Community Engagement Staff Attorney (Non-Profit)

Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania • Norristown, PA

2d • Hybrid

About The Position

Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania (LASP) is seeking an attorney to join its Community Engagement Unit. This role will focus on providing legal services and conducting community outreach across four counties in Southeastern Pennsylvania. The attorney will be responsible for planning outreach events and clinics, managing volunteers (including attorneys and law students), and representing clients, with a special emphasis on addressing the collateral consequences of criminal records and assisting individuals with the Clean Slate law. There will be a particular focus on serving the Spanish-speaking population. The position is full-time, based in Norristown, with a hybrid work arrangement. Cases will include expungements, pardons, limited access petitions, professional licensure appeals, criminal records error corrections, civil forfeitures, and waiver of court debt. Reentry issues for individuals recently released or about to be released from incarceration will also be a focus.

Requirements

• License to practice law in Pennsylvania or admitted in another jurisdiction and eligible for admission in Pennsylvania
• At least two (2) years’ experience as a lawyer preferred
• Demonstrated proficiency in Microsoft Office products, case management software, and online legal research tools
• Passionate commitment to public interest law and serving low-income individuals and vulnerable populations
• Strong written, and oral, advocacy and organizational skills are required

Nice To Haves

• Spanish language fluency is desirable

Responsibilities

• Interviewing clients, assisting in determining eligibility for services, and ascertaining and investigating facts
• Conducting legal research and interpreting statutes, case law, regulations, and other sources of law
• Providing advice and counsel to clients and making appropriate referrals
• Preparing legal documents, including but not necessarily limited to briefs, pleadings, motions, notices, correspondence, memoranda, discovery and documents responsive to discovery requests
• Developing strategy and arguments for presentation of cases and assisting in preparation of witnesses for hearings and trials
• Representing clients in trial and appellate courts and before quasi-judicial or administrative agencies
• Reviewing decisions and consulting with LASP’s management team to determine merit of potential appeals
• Participating in external professional and community organizations relevant to casework and developing and strengthening relationships with community partners
• Conducting clinics, community education, training, and workshops
• Recruiting and managing LASP volunteers, including pro bono attorneys, law students, undergraduates, and others
• Becoming engaged in LASP team efforts to achieve office and program goals, including participation in program-wide affinity groups and task forces
• Developing knowledge of community referral resources and assessing community and client needs
• Working with LASP’s Communications Director to create and update LASP legal resources, including flyers, brochures, and information for self-represented litigants, with particular emphasis on resources for the Spanish speaking community in LASP’s service area
• Enhancing skills and substantive knowledge through training, CLE, and other educational opportunities
• Abiding by all applicable professional standards of ethics and practice
• Completing required administrative tasks including entering of notes and timekeeping in LASP case management software and maintaining of physical files
• Ensuring that requirements of grants and contracts which may provide funding for the position are followed, and assisting with grant reports
• Performing other duties and responsibilities as may be assigned

Benefits

• 401K retirement plan with generous employer contributions
• Health insurance option in which 100% of premium costs are provided
• Ancillary benefits
• Generous leave provisions including paid holidays, floating holidays, personal leave, vacation, sick, and parental leave

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level