Supervising Attorney: Fair Housing Enforcement Program

ORGANIZATION INFORMATION

Legal Assistance of Western New York, Inc. (LawNY®) is a not-for-profit law firm that provides free civil legal services to low-income clients in a 14 county area of Western New York, the Finger Lakes, and the Southern Tier. LawNY® has seven fully staffed field offices in Bath, Elmira, Geneva, Ithaca, Jamestown, Olean and Rochester, satellite offices in Lakeville and Lyons, and a business office in Rochester. 

LawNY® has been providing high quality legal representation for 54 years, and today has over 180 employees, including attorneys, paralegals, and a legal support team who work closely across areas of specialization to bring a holistic approach to addressing legal issues affecting our clients and community.

LawNY® is committed to equitable inclusion across race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ability, sex, religion, economic circumstances, ethnicity, national origin, and culture. We are increasingly committed to creating a law firm where race equity, diversity and cultural competency are integral components of our work, from client advocacy to internal operations.

POSITION DESCRIPTION

Legal Assistance of Western New York, Inc.® (LawNY®) has an immediate opening for a Supervising Attorney to work in the Fair Housing Enforcement Project (FHEP). The candidate may elect to work in the Bath, Rochester or Geneva office of LawNY®. The supervising attorney will provide leadership and supervision to a team of attorneys and paralegals within our Fair Housing Enforcement Project who are conducting advocacy and litigation, outreach and education and coordinating investigative testing. The supervising attorney will be responsible for an independent workload of providing representation to clients in cases involving housing discrimination based upon race, color, national origin, gender, religion, familial status, disability and lawful source of income. The level of services provided to clients range from advice and brief service to representing clients in litigation filed in state or federal court or the Division of Human Rights. The candidate must have the caring, patience, and emotional maturity to help low-income people overcome crisis situations.

Supervisors play a critical role in realizing LawNY®’s vision of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Every supervisor is expected to actively engage in learning and becoming increasingly skilled in supervision that supports this vision.

QUALIFICATIONS These are the basic requirements for the position.

• Admitted to practice and in good standing in New York State
• Three years experience providing legal services as a licensed attorney.
  
• Ability to work under deadlines and manage multiple tasks.
• Demonstrated commitment of service to low-income people.
• Commitment to engaging in learning and developing supervision skills that support diversity, equity, and inclusion.

RESPONSIBILITIES These are the most significant responsibilities and primary functions of the position.

• Provide legal services to low-income clients and client groups including advice, negotiation, litigation and administrative advocacy.
• Interact respectfully with clients from a wide range of backgrounds, with an awareness of the importance of cultural competence and humility.
• Supervise caseload of supervised personnel, ensuring that each supervisee handles an appropriate amount of work, and coordinate the periodic review of the cases.
• Help identify leadership development and mentoring opportunities for supervisees.
• Create and maintain a safe and healthy work environment for supervisees.
• Collaborate with other human services providers, non-profit organizations and community groups as well as the courts, administrative tribunals and the private bar to address legal problems within our community.
• Cooperate in all grant reporting requirements, program reporting, timekeeping, file maintenance, case closing and compliance review.
• Maintain a high level of professional competence through attendance of training sessions, seminars and conferences and individual efforts to keep abreast of current developments in the area of poverty law and the application of an equity lens to client service.

ADDITIONAL TRAITS AND SKILLS These are the traits, attributes, attitudes, and skills that speak to the candidate’s ability to succeed in the position. While no one candidate will possess all of the qualities listed, the ideal candidate will have many of these qualities. LawNY® encourages each candidate to think about their own personal knowledge, skills, and experience, as well as professional skills and experience in relation to this list.

• Litigation experience
• Experience incorporating an anti-racist and anti-oppressive lens into legal practice.
• An understanding of the concepts of structural and institutional racism and their impact on underserved and underrepresented communities.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, including a commitment to providing trauma-informed services.
• Demonstrated skill in mentoring and training less-experienced attorneys, paralegals and/or other staff in their pursuit of career advancement.
• Experience with the courts and agencies in our service area, or capability to successfully build relationships with directly impacted community members, courts, and community agencies
• Lived experience with our client communities.
• True fluency in a language other than English that is spoken by our clients.

COMPENSATION

Salary is dependent on years of experience and based on a pay scale with annual increments.  The beginning salary for a Supervising Attorney with three years of experience is $80,000, and the salary for a Supervising Attorney with ten years of experience is $89,900. LawNY® staff may also qualify for public interest law school loan forgiveness programs.

LawNY® provides an excellent package of fringe benefits including 94% employer paid health insurance with significant HSA contributions, 100% employer paid dental and disability insurance, vision coverage, and $50,000 automatic life insurance as well as generous leave provisions including, in the first year of employment, 20 days of vacation plus 13.5 holidays and two floating holidays.  Employees also receive 12 sick days and five personal days per year. New parents receive 20 days of paid new parent leave.

LawNY® is committed to providing a work-life balance to their employees.  We encourage and support a 35 hour work week to ensure our employees have this balance. We also offer a remote work policy where new staff are able to work from home up to 3 days per week during their 6 month probationary period with manager approval, as their work load permits. This increases to 5 days per week once successfully finished with a probationary period with manager approval, as their workload permits.

APPLICATION PROCESS

To apply, submit your cover letter, resume, and three references through LawNY®’s BambooHR platform, found here and at www.lawny.org/Employment. 

When outlining work experience on a resume, candidates are requested to label each position as full-time or part-time and describe unpaid volunteer/internships as such.

To promote social justice and achieve our mission, LawNY® is committed to maintaining a diverse staff and creating an inclusive and respectful workplace. In your cover letter, please also include an explanation of how you think that your lived and/or professional experience or background has prepared you to contribute to support a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion at LawNY®.

Questions or Accommodations? Contact Michelle Grillone at mgrillone@lawny.org

Legal Assistance of Western New York, Inc. (LawNY®) is an equal opportunity employer. LawNY® strongly encourages applications from Black, Indigenous and People of Color, women, LGBTQIA+ individuals, people with disabilities, and persons from other underrepresented groups whose background may contribute to working in and sustaining an environment that enables staff and clients to feel empowered, valued, respected, and safe. LawNY® welcomes applications regardless of race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information or any other consideration protected by law.

This position is considered Exempt pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act.