Bay Area Legal Aid
Temporary Housing Attorney – Santa Clara County Regional Office
Organization: Bay Area Legal Aid (BayLegal) ensures fairness in the civil justice system for the most vulnerable members of our community. From Silicon Valley to Napa Valley, we help clients protect their livelihoods, their health, and their families. Our clients include the working poor, families with children, foster youth, seniors, immigrants, veterans, and persons with disabilities. Through our regional county offices, our mobile advocacy clinics, and our nationally-recognized Legal Advice Line, BayLegal prevents domestic violence and sexual assault, increases economic stability, protects consumers, expands access to healthcare, and prevents homelessness. For our clients, BayLegal makes the difference between staying in poverty and thriving toward a brighter future.
Job Description: We seek an energetic, culturally sensitive attorney with a strong commitment to public interest to represent individuals impacted by the criminal justice system. The attorney will assist in removing civil legal barriers impeding clients' ability to obtain stable housing, employment, and other supports necessary for successful reentry to their families and communities. The position will be located out of our Santa Clara County Regional Office, located in downtown San José with regular offsite presence in various locations in the community. This is a temporary position, with anticipated end date of June 2019.
Responsibilities: The Housing Attorney will join our dynamic Housing Law practice group, which focuses on the preservation of fair and affordable housing—one of the most critical issues facing low-income families in Silicon Valley. The Housing Attorney will represent low-income tenants in eviction proceedings at various stages, including in Superior Court; represent tenants in Housing Authority administrative proceedings; identify and pursue affirmative fair housing litigation; conduct community outreach and training; work in collaboration with attorneys and advocates in other practice areas to provide integrated legal services to clients; and address systemic issues in areas that uniquely affect our clients’ housing rights through use of impact litigation and policy work. This position is based in our downtown San José office, which serves low-income individuals across Santa Clara County, from Palo Alto to Gilroy.
Compensation and Benefits: Compensation is based on a competitive public interest salary scale. Generous benefits package includes medical, dental, and life insurance; long-term disability; paid holiday, vacation, and sick leave; law school loan repayment; bilingual stipends; and 401k retirement plan.
Requirements:
• California State Bar membership; or admitted to practice in another state and eligible to practice in California for 3 years under the California State Bar rules for the Registered Legal Services Attorney Program (must pass CA bar)
• Cultural competency in working with low‐income clients from diverse backgrounds, including clients with physical and mental disabilities, LEP clients, and LGBT clients
• Familiarity with housing, government benefits programs, and/or consumer debts issues preferred
• Litigation in relevant subject areas or other relevant substantive experience preferred
• Excellent communication, writing, and public speaking skills
• Strong interpersonal skills and an ability to work collaboratively with a dynamic team
• Curious and self-directed with an ability to anticipate what needs to be done
• Ability to simultaneously manage multiple projects while maintaining a firm grasp of individual project details
Applications: Bay Area Legal Aid thrives on our diversity and we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to building a culturally diverse workplace and strongly encourage women, persons of color, LGBTQ individuals, veterans, persons with disabilities, and persons from other underrepresented groups to apply.
Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. Please send (1) cover letter, (2) diversity statement described below, (3) resume, (4) references, and (5) writing sample to: Human Resources Department, e-mail to [email protected]. Be sure to refer to the posting “Temporary Housing Attorney—Santa Clara County” in the title of your email.
In a separate page from your cover letter, please address the following:
BayLegal’s clients are low- and very low-income members of our communities. They include the working poor, seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities. To ensure our organization is best serving these populations, BayLegal strives to promote an evolving set of behaviors and attitudes amongst our staff, as well as policies that enable us to work effectively in all cross-cultural situations, with clients, with our coworkers, and with the community. We see this as a commitment to enhance the provision of our services to all clients; to raise the level of positive client outcomes; and to create an inclusive and respectful workplace in which differences are acknowledged and valued.
How do you think your personal background or experiences, professional or otherwise, have prepared you to contribute to our commitment to cultural humility and diversity amongst our staff? Feel free to think broadly about your response to this question, applying various aspects of your life and personal experiences.
[Please note that your response to the prompt above will not be read by your interviewing hiring committee. To reduce potential bias, your name will be removed and your response to this prompt will be read and reviewed separately from the rest of your application. Feedback on your response will then be provided to the interviewing hiring committee for this position. Therefore, if there is any specific information that you would like the interviewing hiring committee to be aware of, please make sure to include that information in your cover letter, even if there is some duplication.]