Description:
The City Bar Justice Center (https://www.citybarjusticecenter.org/) (CBJC) seeks an attorney committed to expanding access to justice to join us as a full-time Staff Attorney supporting our Homeowner Stability Project (https://www.citybarjusticecenter.org/projects/homeowner-stability-project/, an innovative initiative that assists New Yorkers of low to moderate means in foreclosure, title correction, deed theft/scam prevention and other housing stability matters. CBJC provides high-quality, free civil legal services benefiting over 25,000 New Yorkers each year who lack resources to hire private counsel. With a staff of roughly 40, CBJC also relies on expansive partnerships with law firms, corporate legal departments, the courts, the City Bar, and other stakeholders. In FY2023-24, over 2,000 pro bono attorneys donated services to support clinics and client matter work drawn from CBJC's dozen civil legal services projects. (https://www.citybarjusticecenter.org/our-projects/)Areas of responsibility include, but are not limited to:
- Working under the supervision of HSP's project director and in collaboration with HSP's legal and support team to assist homeowners throughout New York City who face housing instability, with a particular focus on homeowners who identify as Black, of color, elders, or LGBTQ+, and other New Yorkers struggling with poverty and other systemic socioeconomic barriers, and to support HSP's goals of keeping individuals and families in their homes and neighborhoods and communities intact while addressing the inequities of discriminatory historic and current lending and property law practices.
- Screening a high volume of cases; interviewing and recording data on potential clients; and assessing, investigating and researching incoming matters, land and title records, and relevant case law.
- Providing brief legal advice as well as full representation in both litigation and transactional matters as assigned by the project director, including by preparing briefs, motion papers, deeds, and other legal documents, and appearing at hearings and conferences in New York Supreme Court, Surrogate's Court and Federal Court.
- Assisting the project director in placing HSP cases with volunteers, tracking and reporting on data, providing training and ongoing support to volunteers, and managing HSP's outreach efforts which include legal partnerships, community group collaboration, and intern recruitment and supervision.
- Candidates Must Be New York Bar Members in Good Standing with At 1+ Years of Relevant Practice Experience (including Internships/clerkships), Preferably in Nonprofit Legal Services and With a Focus on Housing/homeowner Legal Issues.
- We seek a detail-oriented self-starter with superb legal judgment and a capacity to multi-task who is creative, thoughtful, tech savvy, and has high standards in work quality, and who can demonstrate a commitment to racial and economic justice and to serving those who struggle with a lack of resources.
- Excellent writing and editing, research, oral communication, and organizational/project management skills; ability to work both independently and with others, and to effectively supervise volunteers, interns, and legal assistants.
- Excellent people and client counseling skills, including effectively interacting with members of the public in a respectful and sensitive way, many of whom suspect institutions and the legal profession, and some of whom experience legal problems compounded by mental health struggles.
- Collegiality and being able to communicate and work collaboratively with other attorneys and support staff.
- Proficient with Microsoft Office 365 and ability to effectively learn and use LegalServer and other platforms.
Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States. We are not able to sponsor visas for this position.
