Directing Attorney

CALIFORNIA RURAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE INC•Stockton, CA

5d•$100,000 - $130,000

About The Position

California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. offers radically necessary services that vindicate the rights of the rural poor and fight for community-led justice. Our advocates believe that rural communities can thrive and that the legal system must work to the advantage of people who reject poverty and systems of oppression. The work we advance spans an impressive gamut of venues and stands on a bold legacy of success and a vision for the prosperity of our clients. Reporting to the AWJP Legal Director, the Directing Attorney will lead a dynamic a team of staff attorneys and community workers located in Stockton to develop and implement creative advocacy strategies to address community-identified issues affecting agricultural workers in various areas of the Central Valley. The Directing Attorney is responsible for leading the team in delivering high-quality legal services commensurate with AWJP’s advocacy vision. The Directing Attorney should have substantive experience in a legal area that affects agricultural workers and is responsible for maintaining a reduced caseload in addition to their leadership role. The Agricultural Worker Justice Program utilizes a community lawyering model to address the specific, discrete, and systemic issues facing agricultural workers statewide. The model calls for creative, innovative advocacy that uses a multipronged approach to address the issues and their systemic roots. Approaches such as community leadership development and advocacy around policies are as important to the work as traditional legal advocacy. The Agricultural Worker Justice Program) covers a wide array of legal areas ranging from wage and hour violations to unsafe industry-wide working conditions. AWJP’s clients are low-wage agricultural workers, including farmworkers and people who work in: dairies, packing houses, plant and flower nurseries, and meat and animal product processing operations such as meat and egg packing.

Requirements

Minimum of three (3) years experience practicing law, preferably in the CRLA Priority areas of housing, employment, education, rural health, or similar
Minimum of two (2) years of supervisory experience and/or proven ability to organize and supervise the casework and advocacy of team members
Demonstrated ability to interact constructively with diverse populations and team members
Demonstration of commitment to working with low-income, marginalized and diverse populations

Nice To Haves

Admitted to the California Bar
Fluency in another language, most specifically, Spanish
Experience in the non-profit or public sectors
Experience in obtaining grants and managing them through to completion.

Responsibilities

Help develop AWJP’s advocacy vision and guide and supervise staff’s advocacy work, including assessing the community’s legal needs, to fulfill that vision.
Ensure that case handling complies with CRLA policies, Legal Services Corporation regulations, the ABA Standards for the Provision of Civil Legal Services, and ethical obligations.
Conduct weekly case review meetings with staff to assess new intakes’ eligibility, determine the level of service to be provided, and ensure all cases progress with the provision of quality legal services.
Guide staff development, including evaluating staff and developing and implementing professional development plans.
Maintain an active caseload.
Litigate impact cases as lead or co-counsel and/or work on systemic advocacy.
Oversee the planning of community education and outreach activities to raise awareness of diverse advocacy areas in local communities.
Raise awareness of the specific issues facing agricultural workers and CRLA’s work through media, participation in conferences, and collaboration with other organizations, agencies, and issue- and community-based coalitions.
Develop and implement the team work plan that serves as a blueprint for systemic advocacy and sets out a results-oriented vision that blends various advocacy approaches to impact change locally, statewide, and nationally.
As needed, work with the Development and Finance teams to evaluate grant opportunities.
Understand, monitor, and deliver grant deliverables and necessary outcomes, including timekeeping and other LSC requirements.
Collaborate with other CRLA supervisors to improve CRLA’s organizational effectiveness and capacity.
Support the establishment of policies and programs that promote a desirable organizational culture and vision.
Model appropriate leadership behavior and take swift action to mitigate behavior that compromises CRLA values. In collaboration with Human Resources, ensure a culture of knowledge sharing and continued learning.

Benefits

Generous benefits package which includes 100% employer-covered medical, dental, vision, life, and short & long-term disability insurance for employees and up to 50% for dependents coverage; and 401K retirement plan with CRLA contribution effective immediately.
Some professional dues are paid by CRLA (Bar Fees) and, if qualified, up to $8,000 law school Loan Reimbursement Assistance Program (LRAP).
Generous paid leave policy which includes: 15 days of sick leave, 15 holidays each year, and vacation (accrue 15 days for the first year of service and 20 days after one year of service at CRLA).

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