Associate Director of Litigation, NIJC

National Immigrant Justice Center • Chicago, IL

1d • Onsite

About The Position

The National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) advances human rights and due process for immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers through direct legal services, impact litigation, advocacy, and public education. Headquartered in Chicago with offices in Washington, DC, Indiana, and San Diego, NIJC's team of 100 attorneys, paralegals, and professionals, along with 2,000 pro bono attorneys, is at the forefront of immigration reform.

The Associate Director of Litigation reports to the Director of Litigation and assists the director in overseeing NIJC's federal court litigation docket. The Associate Director will maintain a substantive docket of litigation while assisting with management and leadership functions on a team of 20.

NIJC's current litigation portfolio is a mix of affirmative district court work and appeals of individual cases to the circuit courts. The district court work is focused on (a) interior enforcement and challenges to DHS's arrest practices, (b) access to asylum and other substantive immigration remedies, (c) challenges to the detention of immigrants (habeas) and the conditions that immigrants face while detained, and (d) challenges to regulations and policies that undermine the procedural fairness of the immigration system. The appellate docket is informed largely by the experiences of NIJC's agency level clients but routinely focuses on asylum and protection-related appeals as well as crim-imm related challenges. Because NIJC's litigation strategy is informed by the experiences of NIJC's agency-level clients, the Associate Director is also expected to work closely with NIJC's direct services teams to identify priorities for litigation.

Requirements

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office.
• Ability to read, write, analyze, and interpret immigration laws and regulations, professional journals, and technical procedures.
• Ability to draft legal briefs, memos, reports, correspondence, and procedural manuals.
• Ability to orally advocate with courts.
• Must also be able to present information and respond to questions from funders, media, managers, clients, and the public.
• Ability to solve practical and complex problems and including and especially in situations where there are limited precedents or standardization models to rely on.
• Ability to interpret various instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form.
• A Juris Doctor and a minimum of eight years of litigation experience since being barred.
• A minimum of three or more years' experience in a supervisory role.
• A minimum of three or more years of immigration-specific litigation experience.
• Ability to guide, influence, mentor and lead others toward a shared goal

Nice To Haves

• Experience in the nonprofit sector is preferred.
• Bilingual in Spanish is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Ensure effective and efficient delivery of high-quality legal services across the team.
• Identify emerging issues for litigation, provide input to the team and Director, and assist with appropriate staffing across cases.
• Supervise teams' work across cases in accordance with organizational policies and applicable laws; establish and oversee professional development plans for members of the litigation team.
• Build and maintain relationships with national litigation partners and immigration legal service providers and represent NIJC in these networks. Contribute to and oversee team's work with pro bono and nonprofit partners to maximize NIJC's ability to contribute to meaningful litigation.
• Maintain a substantive case load consistent with the overall needs of the team, conduct final review of significant briefs and filings, and argue cases before all levels of federal court where appropriate.
• Participate in grant writing, funder reporting, and budget development for the litigation team and NIJC more broadly.
• Ensure ongoing compliance with grant requirements and programmatic goals, including in the collection of data regarding NIJC's litigation practice.
• Collaborate on policy, communication and advocacy on strategy, impact and messaging

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree