Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS) is an Affirmative Action / Equal Opportunity / Accessible Employer and strives to ensure that our staff members reflect the diversity of the communities we serve.
Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS) seeks an attorney with 0 to 5 years of experience to join the Asian Outreach Center and support advocacy on behalf of the low-income Asian immigrant community.
Using a community lawyering model, AOC provides bilingual and bicultural legal services and support for movement building in the immigrant Asian American community. AOC works in conjunction with community organizers to dismantle racially unjust systems, recognizing that the community and our clients are their own fiercest advocates. Our model enables us to respond to the day-to-day needs of community and inspires our broader work against systemic inequality and oppression. Our major projects include stopping deportations in the Southeast Asian community, fighting against gentrification and displacement in low-income immigrant neighborhoods, educating nail salon workers about their rights, protecting the voting rights of limited English proficient speakers, supporting undocumented Asian immigrants, and advocating for language access.
This is a generalist attorney position, with a focus on the legal needs of Asian immigrants impacted by the immigration system. Cases and advocacy may include identifying and representing clients on immigration relief options, advising and defending individual immigrant rights, and ensuring access to critical benefit programs and services for undocumented immigrants and immigrants with prior criminal convictions. The goal of this advocacy is to advance equity and increase access to rights on behalf of low-income households regardless of their immigration status.
In close collaboration with our regional and national community partners, the attorney will engage in direct legal representation, policy work, administrative advocacy, and intersectional coalition building to respond to the legal needs of low-income Asian immigrants. The attorney will also support the team in a range of legal areas based on ongoing community need as our team seeks to develop deeper relationships with community partners and vulnerable populations in the Greater Boston area. The attorney will also organize legal clinics, engage in outreach and education, and foster new relationships with impacted individuals and community groups to monitor legal needs and trends.
The Attorney will receive an annual salary based on GBLS’s union scale, which is $72,000 for an attorney with less than 1 year of experience and $78,000 for an attorney with 5 years of experience. GBLS offers a generous benefits package, retirement contribution, a student loan repayment assistance plan for eligible attorneys, and generous Paid Time Off leave. The attorney will work in the GBLS Boston office with a hybrid remote work schedule.
GBLS encourages applicants from a broad range of backgrounds and experiences.
Candidates should have 0-5 years of legal experience, and admission to the Massachusetts Bar or comity is required. Prior experience in immigration and/or administrative advocacy is preferred. The ideal candidate for the position should also have experience with outreach and community lawyering principles or be willing to learn to engage with community groups. The candidate should possess a strong familiarity or foundation in the history of greater Boston's Asian American community, or be willing to learn. Flexibility to work some weekends or evenings as needed to accommodate client community and participate in community outreach. Proficiency in Cantonese, Mandarin or Vietnamese is a plus but not required.
Candidates should submit a letter of interest, resume and brief writing sample to the Human Resources Team via email at [email protected]. Please refer to Job Code: AOC-ATT when applying for this position. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled but applicants are encouraged to submit applications by October 23, 2023.