The New York State Office of Indigent Legal Services (ILS) Western New York Regional Support Center (WNY RSC) addresses the compelling need for ILS to provide State expertise for local providers of public defense services and governments and to assure that the reforms initiated by the Hurrell-Harring settlement and its extension statewide under Executive Law § 832(4) are implemented as effectively and as efficiently as possible in western New York counties.
ILS’ main office is located in Albany. The WNY RSC is located in downtown Buffalo to enable ILS to better coordinate with the counties and WNY’s public defense providers. The Attorney in Charge (AIC) oversees the office with a staff of four attorneys (two under the direct supervision the AIC and two situated in the WNY RSC reporting to supervisors in Albany) and two specialized professionals.
The Attorney in Charge of WNY RSC reports to the ILS Criminal Defense Representation Chief (CDR Chief) located in Albany. The AIC oversees staff and programmatic initiatives in ILS Region G (Cayuga, Monroe, Ontario, Schuyler, Seneca, Tompkins, Wayne, and Yates counties) and Region H (Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Niagara, Orleans, and Wyoming counties).
WNY RSC staff work with county based public defense providers including Public Defender Offices, Conflict Defender Offices, legal aid societies and Assigned Counsel Programs. This position does not engage in direct representation of clients.
Specific duties include:
• Forges and strengthens relationships with local government officials and public defense providers throughout Regions G and H. This includes regular contact with WNY county governments and public defense providers, including regular in-person meetings.
• Promotes implementation of the ILS reform plans within the regions, under the direction of the CDR Chief and coordinating closely with the Deputy Chief Attorneys supervising ILS Regions A-F. This includes regular meetings with the CDR Chief, the entire CDR team, and other members of the ILS staff as warranted. Meetings are usually virtual with occasional in-person attendance in Albany as needed.
• Identifies challenges to implementation of the ILS reform plans and works collaboratively with county officials and public defense providers to develop creative solutions to meet the challenges.
• Maximizes the best use of state funding by all providers and counties within the regions to improve the quality of public defense representation, including negotiating budgets for ILS contracts with public defense providers and counties.
• Promotes regional cooperative efforts including shared services agreements between and among counties. This also includes attending and assisting with regional meetings among WNY providers.
• Manages four WNY RSC staff members, directly overseeing the work of Criminal Defense Representation Counsel for Region G, Criminal Defense Representation Counsel for Region H, the Resource Support and Data Specialist, and the Administrative Assistant in the exercise of their responsibilities to support reform implementation and improve the quality of representation by public defense providers within the region.
• Provides on-site support for the Appellate Attorney for Parent Representation who is located in the WNY RSC and is a member of ILS’ Statewide Appellate Support Center (located in Albany).
• Coordinates with the Director of Research to oversee progress of Resource Support and Data Specialist to ensure accurate and consistent caseload, quality initiatives, and counsel at arraignment data; also staffing, spending, case outcome and other data as ILS requires for each provider and county.
• Coordinates with the Director of Quality Enhancement, Parent Representation (based in Albany) on the work of the WNY RSC’s Family Court Counsel (who is based in the WNY RSC) to implement reform plans and quality enhancement initiatives for mandated Family Court representation in Regions G and H.
• Participates in scheduled meetings with agency leadership and other agency staff.
Admission to the New York State Bar and four years of experience in the practice of law subsequent to admission to the Bar.
An ideal candidate will have at least seven years’ experience in criminal defense representation and demonstrate a strong commitment to promoting high quality public defense, strong leadership skills, a high degree of professionalism and collegiality, sound judgment, and strong oral and written skills.
Please submit a resume and cover letter to [email protected] detailing how you meet the minimum qualifications along with the month/year and hours per week for each position listed. Indicate the Position Title & Vacancy ID number (187000) of each position you are applying to.
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