Staff Attorney: and Barriers

Position Description

Staff Attorney:
Housing and Barriers to Employment

Racine Office

Full-time

February 26, 2026

Are you seeking a rewarding staff attorney position helping others? Join our team at Legal Action of Wisconsin! We are currently seeking applications for a staff attorney with 1+ years of experience to join our team at the Racine Office in serving in our Housing and Barriers to Employment practices.

Please submit one PDF with a resume, cover letter, and three professional references with your application.

Legal Action of Wisconsin, Inc. (“Legal Action”) is a non‑profit law firm, funded by the federal Legal Services Corporation, the Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation, and many other sources and supporters. Legal Action provides free civil legal aid to low‑income persons in Wisconsin with offices in Milwaukee, Madison, Racine, Oshkosh, Green Bay, La Crosse and Wausau. Legal Action attorneys and paralegals have expertise in a range of substantive areas, but most of our direct representation is in the areas of housing, public benefits, removing barriers to employment, consumer law, and family law.

Mission Statement:
Legal Action’s mission is to deliver exceptional civil legal services and structural change advocacy, free of cost, to those most in need. Our core values (equity, advocacy, client‑centered, integrity and community) guide our work and actions. Please see our website for a description of the core values and vision that guides our work.

This position will be based in Legal Action’s Racine office, which currently consists of two staff Attorneys, two Paralegals, and a managing attorney. The Racine Office is located at 245 Main Street, Suite 203, Racine, WI 53403. Racine Office staff office‑share and have hybrid in‑person and remote calendars to best utilize office space.

Legal Action’s personnel policies govern this position.

This full‑time staff attorney will spend 50% of their time assisting clients in housing matters and 50% of their time in barriers to employment cases. Housing cases include eviction defense work, helping clients maintain or obtain housing benefits, and cases about the habitability of rented housing. Barriers to employment cases include driver’s license recovery, pardons, expungement, and cases involving professional licenses.

This attorney may also be asked to handle cases in Legal Action of Wisconsin’s other civil priority areas – family law, consumer law, and benefits – as needed.

• Provide quality and aggressive representation of clients in individual service cases and undertake impact work that has impact on groups of low‑income persons or the systems that have the most effect on the low‑income community.
• Stay current with the areas of law that pertain to the low‑income community as they change and develop, particularly in their area of specialization.
• Share responsibility for the development and maintenance of good working relationships with community groups and with state and local bar associations and others.
• Provide training and other assistance to volunteers who participate in Legal Action's Volunteer Lawyer Project.
• Perform intake duties and, where necessary, make appropriate referrals to other community agencies.
• Serve on at least one of our Priority Committees:
  Housing;
  Employment;
  Consumer;
  Public Benefits; and Family.
• May be assigned additional duties from time to time.

• Juris doctorate degree and 1+ years of experience as an attorney.
• Admission to the Wisconsin Bar upon hire.
• A commitment to civil legal aid and to providing quality and aggressive representation to low‑income people.
• Knowledge of state and federal law and procedure.
• A high standard of written and courtroom advocacy.
• Ability to communicate both orally and in writing in a clear and concise manner.
• Ability to work harmoniously with others.
• Ability to handle and prioritize many pressing matters in various locations.
• Ability and willingness to travel throughout Legal Action’s service area to meet with clients and to attend court hearings.
• A deep understanding of the needs of low‑income litigants.
• A professional…