Volunteer Lawyers Project
Staff Attorney: Removing Barriers to Employment
(Technical College Legal Aid Project)
LEGAL ACTION OF WISCONSIN, INC: Legal Action of Wisconsin, Inc. is a non-profit organization funded by the federal Legal Services Corporation, the Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation, and other sources. Legal Action provides civil legal services to low-income persons in the southern 39 counties of Wisconsin. To serve its eligible client population, Legal Action maintains full-time offices in Milwaukee, Madison, Racine, Oshkosh, Green Bay, and La Crosse. In addition, Legal Action operates a statewide migrant farmworkers project. Legal Action attorneys have expertise in a range of substantive areas, but the majority of our direct representation is in the areas of housing, income maintenance, and family law. Legal Action attorneys specialize in specific areas of poverty law, maintain a direct service caseload on behalf of individual clients, and engage in law reform litigation and other impact work.
Legal Action of Wisconsin is hiring a full-time staff attorney for the Volunteer Lawyer’s Project (VLP) in our Oshkosh office for the new Legal Aid Project for Technical College Students. In this project, pro bono attorneys will help low-income technical college students solve civil legal problems that affect their educational and career path, especially with expunging past arrest and criminal background records and recovering driver’s licenses when they are suspended or revoked. By solving these civil legal problems, the pro bono attorneys and the project will help students make the most of their education opportunities at technical college and increase the probability students will successfully graduate. The Staff Attorney will recruit, train, and support those pro bono attorneys as they serve our clients and will deliver those services as well. This position will use technology to expand the project’s service area and provide services to students attending technical colleges, where there are limited legal resources. We seek a staff attorney who is available to start, as soon as possible.
Equal justice under law can only be achieved through the collaboration of a diverse staff. When we utilize our differences, we effect positive change for the communities we serve. We are committed to equitable inclusion across gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ability, sex, religion, economic circumstances, ethnicity, national origin, and culture. We are striving to transcend the construct of race and be an anti-racist law firm. We encourage staff to bring their whole selves to work each day and pledge to celebrate every aspect of who they are.
OFFICE LOCATION
This position will be based in Legal Action’s Oshkosh Office, which is located at 300 Ohio Street, but will spend a substantial amount of time at the technical college campus and other sites.
The Oshkosh Office currently consists of 10 attorneys, 3 paralegals and a technology and communications manager.
SUPERVISION
The position will be supervised by the Oshkosh office Managing Attorney and the Technical College Project Director.
KEY JOB RESPONSIBILITIES
This position will work closely with Legal Action’s VLP Director and the Technical College Legal Aid Project Director, who are based in Milwaukee, to:
• Develop and coordinate a legal aid project in the Fox Valley. This project will use pro bono attorneys, paralegal students and potentially, law students, to provide legal aid for low-income students who need record or conviction expungement, driver’s license recovery, and consumer/ bankruptcy assistance so that their pathway at their technical college is clear and the student can graduate with a useful degree.
• Ensure that students can easily identify and access legal aid to solve other civil legal problems with help from other collaborating providers.
• Expand the project to technical colleges in areas that have limited legal resources. This project will use technology within the technical schools to provide legal aid to students in remote areas of the state.
The Attorney’s primary duties include the following:
• Assist the Technical College Project Director in developing and coordinating a centralized legal aid project in the Fox Valley;
• Oversee the day to day operations of the project onsite at the technical college, including the regularly scheduled pro bono clinics for expungement and driver’s license recovery;
• Recruit, schedule, and coordinate volunteer attorneys to staff the project’s clinics;
• Provide client case management for project clients, including referring project clients to staff and volunteer attorneys, when necessary, and providing necessary follow-up on cases;
• Work with technical college faculty and staff and other Legal Action staff at the colleges to identify students who are facing barriers to employment and to develop referral processes for the project;
• Work with the technical college paralegal degree program, other degree program and administrative staff, and other Legal Action staff to incorporate students into the operations of the project as a practical learning opportunity as part of their curriculum;
• Develop and maintain a forms bank for volunteers to easily prepare cases at the project (pleadings, motions, stipulations, etc.);
• Create training materials and plan and implement training of pro bono attorneys, including on-demand video trainings and other digital materials;
• Develop a system for a legal needs check-up and work with other legal aid providers to ensure smooth referrals for students with needs outside the project scope;
• Provide some representation in local Municipal and Circuit Courts for project clients;
• Assist in growing the project’s capacity and funding.
