Description:

Bronx Legal Services seeks a dynamic and experienced attorney to join its Neighborhood Stabilization Project, a combined practice unit that provides direct legal representation to individual homeowners on a wide range of foreclosure-related matters including predatory lending practices and real estate abuses, and provides transactional legal counsel to underserved groups in the borough such as not-for-profit organizations, low-income housing cooperatives, and small businesses. We are looking for a highly motivated individual who thrives in a fast-paced environment and can manage multiple projects at once.

Program Description:
Bronx Legal Services is part of Legal Services NYC (LSNYC), the largest provider of free civil legal services in the country. The Bronx Office is comprised of 160+ staff including attorneys, paralegals, social workers, and support staff. It is a diverse and unionized office that provides high-quality free legal services in the areas of foreclosure prevention, community economic development, eviction defense, tenant's rights advocacy, family law and the protection of domestic violence survivors, public benefits, employment, immigration, consumer rights, education, and disability and serves LGBTQ+ residents of the Bronx. We seek equal access to the legal system for low-income Bronx residents through a range of legal services, education, and community partnerships.

Bronx Legal Services prides itself on its Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) efforts. As a social justice organization, we are committed to fighting for a workplace that is as diverse, equitable, and inclusive as possible for everyone. Our DEIB committee and numerous affinity groups work to foster collegial relationships among staff and allow staff to explore and advocate for racial justice and anti-oppression growth within our organization and through our legal work. All employees are expected to learn about, seek to understand, and work to realize our DEIB goals.

The Position:
The attorney selected for this position will be expected to handle a diverse and highvolume caseload that involves litigating a mix of individual foreclosure actions, partition cases, predatory lending, and deed theft cases. The attorney may also represent homeowners in foreclosure-related ancillary proceedings in the Surrogate's Court for letters of administration or in Bankruptcy Court on Chapter 7 and 13 petitions to avert foreclosure. We operate and staff a weekly off-site clinic to screen distressed homeowners for assistance, which the selected attorney will staff on a rotational basis with other attorneys in the unit to conduct intakes. Conducting outreach and community education are integral aspects of our work and will require occasional evening and weekend work.

The attorney will also be expected to work on community economic development assignments involving the representation of low-income cooperative buildings on transactional matters that lead to the preservation of existing affordable housing stock, assisting small businesses in commercial lease disputes, assisting not-for-profit organizations with corporate formation, and litigating matters aimed at challenging discriminatory and unfair housing practices.

Participation in coalition meetings and lobbying efforts on topics related to the work is required. Timely inputting of case notes and maintaining records in our case management system is also required.

Qualifications:
The ideal candidate will possess the following experience and qualifications:

Admission to the New York State Bar;
A minimum of three years of litigation experience in areas such as foreclosure prevention, consumer rights, fair housing, civil rights and/ or economic justice or a related practice area, multiparty complex litigation experience a plus;
Experience drafting dispositive motions, written discovery, and taking and defending depositions;
Experience with court appearances and oral advocacy;
A demonstrated commitment to social and economic justice issues;
Excellent analytical, research and writing, and organizational skills;
High level of interest in meeting and collaborating with community groups;
Background in conducting community education and outreach events;
Experience working with low-income communities and communities of color to advance equality;
Commitment to furthering the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging mission of the organization;
Experience in conducting due diligence on lending transactions in the affordable housing context is preferred but not required,
Experience with assisting not-for-profit organizations and small businesses is preferred but not required;
Knowledge of Bankruptcy and Surrogate's Court practice and procedure preferred but not required;
Fluency or proficiency in Spanish or another language commonly spoken by Bronx residents is preferred but not required.