Criminal/Immigration Senior Staff or Managing Attorneys

Immigrant Legal Resource Center • Los Angeles, CA

54d • $112,492 - $168,117 • Hybrid

About The Position

The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) is seeking two full-time Criminal/Immigration (Crim/Imm) Senior Staff or Managing Attorneys. These positions are based in our San Francisco, CA office, or can be worked remotely from Southern California or the Central Valley of California. The roles are exempt and report to either a Directing Attorney or a Senior Managing Attorney. These are bargaining unit positions represented by the National Legal Services Workers (NOLSW), Local 2320. The ILRC currently operates on a hybrid work model, requiring two in-office days per week for employees based in San Francisco. Employees not based in San Francisco are exempt from this requirement but must travel to the San Francisco office for key events and meetings at least quarterly, as per the ILRC’s Remote Work Policy. The ILRC is a leading immigrant rights organization founded in 1979, with a mission to educate, support, and empower immigrants, community organizations, and legal practitioners. The organization values passion, collaboration, equity, and innovation. This specific position focuses on the complex intersection of criminal and immigration law ('crim/imm'), aiming to advance the ILRC’s technical support, capacity building, and policy work for immigrants and their advocates, particularly public defenders and immigration advocates representing noncitizens with crim/imm issues. Advanced expertise in crim/imm is required.

Requirements

• Experience and expertise in, and commitment to, defending the rights of noncitizens who have come in contact with the criminal legal system.
• A minimum of seven years of experience as a crim/imm expert.
• Broad knowledge of the intersection of criminal and immigration law.
• Excellent writing, editing, legal analysis, and communication skills.
• Excellent training and presentation skills.
• Ability to lead meetings with, write for, and communicate with a range of people, including immigration and criminal defense attorneys, community members, legislators, policy-makers, journalists, funders, and others.
• Excellent time management skills and the ability to meet deadlines.
• Willing to work closely with and learn from colleagues, including being willing to take direction and editing from others and to incorporate feedback.
• A strong work ethic, including being organized, flexible, reliable, and dependable, able to work independently, and able to handle several projects simultaneously.
• Willing to participate in team-based efforts and a collaborative decision-making environment.
• A willingness to travel approximately 10% of their time across California and at times, nationally.
• A current Bar membership in good standing for any state in the United States or the District of Columbia, but preferably in the state of California.

Nice To Haves

• At least three years of experience working in a Public Defender’s Office which resulted in substantive expertise in Padilla advisals and/or criminal law and procedure.
• Experience with California criminal defense practice, procedure, and post-conviction relief.
• Proven ability to write and present complex technical legal issues in accessible and accurate resources.
• Experience writing and securing grants from foundations and corporations.
• Legal or other writing experience for a range of audiences.
• Training, teaching, or other public speaking experience.
• Experience working in coalitions and partnering closely with community organizers and non-lawyers on organizing campaigns.
• Collaborating with immigrant communities with an emphasis on supporting community leadership.
• Coordinating civic engagement projects or working as a community organizer.
• Second language proficiency, within the range of conversational to fluent.
• Experience with communications work on immigration or criminal legal issues.
• Established relationships with allied organizations in California and nationally.
• Experience in administrative and federal appeals.

Responsibilities

• Guiding the ILRC’s crim/imm team and serving as a senior expert on crim/imm internally and externally.
• Providing technical support to public defenders and immigration advocates on crim/imm matters, including analyzing legal developments, writing practice advisories, and preparing/leading webinars and seminars.
• Collaborating to create and update crim/imm resources, including online materials and ILRC manuals.
• Serving as an "Attorney of the Day" to answer practitioners' case questions on the immigration consequences of criminal conduct.
• Cultivating relationships with public defender offices in rural areas of California.
• Training public defenders, immigration attorneys, judges, immigrant communities, organizers, and other stakeholders on crim/imm.
• Supporting policy campaigns at local, state, or federal levels to improve protections for immigrants in the criminal and immigration systems, including analyzing legislation, drafting legislation, advising legislative staff, and testifying before legislatures.
• Representing ILRC, and potentially taking a leading role, in collaboratives to support immigrant rights.
• Writing grant proposals, preparing reports, and managing deliverables for foundation grants, and representing ILRC in meetings with funders and supporters.
• Traveling for trainings, funder visits, and other events throughout California and sometimes nationally.
• Providing support and advice on litigation and amicus support as needed in cases before the Board of Immigration Appeals, California Courts of Appeals, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court.

Benefits

• Medical/dental/vision insurance
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) sessions
• Flexible spending account for medical and dependent care
• Vacation
• Sick leave
• Retirement plan contribution upon fulfillment of eligibility
• Annual professional development stipend of $2,500
• Annual wellness stipend of $2,500 (from 2024 – 2027)
• Sabbatical program (employees eligible to apply for an 8-week sabbatical after five years of service and a 12-week sabbatical after ten years of service)

What This Job Offers

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