PERSONNEL POLICIES AND “AT WILL” EMPLOYMENT
The position is governed by the Legal Action of Wisconsin, Inc. Personnel Policies which are subject to unilateral change by the Legal Action Board of Directors. As with any Legal Action position, there is no guaranteed period of employment and employment is “at will,” subject to termination at any time.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORK ENVIRONMENT
This position involves sedentary work, sitting at a desk on a computer for an extended period. Exerting up to 10 pounds of force on a regular basis to lift, carry, push, or otherwise move objects. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand, sit, talk, hear, and use hands and fingers to operate a computer and/or laptop keyboard and use a telephone. Specific vision abilities required for this job include close vision requirements due to computer work. Drives a motor vehicle while seated for periods of time for a duration of less than 1 hour to a maximum of 3 hours. Occasional reaching, bending, kneeling, and stooping involved to retrieve various items and materials. This position works in an environmentally-controlled office environment with moderate noise from phones, printers, and light office traffic. On-campus work environment will involve frequent interruptions when communicating and responding to student inquiries.
SALARY
Starting salaries for Legal Action attorneys begin at $45,727 for an attorney with 0 – 1 year of experience. A credit of $1,324 is given for each 12 months of prior relevant legal work experience. For example, an attorney with 5 years (60 months) of documented, relevant work experience will be offered a starting salary of $52,347. Salaries are not negotiable and will follow this scale.
In addition, at the discretion of the Board of Directors, staff members may receive an annual salary increase. In 2019 and in prior years, the Board of Directors approved a $2,000 salary increase for staff attorney positions.
FRINGE BENEFITS
Legal Action provides a generous fringe benefits package including employer-paid health and dental insurance for employees and eligible dependents. (Some employees are required to contribute to the health insurance premium for their spouse, if the spouse has group health insurance provided by their employer.) Legal Action also provides life and long-term disability insurance, a profit-sharing retirement plan, salary deferral options for retirement planning, low-cost employee-paid vision coverage, four weeks of vacation leave per year, four days of personal leave, and generous sick leave. Legal Action also offers flexible schedules including telecommuting for experienced staff. We also provide four weeks of paid parental leave to eligible employees.
QUALIFICATIONS
• J.D. Required, licensed in Wisconsin upon hire;
• Minimum of two years legal practice experience preferred;
• Strong communication skills to engage key stakeholders, clients, and pro bono attorneys;
• Ability to manage a high volume, fast-paced project;
• Ability to prioritize and organize resources while maintaining quality and attention to detail;
• Ability to work harmoniously with others;
• Enthusiasm for civil legal aid and equal justice for and service to our clients;
• Familiarity with courtroom procedure (state and municipal) preferred;
• Experience creating training materials and leading trainings or a willingness to learn;
• Superior skills in case analysis, research, and writing;
• Demonstrated ability to speak and write clearly and persuasively;
• Enthusiasm for arguing motions and representing at trial;
• Self-motivated, diligent, and able to meet strict deadlines while under pressure;
• Possess a valid driver’s license and maintain it throughout employment;
• Commitment to inclusion of all, including our clients’ and our staffs’ race, ethnicity, age, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, religion, ability, and socio-economic circumstances;
• Fluency in a language other than English and cultural affinity for the client community that speaks that language is highly desired;
• Willingness and enthusiasm for staffing and providing clinics during weekends and evenings.
TRAVEL
Daily travel within the Fox Valley will be required and to more remote sites, on occasion. Out-of-state, overnight travel (approximately 4 times/year) may also be required. All work-related travel is reimbursed per Legal Action’s travel policies.
Interested applicants should send the following documents in PDF format to [email protected]:
1. Cover letter, summarizing interest in the position and qualifications
2. Resume
3. Recent writing sample(s)
4. Law school transcript, if recent graduate
5. Optional, but highly encouraged, a statement describing how your unique background and personal, professional, and life experiences contribute to the diversity, cultural vitality, and perspective of our staff and our law firm’s mission.
DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS
Applications will be considered on a rolling basis. Review of applications will begin at close of business on Wednesday, March 25, 2020.