The Legal Aid Society’s Civil Practice Civil Practice has a Temporary Staff Attorney position for a six month assignment available, in the Brooklyn Office for the Aging, to provide legal assistance to seniors in Brooklyn. The position involves the handling of a broad range of civil legal services for senior citizens, with an emphasis on housing (especially Rent Control/Rent Stabilization and government housing subsidy issues) and government benefits (such as Social Security/SSI disability and non-disability issues, Medicaid, Medicare, home care, SCRIE/DRIE, public assistance, adult protective services) as well as consumer law, guardianship and advance directives. The elder law practice provides comprehensive services for seniors through close collaboration between attorneys and social workers. Following the conclusion of this six month assignment, the staff attorney will be reassigned to an available attorney position in another Civil Practice office or unit, unless there are other staff attorney openings in the Civil Practice for which the staff attorney applies and is selected.
In this position, you will: Provide client representation in City, State and Federal court proceedings, administrative hearings and affirmative litigation; provide training, community outreach and education to individuals, local community-based organizations, housing advocates and the elderly at senior citizen centers; provide policy advocacy on behalf of clients; coordinate and collaborate with other groups and organizations; represent the Civil Practice and Legal Aid Society in the community; conduct community education, training and outreach and promote the work of the office, the Elder Law Practice and the Civil Practice; work with pro bono lawyers; conduct off-site intake, including during evening hours; and other duties as assigned.
The ideal candidate must have: favorable consideration will be given to attorneys who have familiarity with elder law issues and housing law; excellent written and oral advocacy skills; the ability to work independently as well as collaboratively in a team and manage a high volume of cases; demonstrated commitment to and experience in public interest law and civil legal services; the ability to coordinate and collaborate successfully with other groups and organizations; excellent organizational skills; proficiency in languages other than English is desirable, but not required; admission to NYS Bar or ability to secure admission.
The Legal Aid Society is reducing its carbon footprint and therefore paper applications are not accepted. All applicants must submit a cover letter, resume, references and the Applicant Information Form (http://www.legal-aid.org/info_form.html) electronically in a single PDF document by 3/16/16 to: [email protected] and include the Job Reference Code: CIVIL-2016-009 in all correspondence and in the subject line of your email. If one or more of the required items are missing or if the application is not in a single PDF, your application will not be processed.