Trial Attorney - MHLD Worcester

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Job Description - Trial Attorney - MHLD Worcester (260006C6)

Job Description

Trial Attorney - MHLD Worcester - ( 260006C6 )

The Mental Health Litigation Division (MHLD) of the Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS), is seeking a full-time Trial Attorney for civil commitment cases including trials and a limited number of appellate cases for its Worcester Office. This office is responsible for civil commitments filed by selected facilities in Worcester, Massachusetts.

CPCS is committed to protecting the fundamental constitutional and human rights of our assigned clients through zealous advocacy, community-oriented defense, and the fullness of excellent legal representation. We are dedicated to building and maintaining strong professional relationships, while striving to accept, listen to and respect the diverse circumstances of each client, as we dedicate ourselves to meeting their individual needs. It is our CPCS mission to achieve these goals, and in furtherance thereof, we embrace and endorse diversity, equityand inclusion as our core values as we maintain a steadfast commitment to: (1) Ensure that CPCS management and staff members represent a broad range of human differences and experience;

(2) Provide a work climate that is respectful and supports success; and (3) Promote the dignity and well-being of all staff members. CPCS leadership is responsible for ensuring equity, diversity, and inclusion. The ability to achieve these goals with any level of certainty is ultimately the responsibility of each member of the CPCS community.

CPCS is the state agency in Massachusetts responsible for providing an attorney when the state or federal constitution or a state statute requires the appointment of an attorney for a person who cannot afford to retain one. The agency provides representation in criminal, delinquency, youthful offender, family regulation, guardianship, mental health, sexually dangerous person, and sex offender registry cases, as well as in appeals and post-conviction and post-judgment proceedings related to those matters.

The clients we represent are diverse across every context imaginable and bring many unique cultural dimensions to the matters we address. This reality creates a critical need for CPCS staff to be culturally competent and able to work well with people of different races, ethnicities, genders and/or sexual orientation identities, abilities, and limited English proficiency, among other protected characteristics.

The Mental Health Litigation Division (MHLD) provides trial and appellate representation to indigent persons facing commitment to public or private psychiatric facilities, petitions for authorization to administer or terminate "extraordinary" medical treatment, and petitions seeking to impose guardian ships, among other types of petitions in which mental health and capacity are  commitment proceedings, representation is provided either by MHLD staff attorneys or by private attorneys certified by MHLD to accept such assignments.

Clients facing guardianship are primarily represented by private counsel.

The Division consists of an administrative office, which is responsible for certification, oversight, and training of panel attorneys, the assignment of commitment cases, and effective administration of the MHLD; an Appellate Unit that trains, certifies, and oversees appellate attorneys and represents individuals in appeals; and four trial offices that represent indigent clients facing involuntary commitment to both public and private psychiatric facilities throughout the Commonwealth and some guardianship proceedings.

The MHLD also trains, collaborates with and assists, youth and adult criminal defense attorneys, and Children and Family Law attorneys regarding mental health issues.

The Mental Health Litigation Division is seeking an experienced, full-time Trial Attorney for civil commitment cases, competency to make informed medical decisions, and substituted judgement determinations, including trials and a limited number of appellate cases for its Worcester Commitment Defense Unit. This office is responsible for…