Staff Attorney

Summary

Join the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) as a Staff Attorney, Legal! This role involves impact litigation to advance the rights of low-income immigrants, primarily in federal courts. You will mentor law fellows and interns, developing their litigation skills. The position requires collaboration with various teams and external partners, utilizing a multi-pronged approach combining litigation, policy analysis, advocacy, and community engagement. You will also contribute to administrative and legislative advocacy, community education, and media engagement. This is a bargaining unit position with a salary range of $84,200 - $105,300.

Requirements

• JD degree and active member in good standing of a State Bar Association required
• 2-6+ years of litigation experience
• Demonstrated experience in leading or supporting the investigation and development of impact litigation
• Proficiency with in-office and virtual environments and software such as MS Office, internet research, and virtual collaboration tools

Responsibilities

• Conduct impact litigation on a range of issues in collaboration with litigation teams of other Staff Attorneys, Senior Attorneys, Deputy Directors, Paralegals, and other Program staff
• Identify and develop litigation in federal and state courts with supervision and support from Senior Attorneys and/or Deputy Directors, including preparing pleadings, motions, and briefs; conducting discovery; presenting oral arguments; and handling appeals
• Develop and maintain a significant litigation case load in federal and/or state court, typically in partnership with an internal case team and external co-counsel, with supervision and support from Senior Attorneys and/or Deputy Directors
• Strategically, creatively, and boldly use plaintiff-driven, community-grounded impact litigation as a lever of change in combination and partnership with NILC’s other core strategies of policy research and analysis, strategic partnerships and advocacy, communications, and movement & power building to advance NILC’s vision and mission
• Advance NILC’s administrative and legislative advocacy by providing legal analysis and technical assistance to colleagues in NILC’s other departments; external partners including advocates, organizers, and attorneys nationwide; government officials and staff; and the media
• Develop community education materials, create webinars, and provide Know Your Rights (KYR) presentations
• Mentor and teach legal interns, legal fellows, and more junior attorneys in all aspects of case investigation, development, and litigation, as well as in other legal work
• Collaborate with staff across the organization via Program workgroups to support ongoing programmatic work
• Represent NILC with coalition partners on litigation and other areas of legal experience or expertise
• Engage with the media about relevant legal work and litigation in coordination with the Strategic Communications department
• Proactively, constructively, and consistently report to relevant staff and leadership about programmatic developments, administrative needs and broader institutional concerns, opportunities, and needs
• Work with legal team staff on responding to requests for assistance, case development, and provision of legal representation
• Successfully engage in/support policy advocacy, campaigns, and community outreach to advance NILC’s mission
• Support and strengthen internal protocols and communication; foster a collaborative work environment and contribute positively to team dynamics; and reflect NILC’s and the Legal Department’s values inside and outside the organization
• May be a part of a larger cross functional project using the MOCHA framework/methodology
• May oversee temporary legal interns or law fellows as needed
• Champions NILC & IJF’s mission of advancing the rights of immigrants with low income by demonstrating a commitment to human rights, and racial, economic, and social justice
• Attends and actively participates in NILC meetings at the organization, department, project, and individual levels
• Develops relationships and supports NILC and IJF colleagues across all teams, recognizing that everyone brings a unique background and perspective to the work and assuming good intent from each other
• Follows through on commitments, acting with a clear sense of ownership individually and collectively by taking personal responsibility for decisions, actions, and failures, establishing clear responsibilities and processes for monitoring work and measuring results, and designing feedback loops into work
• Learns quickly when facing new situations by experimenting to find fresh solutions, taking on the challenge of unfamiliar tasks, and extracting lessons learned from failures and mistakes
• Acts with integrity by following through on commitments, being direct and truthful, keeping confidences, and showing consistency between words and actions
• Commits to centering NILC’s values of racial justice and equity, valuing diversity, fostering partnerships and collaboration, encouraging respect and personal well-being, and striving for transparency, integrity, and honesty in all decisions and actions

Preferred Qualifications

• Litigation experience in federal court preferred
• Experience with legal research and writing presented in federal court preferred
• Experience in immigrants’ rights or other public interest impact litigation strongly preferred
• Proficiency in non-English languages spoken by Latinx, Asian, Pacific Islander, African, Caribbean, and Arab communities preferred. Fluency in more than one language desirable

Benefits

• Salary range for this role is $84,200 - $105,300
• Remote work locations are as follows: (Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Georgia, Maryland, Montana, North Carolina, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin)