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Pro Bono Counsel

The Pro Bono Counsel will assist our Pro Bono Chairs with all aspects of the development and implementation of the Firm’s Global Pro Bono Program.

In this capacity, the Pro Bono Counsel will:

Assist Pro Bono Chairs in the strategic development and implementation of our pro bono program and initiatives nationally and internationally;
Identify pro bono opportunities that enhance the program and assist attorneys to develop their interests and skills;
Assist Pro Bono Chairs to evaluate potential pro bono opportunities and ensure that potential matters are evaluated and screened for conflicts of interest prior to their being approved;
Assist Pro Bono Chairs to ensure that all pro bono matters are appropriately supervised and staffed both prior to their being approved and on an ongoing basis;
Prepare reports, metrics and summaries as requested;
Work with all Firm offices and departments to ensure pro bono services are well understood and integrated;
Assist Pro Bono Chairs in creating and maintaining relationships with legal and other organizations so as to fully understand community needs and assist in evaluating areas for new projects and innovative legal initiatives;
Develop and enhance pro bono partnerships with the Firm’s fee-generating clients under direction of the Pro Bono Chairs and relationship partners;
Evaluate and update substantive resource materials and trainings to ensure that attorneys have all necessary support for their pro bono work;
Oversee and handle matters in substantive areas relevant to the Firm’s pro bono practice;
Manage the transition of all pro bono matters of departing attorneys;
Coordinate internal methods of recognizing Firm attorneys and staff in celebrating pro bono efforts; and
Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

JD required; active bar membership required.Must be licensed and physically located in respective jurisdiction;
At least 5+ years of legal practice experience;
Experience working with a law firm pro bono program preferred;
Public interest or pro bono experience; demonstrated commitment to social and economic justice preferred;
Familiarity and relationships with legal services organizations preferred;
Strong organizational skills, careful attention to detail, and demonstrated project management skills;
Excellent written, oral communications, as well as highly developed interpersonal skills;
Strong leadership skills and ability to take initiative;
Ability to identify issues, innovate, and implement solutions;
Ability to balance competing demands;
Strong desire to be a team player and work collaboratively;
Flexibility to travel occasionally to the Firm’s other offices and attend conferences as requested; and
Solid computer skills in Word/Excel/PowerPoint and use of databases preferred.

Pro Bono Coordinator

Her Justice

Her Justice is a nonprofit organization that stands with women living in poverty in New York City by recruiting and mentoring volunteer lawyers to provide free legal help to address individual and systemic legal barriers. Our clients come from all over New York City, and have needs in the areas of family, matrimonial and immigration law.

Responsibilities: The Pro Bono Coordinator will play a pivotal role in matching clients with volunteer attorneys through a variety of activities, including:

Enhancing the efficiency and success of relationships between clients and volunteer attorneys by tracking cases and providing assistance and updates to volunteer and in-house attorneys, and support and referrals to clients, throughout the life of the case;

Supporting efforts to recruit and train in-house volunteers and interns;

Managing CLE program, including issuing CLE credit in accordance with regulations and complying with CLE reporting requirements;

Organizing volunteer attorney recruitment efforts, including presentations and outreach;

Matching volunteer attorneys with clients through special appeals, e-mail digests, special events, pitches, etc., and exploring new ways to create client-attorney partnerships;

Assessing program effectiveness, including both client and volunteer attorney satisfaction;

Working with the development team at Her Justice to coordinate outreach to firms and corporations and promote the values of Her Justice services; and

Performing client intake over the phone and at Family Justice Centers throughout New York City as needed.

Measuring client services outcomes, both qualitative and quantitative, aiming to empower clients throughout their case

Work alongside Vista fellow to bolster cultural competency and language access training for staff and Pro Bono attorneys

Qualifications: We seek a self-motivated team player with a bachelor’s degree who possesses outstanding organizational, interpersonal, communication, writing, and computer skills, including running reports from case management databases and/or other similar databases. We value experience with corporate law firms, volunteer-based social service organizations, family, matrimonial and/or immigration law matters, and/or domestic violence issues. This is not an entry-level position. The ideal candidate will have at least two years of post-college work experience in a relevant setting. Fluency in Spanish is required.

Intake Paralegal, Pro Bono Services

Legal Services NYC

Legal Services NYC (“LSNYC”) fights poverty and seeks racial, social and economic justice for low income New Yorkers. For 50 years, we have challenged systemic injustice and helped clients meet basic needs for housing, income and economic security, family and immigration stability, education, and health care. LSNYC is the largest civil legal services provider in the country; our staff of more than 600 people in neighborhood-based offices and outreach sites across all five boroughs helps more than 110,000 New Yorkers annually. We partner with scores of community-based and client-run organizations, elected officials, public agencies, pro bono lawyers, and the courts to maximize our effectiveness. Our work fights discrimination and helps to achieve equal opportunity for all low-income New Yorkers.

LSNYC’s pro bono program engages a range of private partners on behalf of thousands of low income New Yorkers across multiple practice areas. Managed by a director and staffed by a coordinating attorney, two immigration attorneys, a bankruptcy attorney, a housing attorney, and three paralegals, the Pro Bono Services Department (“Department”) works with LSNYC staff and pro bono partners to create and manage pro bono projects, place cases, run clinics, train and mentor volunteers, access in-kind resources, and match individual volunteers with appropriate LSNYC offices. LSNYC’s private partners include nearly 100 law firms and corporations, along with law schools, bar associations, and individual volunteers.

