Description:
The Opportunity:We are seeking a staff attorney as a result of a grant. The staff attorney will provide comprehensive legal services to LGBTQ+ residents of the Bronx, with a primary focus on health law and health access and a secondary focus on family law/intimate partner violence. The staff attorney's primary role will be providing direct representation in various civil matters. The staff attorney will conduct community education, provider education, off-site intake, and outreach, including intake at community health centers that are already part of our existing medical-legal partnerships. We expect this staff attorney to provide wide-ranging services, with an emphasis on individual representation, that improve the social determinants of health for LGBTQ+-identified Bronx residents.
The staff attorney will report to the Supervising Attorney of the Public Benefits & LGBTQ Advocacy Units.
Qualifications:
- Admission to the New York State Bar;
- At least two years of combined experience in one or more of the following practice areas: health/home care, family, or public benefits (non-legal experience will be considered);
- Prior experience representing LGBTQ+ people required;
- Prior experience representing litigants at administrative hearings and in City, State, or Federal Courts required;
- Commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) and utilization of DEIB lens in the project, work, and representation;
- Ability to adapt quickly and correct course as well as to identify and achieve goals in an evolving project;
- Superlative communication and interpersonal skills, with an aptitude for building relationships with people across all walks of life;
- Grace, kindness, and empathy, particularly when under pressure, for our clients, team, and agency partners;
- Excellent teacher, facilitator, educator, trainer, coach, and mentor;
- Belief in our ability to create systemic change and commitment to working towards that goal;
- A demonstrated passion for social justice and a commitment to working with low-income communities and communities of color to advance equity;
- Ability to identify trends in our high volume of individual cases that could be addressed by strategic action or creative interventions;
- An understanding of the dynamics of intimate partner/domestic violence and trafficking, as well as the effects abuse, crime, and trauma have on individuals and communities;
- Good writing skills, particularly with taking complex processes and presenting them in a way that is easily understandable and accessible for wide audiences;
- Excellent organizational skills and strong facility with numbers;
- Experience working with low-income people;
- Prior health law experience or prior experience in a medical setting (including a medical-legal partnership), public health, or health policy strongly preferred; and,
- Fluency or proficiency in Spanish or another language commonly spoken by Bronx residents is strongly preferred.
