Staff Attorney

Position

Staff Attorney

Department:
Federal Pro Se Legal Assistance Project – S.D.N.Y. (Fed Pro-SDNY)

Reports to:

Director, Fed Pro-SDNY

FLSA Status:
Exempt

The City Bar Justice Center furthers access to justice by addressing unmet civil legal needs of New Yorkers struggling with poverty and other systemic socioeconomic barriers. The Justice Center mobilizes law firms, corporate legal departments, and other legal institutions to provide pro bono legal services, educates the public on pertinent legal issues, fosters strategic community relationships, and impacts public policy.

The City Bar Justice Center annually provides high-quality, free civil legal services benefiting over 27,000 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 3,000 pro bono attorneys donated services to support clinics and client matter work drawn from CBJC’s dozen civil legal services projects.

Fed Pro-SDNY is an innovative initiative providing free, limited-scope legal assistance to pro se plaintiffs and defendants (including incarcerated individuals) litigating civil cases in the SDNY in areas such as employment discrimination (e.g. Title VII, ADA, ADEA), civil and prisoner rights, and a broad range of other claims touching on core individual rights. The staff and volunteers provide limited scope legal assistance at various stages of federal litigation, from service of a complaint right up to trial.

Fed Pro-SDNY services benefit over 1,000 individuals each year.

The City Bar Justice Center (CBJC) seeks a candidate committed to expanding access to justice to join our team in a Staff Attorney capacity for CBJC’s Federal Pro Se Legal Assistance Project operating in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (Fed Pro-SDNY). This position reports to Fed Pro-SDNY’s Director.

• Serve as part of a team – including volunteer attorney and law student interns – that delivers high-quality legal services to pro se litigants at different stages of federal litigation, including by providing: 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 preparation for trial;
  
  explanation of court orders and rulings; mediation and settlement practice; and assisting with the review, drafting, and/or editing of pro se discovery and motion practice documents (note:
  Fed Pro-SDNY does not represent litigants in court, but may represent some litigants for settlement purposes).
• Meet with litigants served by Fed Pro-SDNY either by virtual or in-person consultation at Fed Pro-SDNY’s courthouse office in downtown Manhattan (and perhaps also on occasion at the Southern District’s White Plains courthouse) and, where applicable, collaborate with a social work support team that provides additional supportive services for some pro se litigants on a case‑by‑case basis.
• Stay abreast of changes and updates to the law and to Court rules and procedures, and assist in supervising pro bono volunteers and interns to provide Fed Pro-SDNY services.
• Provide professional legal and administrative support to Fed Pro-SDNY’s Director, including by helping to: ensure the quality of Fed Pro’s scope and services; collect case data and create periodic reports for both CBJC and the Court; where appropriate, coordinate referrals for litigants who may need access to other legal services; and perform other duties and tasks as requested.

• Must be a New York and S.D.N.Y. bar member in good standing with at least two years of federal litigation experience, including litigating employment and civil rights, and/or experience delivering high-volume client services or clinical legal services.
• Excellent writing and editing, oral communication, and organizational…