TeamChild is seeking two full-time staff attorneys in our Spokane County office. This is an opportunity to be part of a collaborative team that is dedicated to client-centered legal advocacy and working to continually reflect and improve our client services and office and program practices. TeamChild’s three central strategies for practicing our mission and affecting change are direct representation, policy advocacy, and training and consultation. Staff attorneys participate in each of these strategies, with client representation as the primary focus. All TeamChild staff participate in fulfilling our commitment to organizational transformation through training, workgroups, retreats, staff meetings, and other internal collaborations. For more information about TeamChild and the Spokane County office, please visit teamchild.org.
PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES
Direct Representation
● Work effectively with youth clients age 12 to 24 and continue learning and applying knowledge about adolescent brain development and trauma informed approaches to working with young people;
● Maintain an appropriate client caseload based on statewide and local office guidance, considering level of experience, complexity of current caseload, and other agreed upon responsibilities;
● Develop content expertise in substantive areas of law that we regular practice, including special education, school discipline, McKinney Vento, CHINS, emancipation, dependency, post conviction relief, juvenile court delinquency support, Medicaid, DDA eligibility, SSI eligibility, guardianship, civil rights, and more;
● Present cases competently, as required by client needs and TeamChild’s commitments, in superior court, administrative hearings, juvenile court, and possibly federal court and appellate court;
● Comply with RPCs in providing high quality legal representation;
● Maintain organized and clear client case files, consistently maintain timekeeping and case notes in TeamChild’s web/cloud-based case management system, and close cases in a timely manner, based on statewide and local office guidance;
● Collaborate with local office/program teams and program staff statewide on intake/screening processes, case planning, case support, litigation planning, co-counseling, reviewing other attorneys’ work and closed cases, and other projects;
● Thoroughly review applicable funding contracts in order to understand deliverables and ensure compliance;
Training and Consulting
● Provide substantive training and consultation on a variety of legal areas to youth, families, professionals, community members, and other lawyers;
● Participate in community engagement work, including but not only outreach activities, to develop relationships and connect with the communities where you work;
● Build and maintain relationships with local and statewide partners and promote effective collaboration with other legal aid, public defense and advocacy organizations;
Policy
● Contributing to work on individual and collective policy advocacy areas as they are developed and agreed to by TeamChild at the local, county, and statewide (sometimes federal) levels;
Organizational Transformation
● Participate in collaborative decision making processes about our work, priorities, and administration and operations;
● Participate in retreats, planning meetings, regular staffings, and other collective agency work; and
● Continue learning about, developing, and applying anti-racist principles in work internal to TeamChild as well as in our community and client work.
We are seeking candidates who are committed to social justice and are passionate legal advocates for young people. Candidates should work well both independently and as a team member, be respectful and passionate about working with people from diverse backgrounds, enjoy creative problem solving, and value the creation of relationships across disciplines. Additional qualifications include:
● Exceptional legal skills, preferably in the relevant areas of law including school discipline/special education, public health care, public benefits, re-entry issues, delinquency, child welfare, or other areas of youth related law;
● Strong interpersonal and well developed oral and written communication skills to distill and convey complex information to a wide variety of audiences;
● Member in good standing of the Washington State Bar Association or eligible for reciprocity or limited admission to practice pending admission to the Washington State Bar Association;
● Experience working with young people, especially adolescents;
● Demonstrated competence in working with diverse clients and communities;
● High level of professionalism and ethical standards; commitment to following the Rules of Professional Conduct, including client confidentiality and zealous advocacy for client-directed goals;
● Must have access to a vehicle and have a valid driver’s license and liability insurance to travel throughout the county to meet client and agency needs;
● Strong organizational, technology, and project management skills;
● Demonstrated alignment with TeamChild values: Centering Youth, Anti-Racism, Wholeness, Accountability;
● Interest in working on policy advocacy at local, county, and statewide (sometimes federal) levels;
● Anti-racist analysis and commitment to undoing institutional racism and other forms of oppression;
● Demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively with other advocates and social service providers; and
● Bilingualism in Spanish, Marshallese, and/or another language frequently spoken by the communities we serve is a plus.
Please email a concise letter of interest, resume, and a legal writing sample to [email protected]. Please write "Staff Attorney – Spokane County" and your last name in the subject line. No phone calls or email inquiries please. We will begin reviewing application materials on June 21, 2021, and then will begin scheduling interviews. We have a preferred start date of July 2021. The positions are open until filled. Before submitting your application, please check teamchild.org/careers to make sure that these positions are still posted.