BayLegal’s Consumer Law Practice focuses on halting unfair and deceptive business practices in consumer financial products and protecting the rights of low-income consumers. Our Consumer Team targets its advocacy efforts on urgent issues identified by the community we serve. Given the pandemic, this includes addressing the impact of ballooning family debt incurred from COVID’s financial fallout, including court enforced debt collection and credit barriers to obtaining housing. The position is part of BayLegal's regional consumer practice team. As part of serving clients in multiple counties, the position will require limited travel throughout the Bay Area. We will consider the applicant’s convenience in deciding the primary location for the position at one of BayLegal’s Bay Area Offices.
Duties and Responsibilities:
Learn and assist with the diverse legal needs of underserved and vulnerable communities in the Bay Area;
Represent low-income consumers in state and federal court in consumer law cases at every stage of litigation, including motions, discovery, ADR, and trials;
Staff community-based clinics to provide assistance with consumer protection issues, including unfair or abusive debt collection and credit reporting, student loan relief, and foreclosure.
Identify systemic problems that affect our clients’ rights and address these challenges through affirmative litigation and policy work;
Collaborate with the local and national consumer justice community.
Provide workshops and technical assistance to community partners and client community on consumer and economic rights.
Develop relationships and engage in collaboration with a range of public and private community partners, including governmental agencies, courts, and community-based organizations, to ensure integrative services and address systemic barriers facing BayLegal's client community.
Work with BayLegal's development, grants and contracts, and communications team to promote BayLegal's mission and resource development; and
Engage in other tasks and projects that further the interest of furthering BayLegal's mission and operations as a non-profit.
Health & Safety and Hybrid Work Environment: BayLegal is committed to the health and safety of our staff, clients, and community. Being accessible to our client communities and reducing barriers for them to access our services is integral to our mission and commitment as a direct services community-based law firm. BayLegal has health and safety protocols to minimize risk of exposure. BayLegal has an evolving plan to continue to safely increase in-person services and activities in our offices and community-based advocacy sites. Currently, most BayLegal employees work a hybrid model including on-site and in-person work and working from home on a part-time basis. Employees are expected to reside in California and at a distance allowing them to commute to their physical BayLegal base location, and to other service delivery locations as needed, during the standard work week.
Compensation and Benefits: We offer a diverse, family friendly environment, and compensation based on competitive public interest salaries along with a generous benefits package. BayLegal's benefits package includes 100% employer covered medical, dental, and life insurance for employees and up to 40-50% for dependents; BayLegal student debt reimbursement program; long term disability insurance; employee assistance program; wage differentials for multi-lingual employees whose non-English language skills are regularly used in the provision of work tasks and pass a request test of fluency and/or proficiency; dependent childcare employer contribution program; employer paid CA Bar license and/or social work license fees; and 401k retirement plan with BayLegal contribution following first year. BayLegal has a generous paid leave policy which includes sick leave; parental leave; 15 holidays each year; 3 floating holidays each year (days chosen by employee); and vacation (starting at 13 days and increasing with additional years of employment). This is a union position (Bay Area Legal Aid Workers, “BALAW”), and the salary ranges from $74,629-$138,127 depending on years of experience. Please see our BayLegal union positions salary scale for 2022-2026 at baylegal.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/2022-Baylegal-union-positions-salary-scale.pdf for more details.
Humility in working with colleagues and clients across the spectrum of diversity, including race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, immigrant status, religious identity, physical and mental disabilities, and/or limited English proficiency
Must have received or be willing to receive and maintain up to date COVID-19 vaccination (including boosters) by date of hire to be considered. Proof of vaccination required.
Membership in the California State Bar, 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 at a later date)
Three years of experience as a practicing attorney
Experience providing direct legal services, including court room experience
Multi-lingual in languages commonly spoken by our client communities preferred
Experience organizing time, managing diverse activities, and meeting critical deadlines with minimal supervision.
Excellent writing, editing, and proof-reading skills, with ability to be detail-oriented
Sense of humor, curious and self-directed
Demonstrated experience simultaneously managing cases in different practice areas.
BayLegal 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, LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer, Intersex, Asexual) and QTBIPOC (Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) individuals, veterans, individuals who have been impacted by the criminal justice system, persons with disabilities, and persons from other underrepresented groups to apply. We are committed to equal employment opportunity and providing reasonable accommodations to qualified candidates and employees pursuant to applicable law. We value and encourage diversity and solicit applications from all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, gender, sex, age, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, marital status, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, medical condition, military and veteran status, gender identity or expression, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. If you require a reasonable accommodation as part of the application process, please contact BayLegal’s Human Resources Manager at (510) 250-5225.
BayLegal will begin reviewing applications upon receipt and continue until the position is filled. Please submit (1) cover letter including response to question below (no page limit), (2) resume, (3) references, and (4) writing sample through our career application portal.
As part of your cover letter, please address the following:
BayLegal’s clients are low-income and very low-income members of our communities. They include LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer, Intersex, Asexual) and QTBIPOC (Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) individuals, the working poor, seniors, people who are limited English proficient, veterans, persons with disabilities, survivors of abuse and exploitation, individuals impacted by the criminal justice system, and people who are experiencing or at risk of homeless, and persons from other underrepresented groups. 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 across cultures, 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 experiences, professional or otherwise, prepared you to serve our diverse client base effectively, work effectively with colleagues from different backgrounds than your own, and to contribute to our commitment to humility, inclusion, and diversity? Feel free to think broadly about your response to this question, applying various aspects of your life and personal experiences.