Senior Civil Litigation Attorney

Open Door Legal • San Francisco, CA

16h • Hybrid

About The Position

Open Door Legal (ODL) is hiring a Senior Civil Litigation Attorney to lead its Civil Litigation Team and help advance its mission of universal access to civil legal representation. The team provides legal services in a range of areas, including torts, consumer matters, bankruptcy, homeownership, contracts, civil harassment restraining orders, personal injury, and special education. The role is intended for an attorney who enjoys solving challenging problems, learning new areas of law, and contributing to meaningful outcomes for low-income clients. The attorney will report directly to the Managing Litigation and Economic Justice Attorney.

The successful candidate will provide substantive and strategic leadership, oversee high-quality legal advocacy, and support a cohesive, effective team. They will work with clients who may face cultural, socioeconomic, disability, and trauma-related barriers to service, and will help ensure that clients receive sensitive, effective representation and remain satisfied with ODL’s services. The position is hybrid, with work from one or more ODL offices required at least three days per week.

Requirements

• At least six years of relevant professional experience.
• At least two years of civil litigation experience.
• Experience directly supervising paid staff attorneys and the ability to provide references from attorneys supervised.
• Knowledge of California civil law and Superior Court civil procedure.
• Genuine motivation to work with low-income clients, many of whom are people of color, and ability to work effectively with clients impacted by emotional, mental, or physical trauma.
• Strong time-management skills to supervise and perform legal work in a fast-paced, high-volume practice.
• Commitment to self-learning and professional development.
• Excellent writing, editing, and proofreading skills, with attention to detail.
• Strong interpersonal and diplomacy skills, including the ability to give constructive feedback and build relationships with organizations and agencies.
• Ability and willingness to work from one or more ODL office locations at least three days per week.
• Comfort learning and using technology and case-management systems; ODL uses Salesforce, Dropbox, and Google Suite.
• Demonstrated cultural humility and sensitivity to barriers low-income San Franciscans face when accessing the justice system.
• Demonstrated understanding of effective trauma-informed advocacy for clients in crisis.
• Legally authorized to work in the United States without sponsorship.
• Applicants must be in good standing with the State Bar of California or licensed in good standing with another state bar to be considered for the position.

Nice To Haves

• Ability to translate and interpret legal information between English and Spanish or Cantonese without assistance; this qualification may come with a slight compensation increase.
• Experience appearing in San Francisco Superior Civil Court.
• Experience working with low-income and vulnerable populations.
• Experience in a high-volume direct-services legal aid or similar environment.
• Having lived a significant period in San Francisco, particularly with a connection to Bayview/Hunters Point, Excelsior, Sunset, Western Addition, Tenderloin, or Mission neighborhoods.

Responsibilities

• Ensure civil litigation needs of clients in ODL’s service area are met by ODL or other providers, while pursuing strong legal outcomes and high client satisfaction.
• Oversee legal advice and representation provided by the civil litigation team, maintaining mastery of relevant advocacy and practice areas.
• Hire, train, support, mentor, and manage civil litigation staff, interns, fellows, and volunteers in collaboration with the Director of Talent and Culture; oversee performance management, professional development, and team culture.
• Develop and maintain relationships with government agencies, decision-makers, other legal aid organizations, and the community.
• Use creative strategies and data to improve team efficiency, increase departmental capacity, and advance the department’s strategic vision.
• Lead knowledge management across civil law areas at ODL.
• Create and maintain uniform systems, checklists, templates, solutions, and best-practice protocols that support consistent, high-quality work with minimal supervision.
• Develop solutions with team members for case capacity, intake distribution, case-opening standards, departmental success criteria, quality control, and onboarding new attorneys.
• Ensure services are delivered with sensitivity to cultural, socioeconomic, and disability barriers, and that the team can navigate difficult or tense situations effectively.
• Maintain positive client feedback ratings for the civil litigation department.
• Embody ODL’s values of teamwork, grit, caring, passion, and dynamism.

Benefits

• Conditional loan repayment assistance: ODL pays the minimum payment on qualifying loans for staff pursuing 10-year public interest debt forgiveness.
• Medical, dental, and vision plan offerings at 100% coverage.
• Four weeks of vacation and two weeks of sick/care paid time off.
• Flexible work hours.
• Paid parental leave.
• 401K/retirement account.
• Financial investment in individual professional development, which may include mentorship, coaching, conferences, workshops, and other learning opportunities.
• Best-in-class technology solutions.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed