Senior Staff Attorney, Children’s Legal Services

JOB OVERVIEW:

IRC seeks a Senior Staff Attorney (Children’s Legal Services & Community Legal Services) to join the IRC in Baltimore, Maryland. The Senior Staff Attorney is an experienced immigration, asylum and removal defense lawyer who will support complex core services cases, asylum and removal defense work. The Senior Staff Attorney will bring several years’ immigration experience including but not limited to 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 will be part of the Children’s Legal Services Community of Practice, led by IRC’s Immigration Technical Unit (TU) at IRC’s headquarters, which supports IRC’s 24 legal service programs across the US.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES:

Direct Legal Representation

• Conduct legal screenings and consultations with IRC clients and community members.
• Lead and provide legal supervision at limited scope legal assistance clinics.
• Provide direct legal representation on affirmative asylum and/or removal defense cases before USCIS and/or EOIR respectively, including on various forms of immigration relief such as asylum, cancellation of removal, VAWA, U-visa, T-visa, etc. and on other immigration cases as needed.
• Coordinate closely within IRC’s multidisciplinary teams to identify client legal needs and facilitate referrals to services offered in-house and through partnerships with external providers.
• 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.
• Conduct trainings for IRC staff and/or externally as needed.
• Work collaboratively as part of the Baltimore ILS team.
• 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.

Supervisory Responsibilities

• Supervise Staff Attorney(s), Legal Assistant or DOJ accredited representative providing client services in employment authorization, document corrections, legal orientations, and review of legal intakes.

Community Partnerships and Workshops

• Create and maintain a viable outreach strategy to cultivate and maintain strong relationships with community-based organizations, local immigration attorneys, and nonprofit legal providers to support effective group legal assistance clinics.
• Collaborate with other IRC departments and partners to offer community-based workshops or information sessions when demand exceeds capacity to provide direct legal representation.

KEY WORKING RELATIONSHIPS:

Position Reports to: Managing Attorney

Position Directly Supervises: Staff Attorney(s), Legal Assistant or DOJ accredited representative

JOB REQUIREMENTS:

• Law degree (JD or LLM) from an ABA-accredited U.S. institution and admission to any state bar, with Maryland license highly preferred.
• Seek Maryland bar license within one year of hire, if not already licensed in Maryland.
• At least 3 years’ experience providing direct representation in immigration court and/or before USCIS to asylum applicants and other immigrants seeking humanitarian relief; As a significant amount of time will be spent with the IRC’s Children’s Legal Services program, preference will be given for applicants with experience representing unaccompanied minors before EOIR, USCIS, and handling state predicate orders for unaccompanied minors.
• 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.

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: The IRC offers a comprehensive and highly competitive set of benefits. All US employees are eligible for sick time, a 403b retirement savings plans: up to 4.5% immediately vested matching contribution, plus an 3-7% additional IRC contribution, and an Employee Assistance Program which is available to our staff and their families to support in times of crisis and mental health struggles.

In addition, full-time employees are eligible for 10 US paid holidays, 20-25 paid time off days, disability & life insurance, medical, dental, and vision insurance (employee contribution starting at $135, $7, and $5 per month respectively) and FSA for healthcare, childcare, and commuter costs. Part-time employees are eligible for a proportionate amount of paid time off. These additional benefits apply to employees who work at least 6 months within a 12 month time period.