Associate Director | Federal Pro Se Legal Assistance Project – S.D.N.Y. - NYC Bar Association

Job Posting: Associate Director | Federal Pro Se Legal Assistance Project
Department: City Bar Justice Center
Reports to:  Director, FedPro-SDNY (primarily); CBJC's Executive Director & Director of Legal Services (on an ad hoc basis)
FLSA: Exempt

The City Bar Justice Center (CBJC) seeks an experienced attorney committed to expanding access to justice to join our team as Associate Director of CBJC’s Federal Pro Se Legal Assistance Project operating in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (FedPro-SDNY). This new position with CBJC reports principally to FedPro-SDNY’s Director, and to CBJC’s Executive Director and Director of Legal Services on an ad hoc basis, and is available for this expansion of CBJC programming beginning mid to late September 2024.

FedPro-SDNY is an innovative initiative providing free, limited-scope legal assistance to pro se individuals (including incarcerated individuals) litigating civil cases in the Southern District, mostly in the areas of civil rights, employment discrimination, Fair Labor Standards Act, and Social Security benefits matters, and a range of other claims touching on core individual rights and the protection of livelihoods. The City Bar Justice Center annually provides high-quality, free civil legal services benefiting over 25,000 New Yorkers who lack the resources to hire private counsel. CBJC also relies on partnerships with our affiliate, the New York City Bar Association, as well as with law firms, corporate legal departments, solo practitioners, law schools, the courts, and other stakeholders. In the past year, over 2,200 pro bono attorneys donated services to support clinics and client matter work drawn from CBJC’s dozen civil legal services projects.

PRINCIPAL AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY:

• Assist the FedPro-SDNY Director in providing strategic direction for FedPro-SDNY, and in meeting CBJC’s and the Court’s expectations that FedPro-SDNY’s clinical services model assists pro se litigants in a timely manner.
• Support the management of FedPro-SDNY’s docket, helping to ensure the delivery of high quality legal services to a high volume of pro se litigants at different stages of federal litigation, including by helping to ensure FedPro-SDNY provides: information and brief advice on the applicability of federal law to claims at issue, and on federal court procedure and individual judges’ rules; brief advice on case strategy, discovery and motion practice, and trial preparation; explanation of court orders and rulings, mediation practice, and settlement offers; mediation and settlement support where feasible; and support reviewing, editing, and/or assisting in drafting pro se discovery and motion practice documents (note: FedPro-SDNY does not represent litigants in court, but may in certain instances represent litigants for settlement purposes).
• Meet with litigants served by FedPro-SDNY and assist in overseeing the provision of limited services to pro se litigants of the Southern District’s White Plains courthouse.
• Assist the director in supervising the FedPro-SDNY staff attorneys; co-supervise the FedPro-SDNY project coordinators (paralegals) and social work support teams; and serve as the principal recruiter and supervisor of pro bono volunteers and interns to support FedPro-SDNY services.
• Assist in ensuring the quality of FedPro-SDNY’s overall scope and services via the collection of case data and creation of periodic reports for both CBJC and the Court; collaborating with CBJC management on grant writing, reporting, and administration; and by helping to execute programmatic improvements so FedPro-SDNY may better meet its objectives.
• Serve as a collaborative member of CBJC’s larger team, including via close collaboration with CBJC’s federal pro se project operating in the Eastern District and with the New York City Bar Association, by contributing to CBJC-wide strategic initiatives and supporting CBJC policy innovation, and performing other duties and tasks as requested.

EXPERIENCE, SKILLS & REQUIREMENTS:

• Must be a New York and S.D.N.Y. bar member in good standing with at least four years of litigation experience, including litigating novel or complex issues and/or employment, civil rights, criminal matters, FLSA, and/or Social Security matters.
• Strongly prefer candidates with some combination of: a federal clerkship; at least two years of federal court practice; mediation/settlement/ADR experience; and/or experience delivering high-volume client services or clinical legal services.
• Detail-oriented self-starter with superb legal judgment and a capacity to multi-task who is creative, thoughtful, and tech savvy; has experience building a program and/or leading teams; can support CBJC’s and the City Bar’s institutional commitments to community education and serving the courts; and can demonstrate a commitment to building and nurturing pro bono partnerships with the private bar, serving those who struggle with a lack of resources, and providing legal assistance to historically underserved communities.
• Excellent writing and editing, oral communication, and organizational/project management skills; ability to work both independently and with others, and to effectively and collegially collaborate with and/or train, mentor, and supervise an interdisciplinary team comprised of other attorneys, legal assistants and interns, social work support team members, and pro bono volunteers.
• Excellent people and client counseling skills, including effectively interacting with members of the public in a respectful and sensitive way, many of whom suspect institutions and the legal profession, and some of whom experience legal problems compounded by mental health struggles.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office 365, and the ability to quickly learn and effectively use LegalServer and other technology.
• Professional working proficiency in Spanish or another non-English language a plus, but not required.

This is a hybrid position for which candidates must be available for some in-person workdays during standard business hours, primarily at FedPro-SDNY’s downtown Manhattan courthouse, with the balance of time split between work-from-home, work at CBJC’s main offices in midtown Manhattan for supervision, team, and committee meetings, and occasional other local work-related travel. This position will become available by mid to late September, and may entail occasional longer-distance travel for conferences and other professional opportunities.

Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States. We are not able to sponsor visas for this position.

Salary for this position is in the $85,000-$115,000 range (annualized) depending on depth and diversity of skills and years of professional and practice experience. The City Bar’s competitive benefits package includes generous paid time off (vacation, personal, sick time, holidays, day off for volunteer work, extra time off in the summer), choice of medical plans, dental, vision, 401K, life insurance, commuter benefits, Employee Assistance Program, short-term/long-term disability insurance, employee discounts, complimentary New York City Bar Association membership, many free City Bar CLEs, and others.

To apply: Please send a cover letter explaining your interest, a resume, and three professional business references.

The City Bar Justice Center is a proud equal opportunity employer, and we particularly encourage applications from candidates belonging to communities historically under-represented in the legal profession. We actively seek a diverse applicant pool and encourage candidates of all backgrounds and unique experiences to apply. We welcome diversity of all kinds. It is our policy to ensure equal employment opportunity without discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, creed, age, national origin, alienage or citizenship status, gender (including gender identity), sexual orientation, disability, arrest or conviction record, pregnancy, credit history, salary history, caregiver status, marital status, partnership status, or status as a victim of domestic violence, stalking and sex offenses, religion, sex, genetic information, military status, unemployment status or any other characteristic as protected by law. With regard to the Americans with Disabilities Act and other related laws, the organization will endeavor to make reasonable accommodations for persons due to their religious beliefs, disability, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical condition or because the individual was a victim of domestic violence, sexual violence or stalking.