Founded in 1997, The Bronx Defenders is a public defender nonprofit that has developed a nationally recognized model of representation called holistic defense, which provides people with teams of lawyers, social workers, and advocates to defend them zealously in court as well as to address the underlying drivers and enmeshed penalties of legal system involvement.
Since opening our doors, we have grown into an organization of more than 400 staff members defending nearly 20,000 New Yorkers each year in criminal, family, civil, and immigration proceedings who face incarceration, family separation, eviction, and deportation, among other devastating consequences.
Today we are reimagining the role of public defense even further, using community organizing and engagement, legislative advocacy, and impact litigation to partner with the communities we represent to bring about long-lasting systemic change.
We also share our model and lessons learned with current and future public defenders, run two legal clinics at NYC law schools and train public defenders throughout the country on how to move to a holistic model of representation.
Civil Action Practice
Our Civil Action Practice (CAP) provides comprehensive civil legal services to the people we represent and their families by integrating civil representation with our criminal, immigration, and family defense practices. Our goal is to minimize the severe and often unforeseen fallout from criminal, family and immigration court proceedings and facilitate the seamless reintegration of the people we represent into their communities.
Our Civil Action Practice attorneys and legal advocates represent clients in every forum in New York City – administrative, state, and federal – providing comprehensive representation to assist the people we represent in overcoming civil legal barriers to housing, eviction, employment, and public benefits, as well as addressing instances of police misconduct, criminal record errors, and civil forfeiture.
Housing Justice and the Right to Counsel
Recognizing the challenges to accessing affordable, quality and safe housing in New York City, The Bronx Defenders has a team exclusively dedicated to providing tenants at risk of losing their homes with defense attorneys for their Housing Court cases. Our Housing Team was developed in response to the 2017 New York City Right-to-Counsel Law, which provides tenants facing eviction in Housing Court and New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) administrative proceedings with access to free legal representation. We are one of seven institutional providers effectuating the Right to Counsel in Housing and have dedicated attorneys and advocates serving and representing tenants in the community and in Housing Court.
Responsibilities:
Recognizing the expanding and evolving landscape of our Housing Right to Counsel work, The Bronx Defenders seeks a passionate Supervising Attorney with a commitment to housing justice to supervise our Right to Counsel Housing Team (RTC Housing Team) in the Civil Action Practice (CAP). Reporting to the Housing Team Director, the Supervising Attorney will represent a reduced caseload of clients and directly supervise RTC housing team attorneys, advocates and other staff.
Direct Representation
Advise, support and defend clients navigating proceedings related to eviction, termination, barriers to obtaining housing and other housing-related proceedings
Staff Housing Court intake to provide representation to tenants in Housing Court
Advise and represent clients in intake with housing related issues
Represent clients in negotiations, administrative and judicial proceedings, and trials
Effectively litigate, confidently negotiate and skillfully advocate in administrative judicial proceedings and trial with a particular concentration in housing
Collaborate with immigration, criminal and family defense attorneys, advocates, benefits advisors and social workers to assess and address the housing needs of our clients and the Bronx community
Staff the Community Housing Helpline on a rotating schedule with other members of the team
Participate in community training and public education
Enter and maintain accurate client data and files, information and notes regarding advocacy and representation in case management system
Help identify systemic problems that affect clients while thinking creatively about new strategies and solutions for strategic change
Direct Supervision
Onboard, support, train, and supervise attorneys and advocates doing right to counsel work to provide high quality, creative, client-centered representation and advocacy
Meet with each supervisee on a weekly or bi-weekly basis to support, address, and manage caseload, referrals, and client issues
Review and evaluate supervisees’ data entry and case management to ensure high-quality services, evaluate the impact of housing advocacy, and meet funding/reporting requirements
Review, monitor, and evaluate attorney workloads to ensure equitable distribution
Support, evaluate, and provide feedback on client-related advocacy, including written, oral and trial advocacy in administrative fora, courts, and the community
Manage and support coverage for supervisees
Monitor the ethical responsibilities in litigation and advocacy in conjunction with the Housing Director, Managing Director and CAP Supervisory Team
Collaborate with CAP Training Directors to onboard, train, and aid in the ongoing professional development of supervisees
Promote and facilitate intra-practice and interdisciplinary collaboration among attorneys, advocates and administrative staff
Provide equitable, effective supervision to all supervisees in navigating experiences of oppression in their work
Supporting and Advancing the Growth and Evolving Landscape of our Housing Work
Manage and organize intake, and devise equitable systems and protocols to organize how we are retained by new clients and how we manage our client work related to RTC housing work
Organize and supervise community clinics and the community housing hotline
Participate in meetings with external partners, funders and the Office of Court Administration
Participate in campaigns, coalitions and other working groups
Conduct staff, community & partner trainings
Support development of pipelines, including supervision of interns
Collaborate with Policy, Community Organizing, Community Engagement, Community Intake, Impact Litigation and other practices and departments at BxD to advance housing services, communications, organizing and other strategic reform
Management/Leadership
Meet regularly with the Housing Director, Managing Director and CAP Management Team
Inform and help to implement practice priorities and improvements
Aid in determining the direction and growth of civil legal services at BxD
Work to develop and implement CAP related information management, training, and other public education within the office and the community
To be eligible, applicants must have:
Membership in good standing to the New York State Bar or eligibility for admission
Minimum of 3 years of civil litigation experience, with a minimum of 2 years in housing litigation
To be eligible, applicants must demonstrate:
Experience working in and with racially, ethnically and socioeconomically marginalized communities
Ability to effectively and respectfully communicate, collaborate and connect with people with various backgrounds, identities and experiences
Ability to work independently as well as collaboratively on an interdisciplinary team of lawyers and non-lawyers
Strong legal analytical skills and capacity to employ non-legal resources and solutions
Strong verbal and written advocacy skills
Commitment to fierce advocacy, and willingness to strategically challenge authority in defense of clients
Ability to multitask, maintain order and meet deadlines in a fast-paced, high-stakes environment
Meticulous attention to detail
Ability to think critically and creatively in fast-paced settings, finding innovative solutions to unique obstacles
Supervisory and mentoring skills, including
Interest in and commitment to developing and mentoring supervisees
Ability to provide intentional, equitable and constructive feedback
Flexibility in balancing needs of supervisees against their own caseload
Ability to receive constructive feedback, demonstrate introspection and shift behavior accordingly
Ability to exercise excellent judgment, discretion, and confidentiality with sensitive matters
Preferred, but not required
Spanish fluency is strongly preferred
Experience supervising and training interns or staff is a plus
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