Staff Attorney, Economic Justice

STAFF ATTORNEY or SENIOR STAFF ATTORNEY, ECONOMIC JUSTICE (Dignity for All)

LOCATION
Can be housed in Orange, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Kern Office

*Note: The ACLU SoCal staff is working from home due to COVID-19 except on a restricted only-as-necessary basis at least through August of 2021.

DEPARTMENT
Advocacy

DEADLINE DATE

Open until filled.

The ACLU Foundation of Southern California (ACLU SoCal) seeks a Senior Staff Attorney or experienced Staff Attorney to work on the Economic Justice Project’s Dignity for All Project to build and lead litigation, legal, and policy advocacy needed to end homelessness, protect the rights and human dignity of people who are unhoused, and advance housing justice in Southern California communities and beyond. The Attorney will also provide technical assistance to impacted individuals and community groups, develop advocacy strategies, and equip community members and ACLU supporters with knowledge and narrative change tools to build power and advance the affirmative right to housing.

Founded in 1923, the ACLU SoCal has been at the forefront of many major efforts to protect civil liberties, civil rights, and equal justice in California. Principled and nonpartisan, ACLU SoCal has offices in Los Angeles, Orange County (Orange), the Inland Empire (San Bernardino), and Kern County (Bakersfield). ACLU SoCal tackles a vast array of issues, including, police practices, First Amendment rights, voting rights, criminal legal system reform, gender equity and reproductive justice, LGBTQ rights, immigrants' rights, education equity, and economic justice.

OVERVIEW

California is ground-zero for the nation’s homelessness crisis. With over 150,000 of its residents experiencing homelessness, the state is by far the largest contributor to the increase in homelessness across the nation. The Attorney position provides a unique and exciting opportunity to make a real impact on the many facets of this crisis. The Attorney will develop and litigate state and federal cases; create, implement, and participate in campaigns that protect and expand the civil and human rights of people experiencing homelessness and advance the human right to housing and basic human needs; engage in public education; and provide technical assistance on housing justice issues to coalitions, community partners, government officials, and government bodies.

While the position is based in Orange County, the Attorney will advocate on the full range of homelessness justice issues on which the ACLU SoCal engages locally and statewide. Litigation, advocacy, and public education campaigns might include: protecting unhoused people’s rights to exist; defending and expanding the rights of people who are unhoused; holding government accountable for the provision of their basic human needs and well-being; addressing the criminalization of poverty and homelessness with humane and effective policies that prioritize housing and healthcare access, including challenging the unconstitutional municipal policies and laws that obstruct unhoused individuals’ paths to achieving economic security and stable housing; helping to lead statewide work to advance the affirmative right to housing through litigation and/or policy advocacy; and shifting attitudes and the dominant narrative regarding people experiencing homelessness, centering and lifting up the voices of people impacted by homelessness and unaffordable housing, to educate our community and advance a “Housing First” policy solution. The Attorney will also work on other economic justice team priorities, as needed.

The Attorney, who will work in close collaboration with the Dignity for All Senior Policy Analyst and Advocate, will be part of the ACLU SoCal’s Economic Justice Project and ACLU of California’s cross-affiliate statewide economic justice workgroup. The Staff Attorney will also work with attorneys, policy advocates, and organizers from other ACLU SoCal Projects and communications staff as needed and when intersectional issues arise. The Staff Attorney will be supervised by the Director of Economic Justice within the ACLU SoCal Advocacy Department.

CLASSIFICATION
Full-time, Exempt

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES
The ACLU SoCal’s “integrated advocacy” model unites legal advocacy, policy advocacy, organizing, and base building for maximum impact. In keeping with that approach, the Attorney will work on cases, advocacy projects, public education, and campaigns. The attorney’s responsibilities will be the following:

