Staff Attorney Eviction Free Milwaukee (EFM)

Legal Action of Wisconsin, Inc. is seeking several full-time staff attorneys to work at the Milwaukee Office. These attorneys will provide representation in eviction defense to low-income persons. These positions will be primarily funded by the Eviction Free MKE project.

LEGAL ACTION OF WISCONSIN
We are a large and vibrant non-profit law firm funded by the federal Legal Services Corporation, the Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation, the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, Victim of Crime Act funding, the Wisconsin Equal Justice Fund, and many other sources. Each year, we provide free legal aid to about 9,000 – 12,000 low-income persons in Wisconsin’s southern 39 counties with offices in Milwaukee, Madison, Racine, Oshkosh, Green Bay, and La Crosse. In addition, the firm operates a statewide farmworker project and a statewide legal aid to human trafficking victims project. Most of our work is in the areas of housing, public benefits, removing barriers to employment, consumer, family law, and victim rights. Legal Action attorneys specialize in specific areas of law, though they may be called upon to work in multiple areas. They provide high-quality and aggressive representation, maintain a direct service caseload of individual clients, and contribute to the firm’s work to engage in law reform litigation and other impact work.
Legal Action believes that equal justice under law can only be achieved through the collaboration of a diverse staff. We strongly encourage applications from women, people of color, people who identify as LGBTQIA+, people with disabilities, and people with life experiences or educational backgrounds that add to the firm’s diversity and our capacity to provide high-quality legal aid.

OFFICE LOCATION
The Milwaukee Area Office staff is housed at 633 W. Wisconsin Avenue and is comprised of 39 attorneys, 19 paralegals, and 13 other management, administrative, professional and technical staff. Intake is done by telephone, on a walk-in basis, or at neighborhood outstations in Milwaukee and Waukesha. The Milwaukee Area Office also houses the Legal Action administrative staff, the SeniorLAW Project, the Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic and a Volunteer Lawyers Project. Two attorneys are located at the Center for Driver’s License Recovery & Employment at Milwaukee Area Technical College and one attorney and one paralegal are housed at the Student Legal Aid Project at Milwaukee Area Technical College.
FLEX WORK: Legal Action will consider requests for flex work (remote work, compressed scheduling or a combination).

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Legal Action is seeking a full-time attorney to provide legal representation on eviction defense cases. The attorney will handle cases in Milwaukee County. Staff attorneys may be reassigned to other legal practice areas and duties as the staffing needs of the firm change. Responsibilities will include:

• Advice and representation in eviction cases;
• Advice and representation in both court and administrative hearings;
• Representation of clients with a termination notice or eviction from public or subsidized housing (including housing with a Section Eight rent assistance voucher);
• Representation of tenants involved with certain problem landlords;
• Representation of tenants whose landlords are in foreclosure;
• Representation of tenants in motions to seal their eviction cases;
• Representation of clients in appeals;
• Performance of intake duties and, where necessary, make appropriate referrals to other community agencies.
• Rigorous and high-quality representation in all direct service cases;
• Work effectively with clients from a wide range of backgrounds;
• Develop expertise in the areas of law that affect housing and homelessness, including state and federal constitutional law, basic housing law, fair housing, and eviction defense;
• Collaboration with staff and volunteer attorneys to provide representation at the Eviction Defense Project in Milwaukee County;
• Participation in at least one of Legal Action’s firm-wide Priority Committees; and
• Staff attorneys may supervise interns or paralegals in addition to other duties that may be assigned from time to time.
• The attorney will identify and help develop impact litigation in coordination with the Housing Priority Committee, the Assistant Director of Litigation, and other attorneys.
• The attorney may also conduct community education sessions, become familiar with community needs, attend job fairs, update housing and eviction training materials, and assist in training volunteer attorneys working with the Eviction Defense Project.
• Attorneys will be assigned additional duties, including participation and training in race equity alignment and anti-racism; diversity, equity, and inclusion; and effects of trauma and trauma-informed care.

COVID-19 VACCINATION POLICY
At Legal Action of Wisconsin, health and safety is a top priority. We require all new, unrepresented employees and interns, law clerks, volunteers, and contractors from employment agencies or consulting firms to have completed their COVID-19 vaccinations and booster and to provide medical proof from Wisconsin’s Immunization Registry or from a medical provider of their fully vaccinated status as a condition of employment with Legal Action of Wisconsin within 28 days of their first day of employment. Individuals may request a medical or religious exemption from the COVID-19 vaccine requirement. Exemption requests must be completed and approved on or before the first day of employment.

SALARY
As set forth in Legal Action’s Salary Administration Plan, from hire until 5/31/22, a staff attorney with 0 – 1 years of relevant work experience would earn a salary of $45,727. A Milwaukee or Racine office staff attorney with 5 years of relevant work experience would earn a salary of $52,347 from hire until 5/31/22. A staff attorney with 10 years of relevant work experience would earn a salary of $58,967 from hire until 5/31/22. Salaries are not negotiable will follow this scale.

Legal Action’s Salary Administration Plan also increases salaries for staff attorneys and creates Tier 1 Staff Attorney and Tier 2 Staff Attorney salary ladders, beginning on 6/1/22. After 6/1/22, a Tier 1 staff attorney with 0 – 1 years of relevant work experience will earn a salary $50,000. A Tier 1 staff attorney with 4 - 5 years of relevant work experience in the will earn a salary of $60,500. A Tier 1 staff attorney with 9 – 10 years of relevant work experience will earn a salary of $75,500. (Tier 1 and Tier 2 duties and qualifications are not yet determined.) Legal Action’s salary plan provides for annual step increases as long as the attorney is meeting performance expectations. Salaries are not negotiable and will follow this scale.

SPANISH OR HMONG LANGUAGE FLUENCY PREMIUM: In addition, Legal Action’s Salary Administration Plan includes additional pay for those employees who are fluent in Spanish or Hmong and utilize their language skills in performing their work. Legal Action is currently developing the structure for the language differential pay.

FRINGE BENEFITS
Legal Action provides a generous fringe benefits package, including employer-paid health and dental insurance for employees and eligible dependents. Some employees are required to contribute to the health insurance premium for their spouse, if the spouse has group health insurance provided by their employer. Legal Action also provides life and long-term disability insurance, a profit-sharing retirement plan, salary deferral options for retirement planning, low-cost employee-paid vision coverage, three weeks of vacation per year, four days of personal leave, a generous sick leave benefit, and four weeks of paid parental leave for eligible employees.

PROBATIONARY PERIOD
This position is subject to a probationary period of up to one year.

GOVERNANCE
This position is supervised by the Milwaukee Housing Unit Supervisor. The position is governed by the Legal Action of Wisconsin Personnel Policies and these policies are subject to unilateral change by the Legal Action Board of Directors. As with any Legal Action position, there is no guaranteed period of employment and employment is at will, subject to termination at any time.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORK ENVIRONMENT
This position involves sedentary work, sitting at a desk on a computer for an extended period. Exerting up to 10 pounds of force on a regular basis to lift, carry, push or otherwise move objects. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand, sit, talk, hear and use hands and fingers to operate a computer and/or laptop keyboard and use a telephone. Specific vision abilities required for this job include close vision requirements due to computer work. Drives a motor vehicle while seated for extended periods of time daily. Occasional reaching, bending, kneeling and stooping involved to retrieve various items and materials. This position works in an environmentally-controlled office environment with moderate noise from phones, printers and light office traffic in the Milwaukee Office.