Senior Staff Attorney

Status: Full-Time, Specific Term through 6/30/2025 (likely renewal upon receipt of funding)

Location: Newark, NJ

Application Deadline: January 30, 2025

For consideration, please attach your Cover Letter and Resume to the online application in addition to answering the Application Questions.

Summary of Principal Responsibilities:

The Senior Staff Attorney will be part of the Detention and Deportation Defense Initiative a publicly funded project that provides representation for immigrants in removal proceedings, including people in detention and people who are living in their communities. The Senior Staff Attorney is responsible for:  direct legal representation; supporting staff attorneys and legal assistants in a specialized area; and participation in statewide and nationwide advocacy activities. 

 Essential Functions/Responsibilities:  The key responsibilities of the Senior Staff Attorney include the following:

1. Provide in-depth individual consultations and representation to indigent, unrepresented immigrants before the Elizabeth and Newark Immigration Courts, the Board of Immigration Appeals, and federal District Courts and Courts of Appeals (where possible).
2. Provide support and mentorship to AFSC Staff Attorneys and Legal Assistants on substantive legal issues.
3. Provide expertise in a specialized area (e.g., federal litigation, crim-imm issues, mental health issues) and serve as a resource to AFSC staff for this area of law, including providing trainings and case consultations.
4. Assist in the documentation of the project’s experiences and in the preparation of AFSC quarterly reports and reports to funding sources.
5. Manage caseload and maintain client files in good order, including applications, letters, supporting documentation, and follow up work. Maintain client and case information in AFSC case management systems.
6. Work with AFSC’s Social Workers to meet clients’ social services’
7. In collaboration with AFSC staff and other stakeholders, engage in policy and advocacy work concerning issues raised by clients and
8. Conduct presentations on immigration issues.
9. Respond to media inquiries about government practices where appropriate and provide information to the media to publicize the impact of policies on immigrants and their families.
10. If representing detained clients, monitor conditions and access at the detention center and jails and other enforcement trends for use in reports and advocacy activities.
11. Participate in AFSC staff meetings and case reviews.

Minimum Qualifications

Education:  Admission to a state bar required. 

 Experience: 

1. A minimum of three years’ experience with immigration law and procedures preferred, especially removal defense with a focus on federal litigation, crim-imm, or mental health issues.
2. Excellent legal skills and understanding of movement lawyering principles. 
3. Bilingual English/Spanish or English/French highly desirable. 
4. Strong written and oral communication skills including public speaking. 
5. Self-motivated, detail oriented, well-organized, able to prioritize assignments and workload.  
6. Ability to communicate effectively and build mutually respectful relationships with co-workers, clients, the public and donors. 
7. Familiarity with software applications in a Windows and cloud-based environment.
8. Ability to work some evenings and weekends; ability to travel out of state. 

 Other Required Skills and Abilities:

1. Commitment to Quaker values and testimonies. Understanding of and compatibility with the principles and philosophy of the American Friends Service Committee including non-violence and the belief in the intrinsic worth of every individual.
2. Understanding of and commitment to the principles, concerns, and considerations of AFSC in regard to issues of race, class, nationality, religion, age, gender and sexual orientation, and disabilities. Demonstrated ability to work and communicate with diverse staff.

Compensation:  Salary Range 15 (starting at $65,000-$77,740), commensurate with experience - Exempt – Comprehensive medical and hospitalization plan; term life, accident and salary continuation insurances, defined benefit pension plan, plus fringe benefits; participation in unemployment and worker’s compensation and social security.

The American Friends Service Committee is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.  Qualified persons are encouraged to apply regardless of their religious affiliation, national origin, race, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation or disability.

AFSC’s Central Office and some of its offices in the U.S. are unionized workplaces. This position is represented.

The American Friends Service Committee is a smoke-free workplace.