Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS) seeks a staff attorney to work in the CORI & Re-entry Project. The position will be available on September 1, 2017. The attorney will provide legal services to people who face barriers stemming from their criminal records related to housing, occupational licensing, employment, training and other opportunities following involvement in the criminal justice system.
The attorney will provide direct legal representation and assistance to low-income clients, including but not limited to: petitioning for criminal record remedies (sealing of records, correcting inaccurate public and private criminal record reports and recall of incorrect warrants; enforcing federal and state protections that mandate accurate and fair criminal history reporting in the commercial criminal background checks ; advocate with the court or governmental agencies for people charged with or convicted of offenses that affect their driver's or occupational licenses; address other collateral consequences of criminal histories. In addition the attorney will engage in legislative and systemic law reform activity, including but not limited to reform of the criminal justice system, occupational licensing, barriers to housing, and record sealing time limits; will collaborate and coordinate with community organizations to connect clients with other services needed to remove barriers to housing, training, employment, and other opportunities and perform community outreach and community legal education.
Admission to the Massachusetts Bar; 4 or less years of experience assisting indigent clients in court in expungement matters; experience conducting community outreach events and assisting diverse low income clients on criminal record sealing issues; experience managing independent projects or assignments; knowledge of Massachusetts CORI laws, EEOC and HUD guidelines related to CORI, and Massachusetts anti-discrimination laws related to criminal records; strong writing, communication, interpersonal, organizational skills; and the ability to work as a team member in a variety of contexts. Bi-lingual ability in a language commonly spoken by GBLS’ clients is preferred but not required.
Candidates should submit letter of interest and resume to: Sonia Marquez, Director of Human Resources, at Greater Boston Legal Services, via e-mail at [email protected]. Please refer to Job Code: CORI-ATT when applying for this position. Applications accepted by July 10, 2017 or until position is filled.