Staff Attorney - Tenant Rights Coalition

BROOKLYN LEGAL SERVICES

STAFF ATTORNEYS, TENANT RIGHTS COALITION

Brooklyn Legal Services seeks two Staff Attorneys for its Tenant Rights Coalition.  This is a staff position based in our Brownsville, Brooklyn office.

About us

Brooklyn Legal Services (BLS), part of Legal Services NYC (LSNYC), is a civil legal services organization with a mission to fight poverty and seek racial, social, and economic justice on behalf of low-income New Yorkers. Our office provides a wide range of civil legal services and balance individual case representation, impact litigation and policy advocacy, as well as outreach, education, and trainings, in various subject areas. We have a wall-to wall union that includes attorneys, paralegals, social workers, and support staff.  As a community-centered, social justice organization, BLS is committed to fostering an inclusive and equitable workplace where staff and clients feel welcome. Through our various affinity groups and committees, we actively work to foster collegial relationships among staff and allow staff to explore and grow in our understanding of and challenge systemic barriers within our organization and through our legal work. All employees are expected to learn about and seek to understand, identify and overcome barriers to justice from individual preconceptions to structural barriers and work to realize our organizational goals and mission. 

The Tenant Rights Coalition (TRC) is a team of approximately 20 legal workers performing anti-displacement work in partnership with tenant leaders and community organizers throughout Brooklyn to combat the impacts of gentrification and greed. Our Unit is based in a community office in Brownsville; however, our day-to-day work includes but is not limited to, supporting tenant association meetings at buildings in south, central, and east Brooklyn neighborhoods, defending against and/or asserting claims in Housing Court, Supreme Court, Appellate Court, Federal Court, and/or at various administrative agencies, conducting workshops and trainings, staffing multiple monthly clinics, and supporting local and statewide coalition work. The Staff Attorney will work closely with the TRC team and our community partners to support Brooklyn tenants through bold and creative litigation and advocacy in multiple forums with an ever-changing legal landscape.  Occasional evening and weekend hours may be necessary.

Responsibilities include:

• Manage high volume, diverse caseload that includes both individual and group cases;
• Staff and/or lead various workshops, trainings, and clinics, both on and off-site;
• Attend and/or lead team meetings and substantive trainings;
• Attend and/or support tenant meetings at buildings throughout Brooklyn, including some evenings and weekends;
• Prepare and appear at multiple court appearances in various forums, including responsibility for all aspects of litigation from client interviews, legal research and writing, to conducting hearings and trials;
• Support local and statewide coalition spaces to support larger organizing goals of our community partners and tenant leaders;
• Work well within teams of multiple stakeholders – including legal and non-legal workers – to execute creative and complex litigation;
• Maintain online case files within office case management system to ensure compliance with various grants.

Qualifications:

• J.D. from an accredited law school;
• Admitted to New York State Bar, eligible for reciprocal admission, or law graduate who has passed the New York bar exam or is registered to sit for the next bar examination;
• Excellent advocacy, litigation, analytic, writing, and leadership skills;
• Ability to communicate effectively with individuals from diverse backgrounds and work well within a team dynamic;
• Eagerness to conduct community outreach, trainings, and clinics in various settings and to varied audiences, including some evenings and weekends;
• Flexibility and/or ability to quickly adapt to changing strategies;
• Strong commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging with a demonstrated commitment to social justice and working alongside low-income communities and communities of color to advance equity; and,
• Second language proficiency is strongly preferred,

How to Apply:

Applicants should submit a cover letter, resume, and two legal writing samples. Only candidates selected for interviews will be contacted. No telephone calls, please.

BLS offers an excellent benefits package and a highly competitive public interest salary. We offer excellent benefits, including health, dental, and vision plans; contributions to a 403(b) plan; and generous leave time. Salary is commensurate with experience.

Brooklyn Legal Services is an equal opportunity employer: people of color; women; people with disabilities; gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people; and people over the age of 40 are welcome and encouraged to apply. We are committed to race, gender, and economic justice in our work and within our workplace. Staff members who are not managers are members of the LSSA/NOLSW UAW Local 2320. Additional information about the practice may be found on our website, www.legalservicsnyc.org.