Project Attorney Supervisor - Rural Justice Initiative

Disability Rights Texas•Fort Worth, TX

About The Position

The RJI Project Attorney Supervisor is a project-funded attorney position supporting Disability Rights Texas’ participation in the five-year Rural Justice Initiative (RJI), a multiregional effort to expand access to civil legal services for low-income Texans with disabilities in designated rural and legal-desert communities. Under the direction of the designated RJI Supervising Attorney, the position coordinates and manages day-to-day implementation across the North, Southwest, and East regions, including regional service delivery, work plans, community engagement, grant deliverables, performance monitoring, partner collaboration, and reporting. The role operates as a generalist disability-rights attorney rather than being assigned primarily to one substantive issue team. It may address special education, disability discrimination and accommodations, public benefits and services, housing-related disability issues, and other disability-related civil legal matters. The position may carry a limited direct-service caseload when approved by the Supervising Attorney, provided that client work does not compromise project management, grant compliance, or implementation deliverables. Legal guidance and technical assistance are provided within the attorney’s competence and delegated authority; substantive legal supervision, institutional grant compliance, personnel supervision, and final legal oversight remain with designated DRTx leadership. The position coordinates project staff and partners, monitors implementation and outcomes, recommends operational improvements, supports community-based legal-service delivery, and helps build sustainable local legal capacity. It provides or coordinates legal assistance, training, technical assistance, mentorship, community education, and outreach. Regular travel throughout the assigned rural service area and periodic travel elsewhere in Texas are required.

Requirements

Juris Doctor (JD) from an accredited law school.
Licensed to practice law in Texas and in good standing.
At least five years of relevant legal experience.
Experience providing legal services, advocacy, or representation to low-income or underserved populations, or demonstrated ability to develop such expertise.
Demonstrated ability to independently manage legal matters and provide client representation.
Ability to lead, mentor, and train others.
Ability to create collaboration among stakeholders and disability groups.
Ability to develop working knowledge across multiple areas of disability-related civil law rather than practicing exclusively within one substantive area.
Knowledge of federal and Texas laws affecting people with disabilities, or ability to acquire that knowledge within a reasonable period.
Ability to analyze complex legal issues and develop effective case strategies.
Strong legal research, writing, negotiation, and oral advocacy skills.
Ability to communicate legal concepts effectively to clients, community members, attorneys, and non-attorney partners.
Ability to develop professional relationships and establish credibility with individuals and organizations in rural communities.
Ability to work independently while maintaining effective communication and collaboration with supervisors and colleagues located elsewhere in the state.
Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, judgment, and follow-through.
Ability to manage multiple priorities, substantial travel, client responsibilities, and project deadlines.
Ability and willingness to travel regularly throughout rural Texas, including to communities with limited public or other transportation options, with or without reasonable accommodation.
Ability to attend in-person court proceedings, administrative hearings, clinics, outreach events, client meetings, and community activities in the assigned service area.
Ability to maintain Texas law licensure and comply with applicable continuing legal education requirements.
Ability to collaborate with attorneys and staff employed by other RJI partner organizations.
Ability to work effectively with people from diverse socioeconomic, geographic, cultural, linguistic, and disability backgrounds.
Commitment to high-quality legal services for low-income Texans with disabilities and to expanding access to justice in underserved rural communities.

