Description:
Job Overview:A Humanitarian Aid Organization seeks a Senior Staff Attorney (Children's Legal Services & Community Legal Services) to join the A Humanitarian Aid Organization in Baltimore, Maryland. The Senior Staff Attorney is an experienced immigration, asylum and removal defense lawyer who will support complex core services cases, asylum and removal defense work. The Senior Staff Attorney will bring several years' immigration experience including but not limited to representing asylum seekers, superb legal judgment and legal ethics, an ability to work independently while recognizing the value of collaboration and cross-referencing with other experts, and a passion for this area of work. The position will work in collaboration with community partners and will be part of the Children's Legal Services Community of Practice, led by A Humanitarian Aid Organization's Immigration Technical Unit (TU) at A Humanitarian Aid Organization's headquarters, which supports A Humanitarian Aid Organization's 24 legal service programs across the US.
Major Responsibilities:
Direct Legal Representation
- Conduct legal screenings and consultations with A Humanitarian Aid Organization clients and community members.
- Lead and provide legal supervision at limited scope legal assistance clinics.
- Provide direct legal representation on affirmative asylum and/or removal defense cases before USCIS and/or EOIR respectively, including on various forms of immigration relief such as asylum, cancellation of removal, VAWA, U-visa, T-visa, etc. and on other immigration cases as needed.
- Coordinate closely within A Humanitarian Aid Organization's multidisciplinary teams to identify client legal needs and facilitate referrals to services offered in-house and through partnerships with external providers.
- Ensure client and program data is collected consistently, managed appropriately, and reported accurately in accordance with program reporting requirements set by A Humanitarian Aid Organization.
- Maintain up-to-date knowledge and expertise of changing asylum and immigration policies through independent research and analysis, regular trainings, local coalitions/listservs of legal advocates, and peer-to-peer consultation.
- Conduct trainings for A Humanitarian Aid Organization staff and/or externally as needed.
- Work collaboratively as part of the Baltimore ILS team.
- Participate in community-based coalitions related to immigrant rights.
- Serve as a strong advocate for humanitarian immigrants.
- Maintain strict client confidentiality and observe all ethical practices/obligations as outlined in A Humanitarian Aid Organization's Immigration Program Policies Manual.
Supervisory Responsibilities:
Supervise Staff Attorney(s), Legal Assistant or DOJ accredited representative providing client services in employment authorization, document corrections, legal orientations, and review of legal intakes.
Community Partnerships and Workshops
Key Working Relationships:
Position Reports to: Managing Attorney
Position Directly Supervises: Staff Attorney(s), Legal Assistant or DOJ accredited representative
Job Requirements:
- Create and maintain a viable outreach strategy to cultivate and maintain strong relationships with community-based organizations, local immigration attorneys, and nonprofit legal providers to support effective group legal assistance clinics.
- Collaborate with other A Humanitarian Aid Organization departments and partners to offer community-based workshops or information sessions when demand exceeds capacity to provide direct legal representation.
Key Working Relationships:
Position Reports to: Managing Attorney
Position Directly Supervises: Staff Attorney(s), Legal Assistant or DOJ accredited representative
Job Requirements:
- Law degree (JD or LLM) from an ABA-accredited U.S. institution and admission to any state bar, with Maryland license highly preferred.
- Seek Maryland bar license within one year of hire, if not already licensed in Maryland.
- At least 3 years' experience providing direct representation in immigration court and/or before USCIS to asylum applicants and other immigrants seeking humanitarian relief; As a significant amount of time will be spent with the A Humanitarian Aid Organization's Children's Legal Services program, preference will be given for applicants with experience representing unaccompanied minors before EOIR, USCIS, and handling state predicate orders for unaccompanied minors.
- Excellent research, writing, analytical, and organizational skills, and excellent legal judgment.
- Ability to communicate clearly and effectively, both orally in a courtroom setting and in writing.
- Bilingual in one or more languages of the survivor population preferred (eg., Spanish, French, Arabic).
- Evidence of capacity to be a strong team member in a highly collaborative multidisciplinary environment.
- Deep commitment to immigrant rights and working with humanitarian immigrants.
- Trauma-informed and sensitive listening and communication skills.
- Personal integrity in handling ethically complex and confidential situations.
- Strong computer literacy, research, and analysis skills.
