Consumer Attorney

Position: Housing Consumer Attorney
About the Legal Aid Justice Center:
The Legal Aid Justice Center is a nationally recognized, non-profit organization that partners with low-income clients and communities of color in Virginia to fight for racial, social, and economic justice. We understand that the harms our clients endure are inextricably linked to overarching systems of injustice. Together we are dismantling those systems through a combination of community organizing, litigation, policy advocacy, public relations, and individual legal services.

Founded in 1967, LAJC has offices in Charlottesville, Richmond, Petersburg, and Falls Church and provides services under six key program areas:
Civil Rights & Racial Justice (focuses on the criminal legal system), Housing & Consumer Justice, Youth Justice, Health Justice & Public Benefits, Immigrant Justice, and Worker Justice. As examples of LAJC’s recent work, our lawsuit and organizing against the state forced reform of Virginia’s unemployment insurance system, including advocacy that resulted in the distribution of over $1 billion in illegally withheld payments to over 160,000 Virginians.

During the pandemic, we demanded and secured a statewide eviction moratorium and emergency pandemic protections that helped hundreds of families avoid eviction. We reduced incarceration across the state, including reducing the population of a local immigration detention center down to historically low levels through a coordinated effort of organizing paired with impact and individual litigation. Our staff are on the front lines of some of the most important anti-poverty fights happening today.

With a staff of over 90, the past few years have been a time of exciting growth and opportunity for the organization. In addition to the growth of programmatic efforts including increased organizing capacity, LAJC has expanded its operations and administrative capacity, created new opportunities for professional growth and leadership among staff, engaged in ongoing race equity work, and explored changes to organizational structure to deepen its efforts to create long-term, sustainable, community-driven change.

About the Position:
You will be an attorney in LAJC's Housing and Consumer Justice Program (HCJP) focused on individual housing and consumer advocacy, as well as for managing systems change campaigns that seek to achieve justice for tenants by dismantling systems that create and perpetuate poverty. You may also co-teach the Economic Justice and Consumer Clinic at the University of Virginia Law, depending on level of experience, interest, and staffing needs.

HCJP Attorneys pursue the above goals through a combination of individual representation, community outreach and education, impact litigation, and state and local policy advocacy. This position could also incorporate cross-programmatic legal matters as needed.

Job Duties :
Provide individual representation in various housing and consumer matters, as needed, in state and federal courts. Will develop strategies for this litigation in conjunction with the Senior Supervising Attorney. Level of supervision will depend on level of experience of the candidate. Identify patterns and practices that are barriers to Northern Virginia residents' ability to stay in or obtain housing or access credit and avoid fraudulent and deceptive consumer practices.

You will combat these barriers through a combination of impact litigation, policy advocacy (explained further below), and/or organizing campaigns in consultation with HCJP organizers. Statewide and Local Policy Advocacy:
Will be responsible for, or serve as a helped on, housing and consumer rights-related legislative campaigns before the General Assembly and on the local level. This will include reviewing proposed state and local housing and consumer protection-related policies and advocate for or against such policies to meet client communities' needs, often in conjunction with other legal aid organizations and/or community partners.

Conduct education and outreach regarding housing and consumer rights. This may include doing Know Your Rights trainings for tenants and consumers, individual outreach to…