Managing Director - Mental Health Litigation Division

Commonwealth of Massachusetts•Boston, MA

7d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Committee for Public Counsel Services, the Massachusetts public defender agency, is seeking an experienced mental health attorney with management experience to serve as the Managing Director in its Mental Health Litigation Division. The Managing Director will support and oversee the four Mental Health Litigation Trial Offices located in Brockton, Northampton, Roxbury, and Worcester. We fight for equal justice and human dignity by supporting our clients in achieving their legal and life goals. We zealously advocate for the rights of individuals and promote just public policy to protect the rights of all. CPCS is committed to protecting the fundamental constitutional and human rights of our assigned clients through zealous advocacy, community-oriented defense, and the fullness of excellent legal representation. We are dedicated to building and maintaining strong professional relationships, while striving to accept, listen to and respect the diverse circumstances of each client, as we dedicate ourselves to meeting their individual needs. It is our CPCS mission to achieve these goals, and in furtherance thereof, we embrace and endorse diversity, equity and inclusion as our core values as we maintain a steadfast commitment to: (1) Ensure that CPCS management and staff members represent a broad range of human differences and experience; (2) Provide a work climate that is respectful and supports success; and (3) Promote the dignity and well-being of all staff members. CPCS leadership is responsible for ensuring equity, diversity, and inclusion. The ability to achieve these goals with any level of certainty is ultimately the responsibility of each member of the CPCS community. CPCS is the state agency in Massachusetts responsible for providing an attorney when the state or federal constitution or a state statute requires the appointment of an attorney for a person who cannot afford to retain one. The agency provides representation in criminal, delinquency, youthful offender, family regulation, guardianship, mental health, sexually dangerous person, and sex offender registry cases, as well as in appeals and post-conviction and post-judgment proceedings related to those matters. The clients we represent are diverse across every context imaginable and bring many unique cultural dimensions to the matters we address. This reality creates a critical need for CPCS staff to be culturally competent and able to work well with people of different races, ethnicities, genders and/or sexual orientation identities, abilities, and limited English proficiency, among other protected characteristics. The Mental Health Litigation Division (MHLD) provides trial and appellate representation to indigent persons facing commitment to public or private psychiatric facilities, petitions for authorization to administer or terminate "extraordinary" medical treatment, and petitions seeking to impose guardianships, among other types of petitions in which mental health and capacity are at issue. In commitment proceedings, representation is provided either by MHLD staff attorneys or by private attorneys certified by MHLD to accept such assignments. Clients facing guardianship are primarily represented by private counsel. The Division consists of an administrative office, which is responsible for certification, oversight, and training of panel attorneys, the assignment of commitment cases, and effective administration of the MHLD; an Appellate Unit that trains, certifies, and oversees appellate attorneys and represents individuals in appeals; and four trial offices that represent indigent clients facing involuntary commitment to both public and private psychiatric facilities throughout the Commonwealth and some guardianship proceedings. The MHLD also trains, collaborates with and assists, youth and adult criminal defense attorneys, and Children and Family Law attorneys regarding mental health issues. The Managing Director (MD) oversees the four MHLD trial offices in Brockton, Northampton, Roxbury, and Worcester and manages various operational, personnel, and legal issues that arise in those offices. The MD supervises the Attorneys in Charge (AICs) of the trial offices and assists the Deputy Chief Counsel, Trial Panel Director, Appellate Director, Training Director and Director of Social Service Advocacy to ensure that MHLD staff representation is effective, client-centered, culturally competent, and meets agency practice standards. The MD reports to the MHLD Deputy Chief Counsel and is a member of the MHLD Leadership Team, which consists of the above-mentioned MHLD directors. The MD works with other CPCS legal practice divisions and CPCS legal support and operational units (Training Department, Human Resources, IT, Finance and Facilities, and General Counsel).

Requirements

Demonstrated commitment to the representation of indigent persons
A minimum of eight years’ experience as a practicing mental health attorney (including both experience representing indigent MHLD clients and significant jury trial, appellate, or equivalent relevant experience)
Four years of managerial experience
Commitment to serving a culturally diverse, low-income population
Eligible to practice law in Massachusetts, either as a member of the Massachusetts bar in good standing or as the member of the bar of another jurisdiction eligible to engage in limited Massachusetts practice under Supreme Judicial Court Rule 3:04
Access to reliable transportation in order to travel to offices, courts, and other locations throughout the state that are not easily accessible by public transportation
Access to home internet access sufficient to work remotely
Mental health legal expertise
Strong management and organizational skills
Excellent communication skills
Ability to work on multiple projects simultaneously
Capacity for close attention to detail

Responsibilities

Providing leadership, support and supervision to the trial offices’ Attorneys in Charge (AICs) and assisting them to manage offices to ensure that staff meet MHLD Performance Standards and caseload goals; supervising staff offices in the temporary absence of the AIC; completing annual performance evaluations for direct reports, and ensuring that direct reports complete annual performance evaluations for trial staff in a timely and comprehensive manner; working with, and ensuring AICs work with HR to address employee relations, performance and personnel issues in compliance with the CPCS policies; and serving as a resource to MHLD directors, AICs and staff regarding personnel issues
Assisting AICs in creating and maintaining a positive workplace environment; creating and promoting professional development opportunities for staff; and in consultation with HR, overseeing the hiring of attorneys and other staff in the trial offices
Working with the MHLD Director of Social Services Advocacy to ensure full utilization of social service staff and effective collaboration between trial attorneys and social services advocates
Identifying and addressing systemic issues that may arise in the operation of MHLD offices, including developing and recommending changes to guidelines or Performance Standards to the Deputy Chief Counsel and other MHLD directors to promote courageous, client-centered representation
Facilitating strong communication with the MHLD Leadership Team, and conducting regular visits to staff offices
Working with the AICs, the training department, and the Equity & Inclusion Director to ensure that MHLD staff are culturally competent, sensitive to issues of diversity, and provide client-centered representation
Developing and implementing plans to collect and utilize case-related data to promote high-quality representation, ensuring that attorney caseload goals are met and appropriate, and analyzing and reporting regularly on caseload statistics
Working with the MHLD Deputy Chief Counsel as requested, MHLD directors, and other divisions’ Deputy Chief Counsel and Managing Directors to develop and execute division policies and strategic plans, and to develop and advance legislative and policy agendas with CPCS General Counsel’s office; working collaboratively with other CPCS leaders on cross-divisional and other issues to promote agency goals and objectives; including attendance at AIC, Senior Management Team and Manager and Director Meetings
Providing legal advice and mental health litigation expertise; staying current in mental health law; investigating and responding to legal conflicts and legal ethics questions, and complaints regarding attorney and non-attorney staff
Working with MHLD leadership to address shortcomings of the mental health system that threaten or deny equal or meaningful access to justice for MHLD clients, that result in violations of clients’ substantive rights, or perpetuate racial and ethnic disparities in the mental health system
Maintaining a professional relationship and leadership role with the local judiciary and private bar as requested by the Deputy Chief Counsel, and working with AICs and the private panel attorneys in conjunction with the Director of the Trial Support Unit to develop and maintain a collaborative working relationship between MHLD offices and private attorneys
Working with the MHLD Deputy Chief Counsel on assigned projects, including but not limited to, budget and spending issues and preparing MHLD budget requests and spending plans
Working with the Chief of Administration and Operations, Facilities and IT to address office space and technical needs
Other duties as assigned