Senior Staff Attorney

JOB OVERVIEW:

IRC seeks a Senior Staff Attorney to join the IRC at the New York RAI office. The Senior Staff Attorney is an experienced removal defense lawyer who will focus on pro se asylum applications, along with change of address, change of venue, and employment authorization applications. The Senior Staff Attorney will bring several years’ experience representing asylum seekers, superb legal judgment and legal ethics, an ability to work independently while recognizing the value of collaboration and cross-referencing with other experts, and a passion for this area of work. The position will work in collaboration with community partners and IRC’s Legal Services Technical Unit (TU) at IRC’s headquarters, which supports IRC’s 25 legal service programs across the US.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES:

Client and Community Engagement

• Conduct legal screenings and consultations
• Organize, lead, and provide legal assistance at limited scope legal clinics, including collaboration with other legal service providers and volunteer attorneys in the NY area.
• Coordinate closely within IRC’s multidisciplinary teams to identify client legal needs and facilitate referrals to holistic, wrap-around services offered in-house and through partnerships with external providers
• Provide legal orientations to program clients
• Ensure client and program data is collected consistently, managed appropriately, and reported accurately in accordance with program reporting requirements set by IRC
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge and expertise of changing asylum and immigration policies through independent research and analysis, regular trainings, local coalitions/listservs of legal advocates, and peer-to-peer consultation
• Work collaboratively as part of IRC NY’s immigration legal department and asylum seeker teams
• Participate in community-based coalitions related to immigrant rights
• Serve as a strong advocate for humanitarian immigrants
• Maintain strict client confidentiality and observe all ethical practices/obligations as outlined in IRC’s Immigration Program Policies Manual in addition to state-mandated rules of legal ethics

Supervisory Responsibilities

• Supervise legal assistant(s) focusing on asylum clinics, preparation of pro se asylum applications, employment authorization, document corrections, legal orientations, and review of legal intakes.

KEY WORKING RELATIONSHIPS:

Position Reports to: Managing Attorney, New York RAI

Position Directly Supervises: Legal Assistant(s)

JOB REQUIREMENTS:

• Law degree (JD or LLM) from an ABA-accredited U.S. institution and member in good standing of any state bar;
• 3 years of experience providing direct representation in immigration court and/or before USCIS to asylum applicants and other immigrants seeking humanitarian relief;
• Excellent research, writing, analytical, and organizational skills and excellent legal judgment;
• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively, both orally in a courtroom setting and in writing;
• Bilingual in one or more languages of the survivor population preferred (eg, Spanish, French, Arabic);
• Evidence of capacity to be a strong team member in a highly collaborative multidisciplinary environment;
• Deep commitment to immigrant rights and working with humanitarian immigrants;
• Trauma-informed and sensitive listening and communication skills;
• Personal integrity in handling ethically complex and confidential situations;
• Strong computer literacy, research and analysis skills; and
• Ability to travel frequently in and around the service area to engage with clients and community partners.

Compensation: Posted pay ranges apply to US-based candidates. Ranges are based on various factors including the labor market, job type, internal equity, and budget. Exact offers are calibrated by work location, individual candidate experience and skills relative to the defined job requirements.

Gender Equality: IRC is committed to narrowing the gender gap in leadership positions. We offer benefits that provide an enabling environment for women to participate in our workforce including parental leave, gender-sensitive security protocols and other supportive benefits and allowances.

Equal Opportunity Employer: We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

US Benefits: We offer a comprehensive and highly competitive set of benefits. In the US, these include: 10 sick days, 10 US holidays, 20-25 paid time off days (depending on role and tenure), medical insurance starting at $145 per month, dental starting at $7 per month, and vision starting at $5 per month, FSA for healthcare, childcare, and commuter costs, a 403b retirement savings plans with up to 4.5% immediately vested matching contribution, plus a 3-7% base IRC contribution (3 year vesting), disability & life insurance, and an Employee Assistance Program which is available to our staff and their families to support counseling and care in times of crisis and mental health struggles.