Description:
Overview:Job Title: Staff Attorney - Criminal Defense Team
Department: Criminal Defense Practice
Location: New York
Reports To: Supervising Attorney
Position Type: Full-Time
Union Status: Union eligible
FLSA Status: Exempt
About NDS:
Neighborhood Defender Service (NDS) is a national nonprofit public defense organization that pioneered the holistic defense model more than 30 years ago. Founded in Harlem, NDS was built to challenge the traditional public defense model by centering clients, communities, and interdisciplinary advocacy. Today, NDS operates community-based offices in Harlem; the Bronx; Detroit; and Hays County, Texas, supported by a unified national infrastructure that allows local teams to deliver high-quality, responsive representation rooted in the communities they serve.
Across all locations, NDS provides client-centered legal representation through interdisciplinary teams composed of attorneys, investigators, social workers, client advocates, and team administrators. Our approach emphasizes early and ongoing engagement with clients—before arrest where possible, throughout the life of a case, and beyond case resolution—while addressing the legal, social, and systemic challenges that impact long-term stability. NDS is committed to treating every client with dignity and respect and to advancing justice for individuals and communities that have been historically marginalized and over-policed.
Core Purpose of the Role:
The Criminal Defense Practice at NDS represents residents of Northern Manhattan who are charged with crimes who cannot afford to hire a lawyer. Clients are represented by teams composed of lawyers, investigators, social workers, and team administrators. NDS also provides pre-arrest representation to clients under threat of arrest. NDS adheres to a client-centered approach to representation that emphasizes a heightened responsiveness to clients' needs prior to arrest, while a case is pending, and after the case concludes. NDS is committed to addressing the comprehensive legal and social service needs of clients.
Responsibilities:
- Provide representation with energy and enthusiasm to residents of Northern Manhattan in Manhattan's criminal courts;
- Engage in frequent court appearances and litigation, including arraignments, grand jury presentations, legal arguments, hearings and trials;
- Interview clients and their families in the Harlem office or local jails, conduct legal research and write pre-pleading letters, motions and pre-sentencing memoranda on behalf of clients;
- Coordinate work performed by team members (investigators, social workers, team
- administrators and interns);
- Work with cross-practice colleagues (family defense, immigration defense, housing defense and other civil defense) to obtain comprehensive legal outcomes for clients;
- File motions, briefs and other related documents on a frequent and timely basis;
- Provide effective oral advocacy in negotiations and arguments in criminal cases;
- Work frequently at NDS' main office in Central Harlem when not in Court.
- Ability to collaborate with and provide mentorship to less experienced staff;
- Responsiveness and ability to communicate clearly with clients who are often under great stress.
Qualifications:
Required:
- License to practice law in the State of New York and/or the ability to obtain pra hac vice admission until barred in New York;
- Must possess a demonstrated commitment to criminal justice, indigent defense, social justice issues and/or the Northern Manhattan communities;
- Must possess the high level of organizational and administrative skills required to handle a challenging caseload;
- Must possess strong writing skills.
Preferred:
Bi-lingual (Spanish) attorneys are encouraged to apply.
