Staff Counsel I - EdLaw

The Youth Advocacy Division of the Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS), the Massachusetts public defender agency, is seeking to fill a Staff Counsel I position in its EdLaw Project in Springfield. The EdLaw Project is a dynamic team-oriented group that provides a wide variety of experiences to the attorneys who work here from direct client representation to work on policies that affect the practice of education law across the Commonwealth.
We fight for equal justice and human dignity by supporting our clients in achieving their legal and life goals. We zealously advocate for the rights of individuals and promote just public policy to protect the rights of all.

Our Values

Courage • Accountability • Respect • Excellence

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION MISSION STATEMENT

CPCS is committed to protecting the fundamental constitutional and human rights of our assigned clients through zealous advocacy, community-oriented defense, and the fullness of excellent legal representation. We are dedicated to building and maintaining strong professional relationships, while striving to accept, listen to and respect the diverse circumstances of each client, as we dedicate ourselves to meeting their individual needs. It is our CPCS mission to achieve these goals, and in furtherance thereof, we embrace and endorse diversity, equity and inclusion as our core values as we maintain a steadfast commitment to: (1) Ensure that CPCS management and staff members represent a broad range of human differences and experience; (2) Provide a work climate that is respectful and supports success; and (3) Promote the dignity and well-being of all staff members. CPCS leadership is responsible for ensuring equity, diversity, and inclusion. The ability to achieve these goals with any level of certainty is ultimately the responsibility of each member of the CPCS community.

AGENCY OVERVIEW

CPCS is the state agency in Massachusetts responsible for providing an attorney when the state or federal constitution or a state statute requires the appointment of an attorney for a person who cannot afford to retain one. The agency provides representation in criminal, delinquency, youthful offender, family regulation, guardianship, mental health, sexually dangerous person, and sex offender registry cases, as well as in appeals and post-conviction and post-judgment proceedings related to those matters.

The clients we represent are diverse across every context imaginable and bring many unique cultural dimensions to the matters we address. This reality creates a critical need for CPCS staff to be culturally competent and able to work well with people of different races, ethnicities, genders and/or sexual orientation identities, abilities, and limited English proficiency, among other protected characteristics.

EDLAW OVERVIEW

The EdLaw Project is a dynamic team-oriented group that provides a wide variety of experiences to the attorneys who work here from direct client representation to work on policies that affect the practice of education law across the Commonwealth. We are a supportive and cohesive team and have strong relationships across CPCS with attorneys and social workers alike. EdLaw provides the opportunity for attorneys to work specifically at the intersection of school and court, an intersection that often leads a student on the path to future involvement in the criminal legal system.

OFFICE OVERVIEW

Springfield is a city in Massachusetts and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern Mill River. As of 2020, the city's population was 155,929, making it the third-largest city in Massachusetts, and the fourth-most populous city in New England. Founded in 1636 as the first Springfield in the New World, today the city is the urban, economic, and media capital of Massachusetts' section of the Connecticut River Valley, colloquially known as the Pioneer Valley. Springfield has several nicknames—"The City of Firsts,” due to the many innovations developed there such as the first American dictionary, the first American gas-powered automobile, “The City of Homes,” due to its Victorian residential architecture, and "Hoop City,” as basketball was invented in Springfield in 1891 by James Naismith.

This attorney position will be housed in the YAD Springfield office. The YAD Springfield office covers juvenile courts in the four most western counties in the state: Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, and Hampshire. The EdLaw attorney position will provide direct representation, training, and support on education matters in Springfield and surrounding areas.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The duties of the Staff Counsel I include, but are not limited to:

• Providing direct support to delinquency and child welfare attorneys through advisory case support, requests for assistance, and ongoing regionally based training;
• Meeting with clients and conducting intake interviews;
• Providing direct representation in all areas of education advocacy including school-based meetings, special education team meetings, school discipline hearings and appeals (including possible appeals to district and superior court), state complaints, and other collateral consequences of school failure;
• Providing direct representation in administrative hearings before the Bureau of Special Education Appeals;
• Maintaining strong working relationships with the local Juvenile Court, Probation, DYS, DCF, DESE, community agencies, and other stakeholders in the Juvenile and Child Welfare systems;
• Participating in state and local coalitions to drive education policy reform;
• Keeping up to date on practice issues and emerging laws to be able to provide appropriate and timely training and assisting with researching, preparing, and publishing training materials, legal outlines, practice guides, and practice advisories;
• Conducting legal research and writing, including preparing papers for National conferences, with publishing opportunities;
• Mentoring attorneys from area law firms on pro bono education matters;
• Working on projects related to improving legal representation and outcomes for court involved children;
• Assisting with the creation of annual plans for education advocacy training programs and projects; and,
• Other duties as assigned.