Description:
Job Summary:The Staff Attorney provides holistic, direct client representation to children and youth in immigration proceedings before the Chicago Immigration Court. In addition to managing a diverse caseload, the Staff Attorney engages in community outreach, including building and maintaining relationships with legal service providers, community organizations, and other stakeholders to support consistent client referrals. The Staff Attorney also assists in supervising law students participating in the Immigration Law Clinic and supports student-centered programming connected to the Seigle Immigration Clinic.
A well-qualified candidate within this department or unit has been identified and will be considered for the position alongside other qualified candidates identified through a competitive recruitment process. The University reserves its right to give priority consideration to internal qualified candidates.
Northwestern Pritzker Law prides itself on its active and diverse community, which brings together a passionate and talented group of students, staff, and faculty. The Law School endeavors to take principled action towards ensuring that we live up to our responsibility—and our institutional values—to create a diverse, equitable, and inclusive community for all constituents. Law School leadership commits to working tirelessly to ensure every member feels valued, all students can study and train to be successful in their careers, all staff members can develop personally and professionally, and where our faculty can both teach and support our students and produce top quality research and scholarship.
Specific Responsibilities:
Legal Representation & Case Management
- Deliver effective, holistic, and high-quality client representation that advances case outcomes and supports the mission of the Seigle Immigration Clinic.
- Provide direct legal representation to children and youth in removal proceedings before the Chicago Immigration Court.
- Conduct screening and intake interviews for new client referrals.
- Maintain regular communication with clients, including identifying social service needs and referring clients to social service agencies.
- Prepare and file immigration applications before DHS agencies.
- Draft and file motions, briefs, memoranda of law, and other pleadings before the Chicago Immigration Court or other Department of Justice agencies.
- Represent clients before the Chicago Immigration Court for bond, status, and merits hearings.
- Represent clients before DHS agencies and accompany them to immigration check-ins and other interactions with DHS.
- Support federal litigation efforts.
- Assist in supervising law students assigned to cases in the Immigration Law Clinic.
- Coordinate with legal assistants to file collateral applications (e.g., employment authorization, FOIA requests, address changes).
- Monitor case progress across all agencies, manage deadlines, and maintain systems for tracking follow-up filings.
- Conduct audits to assess the impact of changes in immigration law and policy on active cases.
- Sustain partnerships and strong referral networks that support client representation and clinic visibility.
- Develop and maintain relationships with community partners to ensure consistent caseload and strong referral pathways.
- Manage case referrals from community partners.
- Attend and organize meetings with community partners.
- Organize and conduct trainings, presentations, and other events with community partners.
- Enhance student engagement, learning opportunities, and representation of the clinic within the Law School community.
- Collaborate with student groups focused on immigration and serve as a public-facing representative of the Seigle Clinic to Northwestern Law and the broader university community.
- Assist with planning Seigle Clinic service-learning trips for the Northwestern Law community.
Other Duties:
- Contribute to the overall functioning, visibility, and compliance obligations of the Seigle Immigration Clinic.
- Assist with conferences, media-related submissions, and community education events.
- Assist with website updates and content.
- Prepare compliance reports and other submissions for funders.
Miscellaneous:
Performs other duties as assigned.
Minimum Qualifications:
- JD or LLM from an accredited U.S. law school.
- Licensed to practice law in at least one U.S. jurisdiction.
- Minimum of three years of experience in immigration law, particularly with youth or vulnerable populations (experience in an immigration law clinic may count toward this requirement).
- Strong academic record or other indicia of high-performance ability.
- Excellent organizational, communication, and interpersonal skills.
- Excellent oral and written advocacy skills.
- Ability to manage multiple tasks, deadlines, and priorities.
- Ability to work effectively with children, youth, and other vulnerable populations.
- Demonstrated commitment to holistic legal representation.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience coordinating with community-based organizations or legal service providers.
- Experience representing children, asylum seekers, or other vulnerable populations in removal proceedings.
- Preferred Competencies: (Skills, knowledge, and abilities)
Spanish proficiency.
- Experience supervising, teaching, or mentoring law students.
- Experience delivering presentations or community trainings.
- Experience working with children, youth, or underserved communities.