Our pro bono program offers more than a dozen initiatives focused on housing, immigration, benefits, education, family, and more. LSNYC conducts more than 70 pro bono clinics and study groups each year for tenants, veterans, immigrants, and transgender clients, among others. Immigration makes up more than half of our pro bono work, with a focus on asylum, U-visas, VAWA self-petitions, battered spouse waivers, youth removal, and naturalizations. We operate a high-volume practice, with more than 2,000 pro bono cases annually at law firms, impacting more than 7,000 New Yorkers each year.

The Role:

The Paralegal will work with the rest of the pro bono team to expand and operate our housing and immigration clinics and case placement, and to support additional pro bono efforts with corporations and law firms. Collectively, these initiatives will help thousands of New Yorkers who need legal representation to secure safe housing, improved immigration status, and other forms of relief.

Under the supervision of the Director of Pro Bono Services, the Paralegal will: prepare clients for pro bono placement, including processing intakes, scheduling clients for clinics, gathering relevant documents and other information for case assessment, and offering relevant referrals; coordinate with onsite volunteers; track relevant data in our case management system; open and close cases; provide additional support on pro bono cases as needed; attend clinics; serve as a point of contact for clients who are participating in clinics, help manage communication between clients and coordinating attorneys, and more.

Qualifications:

Demonstrated excellent, consistent client interviewing, writing, and communication skills
Demonstrated excellent, consistent computer skills – including case management software, Excel, Word, and email – and comfort with learning new programs
Ability to work with people from a range of backgrounds—including low-income clients, other LSNYC staff, and pro bono attorneys from law firms and corporationsDemonstrated communication habits that are consistently prompt, professional, and responsive
Collaborative orientation, capacity to work in a team and foster positive team relationships, and solution-oriented approach
Demonstrated excellent organizational skills, particularly with regard to scheduling, referring,tracking, and gathering documents for significant volumes of clients and volunteers
Demonstrated consistent ability to pay close attention to details
Commitment to legal services for low-income people
Bilingual English and Spanish required

Pro Bono Coordinating Attorney

KIND Inc

Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) is a global leader in the protection of unaccompanied refugee and migrant children. Launched in 2008, KIND champions a world in which every child’s rights and well-being are protected throughout their journey to safety. KIND has provided nearly 18,000 children with high quality representation in their immigration proceedings by training more than 41,000 attorneys and legal staff and cultivating partnerships with over 600 law firms, corporate legal departments, law schools, and bar associations across the country.

KIND’s social services program ensures that migrant and refugee children – who have often endured trauma – receive counseling, educational support, medical care and other comprehensive services. To address the root causes of child migration from Central America and strengthen protection of unaccompanied children, KIND advocates for policy changes and educates lawmakers, the media, and the broader public on the conditions that drive these children to flee their home countries. KIND supports children returning to their home countries by connecting them to essential support services and sponsors gender-based violence prevention programs in Central America to protect children in countries of origin and transit.

KIND is also building upon its expertise in the protection of unaccompanied children to encourage the development of pro bono initiatives across Europe in partnership with European NGOs.

POSITION PURPOSE

To provide expert legal services to unaccompanied children facing removal proceedings through zealous direct representation as well as pro bono facilitation, including robust consultation, training, and technical assistance to pro bono attorneys who have accepted a KIND cases. This position will also supervise a paralegal, and/or interns.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

Responsibilities of the Pro Bono Coordinating Attorney will include, but are not limited to, the following:

Conduct or oversee legal intakes and the provision of know-your-rights information to child clients;
Match child clients with pro bono attorneys;
Recruit, train, and provide hands-on mentorship to pro bono attorneys representing unaccompanied children in immigration matters and related family law matters;
Develop and maintain updated guidance materials, sample filings, and legal training presentations;
Foster and manage KIND relationships with law firms and corporate counsel in coordination with the Director of Pro Bono Recruitment and Training;
Provide direct representation to clients before immigration and state courts, and immigration agencies;
Assist in office operations, including case management, data entry and maintenance, and reports;
Assist in supervision, training, and mentoring of program support staff in consultation with the Senior Pro Bono Coordinating Attorney and Managing Attorney;
Collaborate with KIND management in support of KIND’s mission; and
Participate in conferences, meetings, and trainings as needed

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

J.D. and admitted to practice law in New York
Minimum 1 year of experience practicing immigration law, which should include representation of clients in humanitarian immigration claims such as asylum, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, U visas and T visas;
Minimum 1 year of experience working with children, preferably immigrant and refugee children, or experience working with survivors of abuse, human trafficking, or other trauma;
Minimum 1 year of experience working with or training law firm attorneys and/or other legal volunteers;
A strong record of cultural competence and cross-cultural communication skills;
Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively and persuasively both orally and in writing;
Excellent professional judgment;
Ability to take initiative, multi-task, and work independently;
Ability to work collaboratively; and
Spanish speaking attorney preferred.