Nice To Haves

Experience in project coordination and team leadership.
Experience in public interest, legal aid, disability rights, special education, housing, public benefits, or other civil legal services.
Experience practicing in rural communities or representing clients in geographically isolated or underserved areas.
Experience developing relationships with community organizations, schools, healthcare organizations, government entities, or other community-based institutions.
Civil litigation and/or administrative hearing experience.
Experience providing community legal education or participating in legal clinics.
Spanish bilingual proficiency, written and spoken.
Existing professional or community ties to the assigned RJI service area.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute an RJI implementation and community outreach plan with the Supervising Attorney and project team.
Coordinate approved regional work plans, timelines, milestones, staffing resources, and project deliverables.
Establish and facilitate project-management meetings, regional implementation meetings, performance reviews, and coordination with key project personnel.
Lead day-to-day project implementation under the Supervising Attorney’s direction, including coordinating regional teams, facilitating work within delegated authority, monitoring progress, identifying barriers, and recommending corrective actions.
Evaluate project effectiveness, including geographic coverage, legal-service outcomes, outreach-to-intake conversion, referral effectiveness, client access barriers, staffing capacity, and grant-objective progress; recommend improvements based on findings.
Track programmatic outcomes and prepare reports required by the project funder.
Develop and maintain systems for monitoring grant deliverables, service coverage, performance measures, reporting deadlines, implementation milestones, and project expenditures in coordination with DRTx administrative and fiscal personnel.
Review project performance data and provide the Supervising Attorney with regular reports and recommendations.
Provide limited direct legal representation and advocacy to eligible clients in designated RJI counties when approved, including advice and counsel, negotiation, administrative proceedings, or litigation within the attorney’s competence and assigned responsibilities.
Coordinate procedures for evaluating assistance requests, screening eligibility, identifying appropriate legal responses, and routing referrals in accordance with DRTx policies and project requirements.
Monitor referral pathways, service-delivery barriers, and regional capacity with intake personnel and appropriate legal supervisors.
Provide advice, direction, technical assistance, and case-strategy support when appropriate; coordinate cross-issue consultation, case staffing, training, and technical assistance with DRTx substantive teams and legal supervisors.
Provide legal services related to special education rights, including matters under IDEA, Section 504, the ADA, and applicable Texas Education Code provisions.
Provide appropriate assistance on other disability-related civil legal issues, potentially including disability discrimination, reasonable accommodations, housing, public benefits, Medicaid, access to government programs and services, and disability-related disaster issues.
Conduct legal research, analyze facts and applicable law, and develop legal strategies and interventions.
Prepare legal documents, including pleadings, briefs, memoranda, administrative complaints, discovery, correspondence, and settlement documents.
Prepare or coordinate project-management documents, operational guidance, implementation reports, and legal-service protocols within delegated authority and established DRTx review procedures.
Interview clients, witnesses, community members, and other stakeholders, and review relevant records and evidence.
Coordinate, monitor, and evaluate legal services delivered through community clinics, mobile or regional outreach, and other RJI service-delivery models; participate directly as needed.
Coordinate with regional staff, Outreach leadership, legal supervisors, and community partners on schedules, staffing, referral processes, geographic coverage, and performance measures.
Lead project-level relationship-building and partnership coordination with community organizations, schools, libraries, healthcare providers, disability organizations, faith-based organizations, legal aid providers, and other trusted local institutions.
Coordinate with DRTx Outreach leadership so community engagement supports the approved project strategy and creates pathways to legal assistance.
Collaborate with RJI partner organizations, DRTx attorneys and Advocates, Community Justice Workers, community navigators, intake personnel, pro bono attorneys, and other project staff.
Serve as a primary operational liaison for RJI implementation, partner referrals, cross-organization communication, and escalation or resolution of operational challenges within delegated authority.
Provide legal guidance, technical assistance, training, and mentorship to project staff, community partners, pro bono attorneys, and other legal-service providers as appropriate.
Identify and coordinate training, technical assistance, cross-training, and professional development needs for RJI staff and partners.
Work with DRTx substantive issue-team leadership to ensure access to appropriate legal expertise, quality assurance, and technical support for generalist rural legal practice.
Develop and deliver community education, Know Your Rights presentations, legal clinics, and other programs that increase awareness of disability-related legal rights and available resources.
Identify emerging legal needs, recurring barriers, service gaps, and systemic issues in assigned rural communities and communicate them to project leadership.
Support sustainable local legal capacity through referral relationships, pro bono partnerships, community access points, and other resources.
Maintain accurate, timely, and complete case and project records and collect information needed for DRTx and RJI grant reporting, evaluation, and performance requirements.
Participate in project training, cross-training, case rounds, coalition activities, and professional development.
Work with DRTx legal supervisors to establish an RJI training plan addressing special education, disability rights, rural generalist practice, legal ethics, intake and referrals, and emerging legal issues; monitor training completion and identify ongoing technical-assistance needs.
Travel regularly throughout the assigned rural service area and periodically to other Texas locations for representation, hearings, trials, clinics, outreach, training, meetings, and other work-related activities.
Apply applicable laws, regulations, professional rules, DRTx policies, grant requirements, and ethical standards; manage competing priorities while meeting case deadlines, project deliverables, and organizational expectations.
Perform other job-related duties consistent with the position’s scope and the purposes of the Rural Justice Initiative.