• Conduct legal advocacy and investigate, develop and litigate high-impact cases at the trial and appellate level in federal and state courts.
• Lead and manage litigation teams, serve as co-counsel, and work in conjunction with other legal, policy, and organizing staff within the ACLU SoCal, the other two California ACLU affiliates, and partner organizations. If a Staff Attorney, lead litigation but the litigation will be managed and supervised by a Senior Staff Attorney.
• Supervise the work of more junior lawyers as well as interns and support intern hiring. If a Staff Attorney, supervise interns and support intern hiring.
• Help lead monitoring and addressing homelessness issues addressed by past ACLU litigation and settlements and enforce compliance with those judgments.
• Serve as a policy expert and advocate on state and local housing justice/homelessness issues in support of legislation and other campaigns, with responsibilities including public speaking, media interviews, and outreach, as well as writing op-eds, and reports.
• Conduct outreach, advocacy, and provide technical assistance to public officials and government bodies.
• Organize and attend lobbying visits with state and local officials, provide testimony to administrative agencies and governing bodies, and develop and cultivate relationships with lawmakers and decisionmakers to advance organizing and policy advocacy objectives.
• Provide technical support to community groups, advocates, and organizers in the region.
• Establish and cultivate collaborative relationships with community partners, coalitions, stakeholders, and ACLU members.
• Devise and present engaging "know your rights" presentations, community education events, and trainings for activists and organizers.
• Forge and maintain relationships with people impacted by poverty and homelessness, community partners, decision-makers, government officials, allied organizations and academics to implement collaborative projects and foster positive, effective working relationships while focusing on a people power-based theory of change.
• Meaningfully incorporate people who have been impacted by homelessness and poverty into all aspects of your economic justice work, helping to elevate and center their expertise and leadership whenever possible.
• Build and facilitate coalitions when necessary and attend and actively participate in community partner meetings and coalitions that focus on issues that impact economic justice.
• Collaborate with and provide support to people in other ACLU affiliates in California and the Sacramento legislative office, as well as colleagues at the national ACLU.
• Develop advocacy sign-on letters, fact sheets, advocacy materials, toolkits, action alerts, op-eds, blog posts, and social media content.
• Support the ACLU SoCal’s base building and volunteer leadership development work, as needed.
• Other duties, as needed and assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS

The ACLU SoCal anticipates hiring a Senior Staff Attorney with approximately 10-14 years of litigation and advocacy experience. However, we encourage attorneys with 6-9 years’ experience who have a demonstrated track record of independently developing and leading impact litigation cases. All applicants should have a demonstrated commitment to civil and human rights, racial justice, and strong advocacy and litigation skills. The ideal candidate will be a hard-working leader with a proven record of accomplishments working with, advocating with, and/or organizing with people experiencing homelessness, marginalized populations, and community-based organizations.

RACIAL EQUITY COMPETENCIES:

• Understanding and Applying Racial Equity

o Demonstrate commitment to building or deepening understand of racial equity:
o Core terms and concepts such as structural racism, white privilege, and anti-Blackness.
o The role that racial inequity has played and continues to play in our society.
o How race impacts supervisory relationships, team dynamics, and organizational culture.
o Personal/implicit/unconscious bias.

• Working for Racial Equity

o Consistently assess structural implications and racially disproportionate impacts of policies, activities, and decisions within the context of their job responsibilities; race/ethnicity, intersection of race/ethnicity, gender, identity, and/or sexual orientation.
o Consistently adhere to organization’s racial equity policies and procedures, including those that relate to hiring, retention, and promotion.
o Consistently identify and disrupt ways in which bias plays out in work and/or team.

• Leading on Racial Equity

o Effectively encourage people to have honest conversations about racial equity, and accept feedback openly, non-defensively, and from a posture of learning.
o Consistently address structural implications and racially disproportionate impacts of policies, activities, and decisions by identifying and implementing changes that can produce more equitable outcomes. This applies not only in terms of race/ethnicity, but also at the intersection of race/ethnicity, gender identity, and/or sexual orientation.
o Consistently set racial equity outcomes, goals, and performance measures for team, department, or organization, and develop and successfully implement plans to achieve them.

BENEFITS

The salary range for this position for an applicant who fits our Senior Staff Attorney experience level is $101,000 - $120,000. The salary range for this position for an applicant who has 6-9 years of experience and would be a Staff Attorney is $79,250 - $91,750. Benefits include medical, vision, and dental insurance for staff members and their eligible dependents; life and long-term, short-term disability insurance; 401(k) plan with employer match; ample vacation and sick leave and thirteen paid holidays.