Chief Legal Officer

Southern Poverty Law Center•Washington, DC

9h•Onsite

About The Position

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is a leading national organization dedicated to racial justice, working to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements, and advance human rights for all people. Established in 1971, SPLC employs both legal and community-based strategies to combat institutional racism, confront violent white supremacist groups, and protect the civil rights of diverse marginalized communities, including people of color, children, women, people with disabilities, immigrants, the LGBTQ+ community, prisoners, and religious minorities. The organization's work spans the country, with a particular focus on five Deep South states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi. SPLC is headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama, and maintains offices in Miami, Atlanta, New Orleans, Jackson, and Washington, D.C. The Chief Legal Officer (CLO) reports directly to the President & CEO and is a vital member of the SPLC executive team. This role requires a thought partner and collaborative visionary responsible for developing, leading, and managing a strategic and innovative litigation docket at the federal, state, and regional levels. The CLO will oversee a large and experienced Legal team, collaborating across various issues and departments to direct and implement the organization’s impact advocacy and litigation strategy. The ideal candidate will possess a strong background in legal leadership within the civil rights sector, with significant experience in litigation and advocacy.

Requirements

JD from an accredited national law school and admission to any state bar in the United States.
A minimum of 15 years of experience actively litigating and managing a broad range of large, complex federal and state litigation.
Significant managerial and leadership experience, guiding and developing a high-performing legal team, including direct supervision of litigators.
Highly strategic mindset and approach to litigation in the context of a broader organizational strategy; communicating and coordinating a unified vision across teams, seeking opportunity for novel theories, anticipating future cases, advocacy & practice areas.
Demonstrated organizational acumen (looking beyond the legal team) with the ability to recognize the broader consequences of a course of action and its impact on the organization and the communities it serves.

Nice To Haves

Foundational litigation training through experience gained in government, a private law firm or an in-house legal department.
Substantial social justice/civil rights litigation experience.
Leadership experience in a non-profit legal organization.
Experience working in a unionized environment.

Responsibilities

Provide strategic thought partnership on legal objectives, strategies and priorities to the President and CEO, the Executive Team, the Board, the Legal Department’s leadership team, and other members of the organization.
Participate in organization-wide strategic planning, including leading the development and expansion of new strategies, resources, and policy work.
Demonstrate change leadership, shaping, guiding and managing the SPLC’s litigation strategy while supervising the effective and impactful operations of the Legal Department.
Managing and supporting the litigation strategies across the various practice groups.
Ensuring the Legal Department provides the highest quality legal representation in support of and consistent with the organization’s mission, strategic framework, and values.
Developing and overseeing any needed structural changes in the Department, including areas of practice, new projects, and the size and locations of the legal staff.
Reviewing financial reports and develop and oversee the annual department budgets in compliance with the SPLC’s administrative and financial management policies and practices.
Recruiting, hiring, coaching, developing, mentoring, training, and motivating a team of highly skilled and collaborative litigation professionals, including attorneys and non-attorney professionals.
Working with the organization’s Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning team to assess outcomes and impact of the Legal Department.
Actively participate in work to promote justice and equity, and incorporate a DEIA lens on the Legal Department’s internal and external work.
Serve as an enterprise leader, bringing an organization-wide perspective to legal strategy and decision-making, and ensuring alignment of litigation priorities with the organization’s broader strategic, policy, and communications objectives.
Build relationships and reinforce existing partnerships internally and externally, to further organizational objectives and maximize impact, including, other human rights and social justice organizations, stakeholders and supporters, and outside pro bono counsel.