Description:
About the Position:The staff attorney will be responsible for collaborating directly with community organizers and tenant associations to build power within the NYC housing movement. Our attorneys use a community- and movement-lawyering approach to challenge landlords, lenders, and government agencies by providing legal representation, research, and training to tenant organizations and their members.
Our legal strategies typically center affirmative litigation on behalf of tenant associations (e.g. rent strikes, 7A and HP proceedings, intervention in bankruptcy and foreclosure cases, and rent overcharge claims). We also defend tenants against eviction and attacks on their right to organize.
- Our non-litigation strategies include developing campaign strategies in collaboration with community organizers, training organizers and community leaders on tenants' rights issues, drafting legislation and policy proposals, lobbying elected officials, participating in tenant meetings, and conducting legal clinics.
- In order to meet our clients where they are, the job requires regular evening and some weekend meetings.
Qualifications:
- JD from an accredited law school
- Admission to New York State Bar, eligibility for reciprocal admission, or law graduate who has passed the New York bar exam or is registered to sit for the next bar examination
- Eagerness to work with a diverse client base on individual and group litigation
- Commitment to economic and racial justice and the housing justice movement in New York City
- Professional or personal experience working with diverse communities and across lines of difference
- Commitment to working in partnership with community organizers and developing creative lawyering strategies to support tenant organizing
The ideal candidate will have:
- Personal connection to the work
- Experience with community organizing or working in support of organizing campaigns
- Familiarity with New York housing law and practice, or familiarity with another area of law directly affecting low-income people, such as workers' rights, government benefits, family law, immigrants' rights, or consumer rights
- Professional competency in a second language commonly spoken by NYC tenants, including Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Russian, Arabic, or Bangla.
- Not sure you meet 100% of our criteria? Research shows that men apply for jobs when they meet an average of 60% of the criteria, yet women and other people who are systematically marginalized tend to apply only if they meet every requirement. If you believe that you could excel in this role, we encourage you to apply.
Expected salary range: $83,490 – $96,550 depending on experience and qualifications.
Please email your resume and cover letter in a single PDF to jobs@takerootjustice.org, attention Michael Grinthal, and include “Housing Rights Attorney” in the subject line. Salary is determined in accordance with our collective bargaining agreement. We provide excellent benefits and a vacation & leave package. This is a union bargaining unit position represented for collective bargaining purposes by the National Organization of Legal Services Workers, UAW, Local 2320.
