The Legal Aid Society, the largest social justice public interest law firm in New York City, has an immediate opening for a dedicated and passionate Supervising Attorney in our Criminal Defense Practice’s Trial Division in the Queens County office. The CDP Trial Division is the primary public defender in New York City, providing robust and experienced holistic, client centered representation to people facing misdemeanor, felony, and homicide charges.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES

The Supervising Attorney for our Trial Offices are on the front line, providing:

• High-quality, zealous representation to the clients of the organization
• Training, mentoring and coaching interdisciplinary teams of attorneys, paralegals, and investigators
• Working closely with our social worker department

Duties include, but are not limited to:

• Observing hearing and trial, training new lawyers and law students, second chairing hearings and trials, and evaluating client services
• Supervising Attorneys will carry a reduced caseload and work with newer attorneys as second seats on the matters
• The ideal candidate is a motivated leader that values teaching and mentoring, innovation, and professional development and understands the vital role public defenders play in challenging systemic racism and oppression through direct in-person litigation of the people we are honored to serve
• They will consciously create and enhance a diverse and affirming workplace culture that is supportive, collaborative, and affirming to our clients and colleagues
• Other duties as assigned

QUALIFICATIONS

Required qualifications:

• New York State Bar admission (or ability to waive into New York State from another jurisdiction)
• At least 5 years of demonstrated commitment to public defense, social and racial justice, and equity
• Experience as a first chair in felony hearing and trials, sentence mitigation and advocacy. Two post indictment jury trials or five total jury trials to verdict preferred

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES

Position Based Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: 

• Knowledge of criminal and procedural law topical areas
• Demonstration or performance of litigation and trial specific skills
• Ability to successfully perform specific work duties
• Knowledge of relevant New York State Laws including evidence laws, criminal and constitutional laws, statutory interpretation, and ethical principles contained in the Rules of Professional Conduct
• Demonstrated ability to build collaborative teams, train, mentor and coach individuals and groups
• Ability to inspire others to seek innovative and creative approaches to advocacy and the provide effective performance feedback and evaluation to encourage ongoing development

Supervision Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Ability to schedule, assign, and manage work and resolve problems as needed
• Ability to manage the work including assessment of work process and outcomes, gathering relevant information about the work, recommending alternatives, or elevate issues as needed
• Ability to clearly identify roles, responsibilities, delegate tasks and hold people accountable
• Ability to create and implement effective communication plans
• Ability to provide meaningful performance feedback for professional development including having difficult conversations and resolving sensitive employee issues
• Pursue continuous learning on forms of systemic oppression of marginalized identities and establish team norms and management practices using an equity mindset and informed by inclusive practices

Organizational Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Commitment to Legal Aid Society’s mission to secure equal justice before the law for all New Yorkers
• Interpersonal and communication skills that enable healthy and productive working relationships
• Ability to perform duties with the highest regard for confidentiality, integrity, and respect
• Commitment to Legal Aid Society’s mission and values

Physical, environment, travel, and other duties required:   

• Mostly sedentary, significant time using a computer and monitor; communicating and meeting using video
• Requires occasional or frequent physical movement to perform essential job functions which may include, bending, reaching, pulling, pushing, standing or walking for long periods of time, accessing small spaces
• May or will require travel within NYC, across the five-borough region
• Ability to lift 40 pounds on an occasional/routine basis

SALARY AND BENEFITS

The salary range represents a good faith estimate of the range we expect to pay for this role. The actual salary offered may vary depending on many factors, including but not limited to job-related knowledge, skills, and experience, as well as collectively bargained salary steps for unionized roles.

Salary Range: $99,444 – $163,507

The Legal Aid Society offers a generous benefits package including health insurance, paid vacation, disability, and life insurance, and more. Click here to read more about benefits.

Higher Education and Loan Forgiveness

The Legal Aid Society is a qualified employer for the purposes of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness. This position allows an employee to take advantage of PSLF and other State and Federal loan forgiveness programs. Additionally, employees who are New York residents may be eligible for assistance from New York state to assist with loan repayments, depending on years of practice. To learn more, click the links below.

studentaid.gov

hesc.ny.gov/loan-forgiveness-programs

WORK AUTHORIZATION

All applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States for any employer without sponsorship for a work visa or permit. We are currently unable to sponsor employment visas or permits. (However, for citizens of Canada and Mexico, LAS will provide a letter documenting employment status that is needed to obtain a TN visa.)

HOW TO APPLY


All applications must be completed online via the career portal. We do not accept emailed applications. Submit the following documents as a combined PDF:

• Cover Letter
• Resume

For technical difficulties or questions regarding this posting, please email jo**************@le*******.org.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

As an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Employer, The Legal Aid Society prohibits discriminatory employment actions against and treatment of its employees and applicants for employment based on actual or perceived race or color, size (including bone structure, body size, height, shape, and weight), religion or creed, alienage or citizenship status, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity (one’s internal deeply-held sense of one’s gender which may be the same or different from one’s sex assigned at birth); gender expression (the representation of gender as expressed through, for example, one’s name, choice of pronouns, clothing, haircut, behavior, voice, or body characteristics; gender expression may not conform to traditional gender-based stereotypes assigned to specific gender identities), disability, marital status, relationship and family structure (including domestic partnerships, polyamorous families and individuals, chosen family, platonic co-parents, and multigenerational families), genetic information or predisposing genetic characteristics, military status, domestic violence victim status, arrest or pre-employment conviction record, credit history, unemployment status, caregiver status, salary history, or any other characteristic protected by law.

OUR COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION

The Legal Aid Society is committed to a work culture of zealous advocacy, respect, diversity and inclusion, client-oriented defense, access to justice and excellent representation. We are dedicated to building a strong professional relationship with each of our clients (people), to understanding their diverse circumstances, and to meeting their needs. Our ability to achieve these goals depends on the efforts of all of us and our ability to build strong relationships with our colleagues. Every member of our community is expected to continuously learn about the dynamic, evolving, and emerging field of knowledge of identity, bias, and systemic forms of oppression and participate in productive efforts to dismantling bias in all forms.