Full-Time Staff Attorney – Elder, Health & Disability Unit
Job Description
Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS) is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity/ Accessible Employer and strives to ensure that our staff members reflect the diversity of the communities we serve.
GBLS provides free legal services and representation to clients in the greater Boston area who cannot afford private legal representation.
GBLS seeks applicants for a permanent attorney position, the first year of which will be in our Elder Health and Disability Unit (EHD) focused on a partnership with Women’s Lunch Place to advocates for client’s basic needs including but not limited to, housing, SSI/SSDI, and benefits. The partnership is expected to continue but after the first year, the attorney may be transferred to other work at GBLS, based on need at that time.
The Unit represents elders, people with disabilities, and families to ensure that they have income, health care, and services needed to live independently in the community. The Unit’s work includes access to SSI income for children and adults, access to affordable health care for all, and representation of elders in benefits and housing matters. Our special projects include: Medicare Advocacy Project, Children’s Disability Project, and School to Prison Pipeline Intervention Project. The Unit’s work includes keeping people out of institutions and improving the quality of life for those who live in institutions. We empower people to make decisions about their lives and support people with disabilities in their fight for accessibility.
The responsibilities of the position include but are not limited to, Be sited at Women’s Lunch Place and interact with clients at least 1 day per week; Be sited at GBLS at least 1 day per week; Interact with Shelter guests and advocates to take referrals and aide guests in their cases; Contact clients post intake/referrals and gather information on their behalf; and Attend necessary trainings.
Qualifications:
- 0-3 years of experience
- Desire to work with clients with significant barriers to housing, SSI/SSDI, benefit programs, and navigating bureaucracies
- Ability to work effectively with diverse clients
- Strong written and oral communication skills
- Experience in legal or other advocacy, or demonstrated relevant skills
- Ability to perform careful, detailed work
- Demonstrated capacity to analyze and work with complex materials
- Admission to the Massachusetts Bar or pending admission
A plus, but not required: fluency in Spanish or another language prevalent among our clients.
Salary is based on a union scale, which begins at $61,500 for an attorney with one year of experience. GBLS offers a generous benefits package, retirement contribution, a student loan repayment assistance plan for eligible attorneys, and generous PTO leave.
GBLS values diversity and encourages applicants from a broad range of backgrounds.
How to Apply
Candidates should submit letter of interest, resume and brief writing sample to the Human Resources Team via email at jobs@gbls.org. Please refer to Job Code: EHD-ATT when applying for this position. Deadline is September 30, 2022 or until position is filled.69 total views, 0 today