Movement Lawyering Supervising Attorney

Mission

The mission of Bread for the City is to help Washington, DC residents living with low income to develop the power to determine the future of their own communities. We provide food, clothing, medical care, and legal and social services to reduce the burden of poverty. We seek justice through community organizing and public advocacy. We work to uproot racism, a major cause of poverty. We are committed to treating our clients with the dignity and respect that all people deserve.

Bread for the City’s Legal Clinic works to ensure better access to justice for individuals in our nation’s capital. The Legal Clinic provides front-line civil legal services primarily in housing, family, immigration, and public benefits law. 

Movement Lawyering Practice

Bread for the City’s Movement Lawyering Practice (MLP) is situated within our housing law practice. The MLP uses legal advocacy and organizing to help achieve solutions to community-identified issues in ways that develop local leadership and lasting institutions that can continue to exert power to effect systemic change. MLP does this work in collaboration with other legal services organizations and community groups. Our commitment is to leverage our legal skills and resources to support DC residents organizing with a long-term and transformative vision of social change. 

Position Description

The MLP supervising attorney helps to coordinate all the work of the MLP, including supervising the work of a staff attorney and paralegal. We seek candidates who have 5-7 years of post-JD experience and a demonstrated commitment to movement lawyering. In addition to responsibilities around training and mentoring of staff, supervising attorneys at Bread for the City represent clients and maintain a caseload. An important part of this position is also the development and maintenance of relationships with community partners. The Legal Clinic seeks to fill this position as soon as possible. The substantive work provided by MLP attorneys includes but is not limited to:

• Conducting “Know Your Rights” presentations for organized community groups;
• Listening to and mobilizing alongside local community organizing groups and coalitions to identify legal strategies to advance their organizing goals and providing ongoing support with those strategies. This could include legislative work, civil litigation, representation in administrative hearings, or ongoing advice to inform the group’s assessment of the legal landscape affecting their strategy and goals.
• Ensuring equitable redevelopment of public housing properties by engaging with public housing residents and community partners organizing public housing residents;
• Participating in legislative and budget advocacy efforts around affordable housing issues; and
• Conducting legal intakes with individuals and providing individual representation in legal matters such as eviction litigation, agency hearings, or other proceedings.

Our ideal candidate would possess the following knowledge, experience, skills, and abilities:

• Applicants must meet one of the following criteria for eligibility to practice law in DC:

1. Be admitted to the DC Bar; or
2. (a) be eligible for admission to the DC Bar pursuant to DC Court of Appeals Rule 46(d) or Rule 46(e) and 

(b) meet the criteria for practice pursuant to DC Court of Appeals Rule 49(c)(8); or 

3. (a) be eligible for admission to the DC Bar pursuant to DC Court of Appeals Rule 46(c) or 46(d), and

(b) meet the criteria for practice pursuant to DC Court of Appeals Rule 49(c)(9)(B), and 

(c) have passed the bar examination in DC or a UBE jurisdiction;

• At least 5 years of post JD legal experience, including at least 3 years of litigation experience;
• Prior experience in organizing or movement lawyering;
• Experience working with (or knowledge of) federal housing programs and/or prior experience in housing law, preferably in DC;
• 2 years of supervisory experience;
• Prior experience in a legal services or other public interest setting;
• Ability to independently perform legal analysis and train staff attorneys in doing the same;
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple complex projects and deadlines;
• Ability to communicate effectively in oral and written communication;
• Excellent negotiation skills;
• Experience facilitating meetings with diverse members; ability to resolve differences and drive a group towards a workable plan;
• Good judgment;
• High degree of flexibility and patience;
• Sense of humor, seriously;
• Ability to work with and lead other staff and interact with a wide variety of people, including volunteers, in a professional and collaborative manner;
• Comfortable working both in-person in an open work environment, with no private offices for staff, and remotely from home; 
• Familiarity with Google Organization & Productivity tools (Gmail, Google Docs, Calendar) and/or ability to learn new technology systems; 
• Bilingual (Spanish/English) skills preferred but not required;
• Willingness to learn and carry out Bread for the City’s commitments to building a socially just, racially equitable, and gender affirming culture. We define racial equity as a world where life outcomes, life chances, and life experiences cannot be predicted by race. We define a gender affirming culture as spaces that make people feel radically comfortable and safer expressing their gender identity, especially for trans and gender non-conforming people. We see racial equity work as inherently tied to all other forms of anti-oppression work; we are building a community that prioritizes Black, Indigenous, and all People of the Global Majority, DC natives, transgender and gender non-conforming people, disabled people, and all historically oppressed and marginalized people at Bread and beyond; and
• Must be fully vaccinated and boosted against Covid-19.

Compensation: Bread for the City offers competitive non-profit salaries based on experience and a generous benefits package, which can be reviewed at https://breadforthecity.org/work-with-us/. Supervising Attorney salaries range from $95,000-$105,500. For those who meet the minimum qualifications, the base salary starts at $100,000, with an additional $1,000 per year of experience, capped at 3 years. Bilingual compensation for fluency in certain languages is an additional $2,500 added to the base of one's salary. Also, the DC Bar Foundation offers a Loan Repayment Assistance Program to qualified Bread for the City attorneys, providing renewable one-year, interest-free, forgivable loans. For more information, see https:/dcbarfoundation.org/lrap/.

Bread for the City is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, sexual orientation, family responsibility, physical or mental disability, medical condition, status as a veteran, or any other category protected by applicable federal, state, or local law, except where a bona fide occupational qualification applies.  

To apply: You must complete an application through Bread for the City’s ADP portal. Go to www.breadforthecity.org/work and click on the "Movement Lawyering Supervising Attorney " position. Then select "apply" at the top right hand corner to register for a login and apply for the position. Please upload a resume and cover letter through this online application process. A cover letter is an important part of our review process and should be thoughtfully tailored and speak to not only your qualifications for the position but also to your commitment to public interest work. Only those candidates selected for interviews will be contacted. 

Benefits:

Please visit https://breadforthecity.org/work-with-us/ and scroll down to review our employee health benefits and health insurance plans.