BayLegal seeks an attorney with a strong commitment to public interest and social justice advocacy to represent low-income tenants in asserting their rights in eviction proceedings, to enforce fair housing / anti-discrimination laws, and preservation of affordable housing. In this position you will be part of a collaborative local team based out of BayLegal’s Oakland office and be part of BayLegal’s larger regional practice and social justice team. Your direct supervisor is the Housing Law Supervising Attorney and BayLegal’s regional housing practice team is available for mentorship and strategic support. This position is based in our Oakland office, serving clients throughout Alameda County. The position involves traveling to all parts of the county as necessary to best serve our low-income clients. This is a temporary position which will last for six (6) months.
Duties and Responsibilities:
- Learn and advocate for the diverse legal needs of communities affected by systemic and structural inequities in Alameda County and the broader Bay Area to reduce homelessness, enhance stability and address social injustice;
- Provide a full range of legal assistance from advice/counsel to full-scope legal representation to low-income tenants in unlawful detainer proceedings, including propounding and responding to discovery, conducting depositions, pre/post-trial motions, trials and appeals;
- Represent tenants in administrative proceedings before the Housing Authority and other agencies;
- Advocate for tenants on issues of fair housing, substandard conditions, and VAWA;
- Identify systemic problems that affect our clients’ housing rights and address these challenges through affirmative litigation and policy work;
- Provide workshops and technical assistance to community partners and client community on housing law, tenants' rights, and a broad range of civil legal issues;
- 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; and
- Engage in other tasks and projects that promote the interest of furthering BayLegal's mission and operations as a non-profit.
HYBRID WORK OPTION:
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 medical and dental benefits, paid holidays, and sick leave. Compensation is based on experience and competitive public interest salaries. The estimated annual salary range is 74,500 - $93,000 (placement in range determined primarily by years of related experience).
- 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
- 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 reasonable accommodation as part of the application process, please contact BayLegal’s Human Resources Manager (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 BayLegal’s 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.