Senior Employment Law Attorney

Open Door Legal • San Francisco, CA

21h • Hybrid

About The Position

Open Door Legal (ODL) is hiring a full-time Senior Employment Law Attorney to lead its Employment Law and Public Benefits Team, part of the Litigation and Economic Justice Team. The position expands the organization’s capacity to provide legal services and representation in employment law and public benefits matters, including wage and hour issues, wrongful termination, harassment and discrimination claims, Social Security, MediCal, CalFresh, CAAP/General Assistance, and Unemployment Insurance. The role reports directly to the Managing Litigation and Economic Justice Attorney.

The attorney will oversee legal advocacy and representation, lead and develop the team, maintain relationships with agencies and community partners, and improve the systems and practices that support consistent, high-quality client services. The role calls for substantive and strategic leadership, cultural humility, curiosity, perseverance, and a commitment to ODL’s mission of universal access to civil legal aid and reducing poverty. The position is hybrid and requires work from one or more office locations at least three days per week.

Requirements

• At least six years of relevant professional experience as a licensed attorney.
• At least two years of employment law experience.
• Experience directly supervising paid staff attorneys and ability to provide references from attorneys supervised.
• Knowledge of California public benefits and experience representing clients at administrative law hearings.
• Membership in good standing with the State Bar of California, or good-standing licensure with another state bar; applicants without a license are encouraged to apply to volunteer.
• 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 for giving constructive feedback and building relationships with organizations and agencies.
• Ability and willingness to work at 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 in accessing the justice system.
• Demonstrated understanding of trauma-informed advocacy for clients in crisis.
• Perseverance in overcoming bureaucratic barriers.
• Legal authorization to work in the U.S. without sponsorship.

Nice To Haves

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

Responsibilities

• Advance ODL’s mission of universal access to civil legal aid and help ensure employment law and public benefits needs in the service area are met, with strong legal outcomes and client satisfaction.
• Maintain mastery of legal advocacy and relevant practice areas to oversee the advice and representation provided by the team.
• Hire, train, support, mentor, and manage employment law and public benefits staff, interns, fellows, and volunteers in collaboration with the Director of Talent and Culture, including 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 capacity and work toward the department’s strategic vision.
• Lead knowledge management for employment law and public benefits at ODL.
• Develop uniform systems, checklists, templates, solutions, and best-practice protocols that enable team members to deliver consistent, high-quality work with minimal supervision.
• Work with team members on solutions for case capacity, intake distribution, case-opening standards, department success criteria, quality control, and onboarding new attorneys.
• Ensure client services are sensitive to cultural, socioeconomic, and disability-related barriers, and that the team can navigate difficult or tense situations skillfully.
• Maintain positive client feedback ratings for the department.
• Embody ODL’s values of teamwork, grit, caring, passion, and dynamism.

Benefits

• Conditional loan repayment assistance covering minimum payments 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 leave.
• Flexible work hours.
• Paid parental leave.
• 401(k)/retirement account.
• Financial investment in individual professional development, which may include mentorship, coaching, conferences, workshops, and other learning opportunities.

What This Job Offers

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