Housing Supervising Attorney

Bay Area Legal Aid (Bay Legal) is a non-profit law firm. Our staff provide free civil legal services to individuals and families living in poverty throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Our community-based service model includes a wide range of access points, including legal hotlines, six physical offices, and community-based advocacy clinics and intake points. We practice in multiple inter-related legal substantive areas to prevent and stop homelessness, increase economic stability, protect low-income consumers, expand access to healthcare, and enhance safety for survivors of interpersonal violence.

Our clients include the working poor, families with children, foster youth, seniors, immigrants, veterans, individuals impacted by the criminal and juvenile legal systems, and persons with disabilities. The core of our community-based practice is working alongside our individual clients to protect their legal rights, resolve immediate crises and remove legal barriers to long-term stability and escaping poverty. Bay Legal is also uniquely positioned to identify patterns of illegal practices and engage in opportunities to protect the legal rights of low-income communities and increase efficiency and effectiveness of public services through broader advocacy and impact litigation.

Bay Legal's San Francisco Housing Practice Team focuses on preserving housing for tenants who are low-income in San Francisco. As part of San Francisco's Tenant Right to Counsel Initiative, the team provides full-scope legal representation to tenants in Unlawful Detainer eviction proceedings, and advocates for tenants living in federally subsidized housing on a range of housing-related issues.

Position: Bay Legal seeks an attorney with significant housing law experience and a strong commitment to public interest and social justice to join our Housing Law practice group in San Francisco as a Supervisor. This position is based in our San Francisco office and involves traveling throughout the county and potentially the Bay Area as necessary to best serve our low-income clients.

Key Responsibilities:

• Learn and advocate for the diverse legal needs of undeserved and vulnerable communities in San Francisco and the broader Bay Area to reduce homelessness, enhance stability, and address social justice.
• Assist Managing Attorney in mentoring and supervising the legal work of attorneys, advocates, and volunteers in the San Francisco housing team and in other regional offices or teams to ensure overall effectiveness and high-quality client services, strategic policy advocacy and litigation, including:
  • Direct supervision of individual casework, including reviewing writings and pleadings, observing intakes and hearings, and co-counseling cases as needed to assure high-quality advocacy;
  • Regular/weekly review of new and ongoing cases, intake trends, case strategy, and advocacy opportunities;
  • Review of open and closed cases of staff as to quality, quantity, priorities, and compliance with Bay Legal policies and funder requirements;
  • Guide staff in developing and executing appropriate advocacy strategies, whether through individual client representation, community outreach and education, policy advocacy and/or impact litigation. and
  • Identify and facilitate training opportunities and periodic updates on evolving legal services issues and barriers.
• In coordination with team supervisors and Managing Attorney, facilitate case review or weekly team meeting, including providing opportunities for non-housing attorneys to bring their related questions.
• Assist Managing Attorney in the professional development of staff members by:
  • Helping construct individual professional development and training plans;
  • Mentoring unit staff and encouraging experiences or trainings geared to advocacy skill improvement; and
  • Evaluating individual performance and providing regular constructive feedback.
• Carry a client caseload and/or perform direct client services commensurate with supervisorial responsibilities.
• Engage with, build and foster broad public-private partnerships, including with governmental agencies, courts, community-based organizations, and pro bono partners, to ensure integrated services, client outreach and address systemic barriers facing Bay Legal's client community.

• Identify issues that require systemic advocacy, establish goals, and engage in policy advocacy and litigation.

• Help to track and report on successes and grant funding deliverables and identify opportunities to share with staff and stakeholders regarding Bay Legal's housing practice, its successes and importance.

• Assist with other tasks and initiatives that support Bay Legal's mission, goals and operations as needed.

Required Qualifications:

• Member of CA Bar in good standing or admitted to practice in another state and eligible to practice in California for at least 3 years under the California State Bar rules for the Registered Legal Services Attorney Program. Candidates who have recently passed the CA Bar or graduated and…