Staff Attorney

JOB POSTING – Staff Attorney

The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1986. CHIRLA is a California leader with national impact made of diverse immigrant families and individuals who act as agents of social change to achieve a world with freedom of mobility, full human rights, and true participatory democracy. CHIRLA organizes and serves individuals, institutions and coalitions to build power, transform public opinions, and change policies to achieve full human, civil and labor rights.

Guided by power, love and vision of our community, CHIRLA embraces and drives progressive social change.

The Staff Attorney is a member of the legal department who may be assigned to work primarily with one or more of the legal teams as needed. Accordingly, the types and amounts of cases assigned to a staff member will reflect the needs of the clients serviced by the team(s) they are assigned or the needs of clients across the legal department as a whole.

The Staff Attorney will assist clients pursue immigration benefits for, and provide representation of clients in applications, hearings or proceedings before a variety of courts, tribunals and agencies as needed to safeguard and/or improve their immigration status within the United States. Further, the Staff Attorney is also responsible for pursuing community-based systemic reform and advocacy aimed at reforming unforgiving federal immigration laws.

The Staff Attorney will provide consultations to potential new clients on a regular basis, in particular at Legal Triage, and other events. The staff attorney will provide clients with effective, responsive, compassionate, efficient and zealous representation. The staff attorney supervises and directs the efforts of paralegals or other support staff assigned to help their client’s cases.

• Provide representation to clients with cases involving issues such as criminal history, immigration law violations, family law issues, current or previous removal proceedings, appeals, or other issues related to their immigration matters as needed.
• Responsible for the preparation, review, revision and submission of any documents needed to address a client’s immigration issues, including but not limited to applications, motions, legal memos or briefs, petitions or requests.
• Represent individuals before federal, state or local courts, agencies or tribunals at all levels as needed to properly address and resolve issues for clients in their cases. Such representation should follow both ethical and professional responsibility obligations as well as funder requirements.
• Responsible for creating and communicating timelines and tasks to supervisors, colleagues, and subordinate staff that will properly and efficiently resolve issues in cases in order to achieve the best possible outcome for clients. Also responsible for communicate this information to clients.
• Ability to work effectively under pressure with urgent deadlines.
• Research and analyze complex and straightforward legal matters pertaining to own caseload and assuming responsibility and risk for outcomes of client cases.
• Screen potential clients for all potential and available immigration benefits that they may qualify for, and use that information to assess their ability to successfully pursue and obtain those benefits.
• Communicate to potential clients an assessment or evaluation of their immigration cases or circumstances, including but not limited to any rights these individuals possess, any requirements these individuals must complete, and any deadlines they must comply with.
• Stay up to date with changes in immigration law and other immigration related developments in order to be able to provide clients with the best representation possible in their immigration matters.
• Make appropriate referrals as necessary for immigration legal services beyond the scope of the program or one’s own competencies, and for other social service needs.
• Assume caseload of any departing staff member as needed.

• Conduct review of all applications and other documents prepared…