire individuals of diverse races, colors, creeds, ethnicities, religions, genders, gender identities or expressions, age, sexes, sexual orientations, national origins, disabilities, and citizen, marital, veteran and HIV statuses.

Medical, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance, 403(b) retirement investment plan (employee contribution only), flexible spending accounts for medical and transit costs. Paid time off includes 20 days of vacation, sick time, holidays with holiday substitution options, and family leave.

Fluency or strong proficiency in Spanish or another language preferred. Multilingual applicants who use more than one language at work are eligible to receive a $1,500 salary enhancement in addition to their base salary.