Staff Attorney - Homeowner Rights

Legal Services NYC • New York, NY

1d

About The Position

Legal Services NYC (LSNYC) fights poverty and seeks racial, social and economic justice for low-income New Yorkers. For over 50 years, we have challenged systemic injustices that trap people in poverty and provided legal services that help our clients meet basic needs for housing, income and economic security, family and immigration stability, education, and health care. LSNYC is the largest civil legal services provider in the country; our staff of more than 600 people in neighborhood-based offices and outreach sites across all five boroughs helps hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers annually. We partner with scores of community-based and client-run organizations, elected officials, public agencies, pro bono lawyers, and the courts to maximize our effectiveness. Our work fights discrimination and helps to achieve equity for all low-income New Yorkers.
LSNYC employees have numerous opportunities for growth and professional development, including access to our internal Justice Learning Center, which provides opportunities to earn free CLEs and gain experience as a trainer.
BROOKLYN LEGAL SERVICES'
NEIGHBORHOOD ECONOMIC JUSTICE PROJECT
SEEKS STAFF ATTORNEY
HOMEOWNER RIGHTS & STUDENT LOAN DEBT
Brooklyn Legal Services (BLS) seeks one staff attorney for its Neighborhood Economic Justice Project (NEJP). The attorney will primarily support our homeowner rights and student loan programs.
About Us
Brooklyn Legal Services (BLS), part of Legal Services NYC’s Brooklyn Programs, provides high quality, innovative representation to address the pressing legal needs of Brooklyn’s diverse low-income population. BLS focuses on the problems that have the greatest impact on our clients — preserving affordable and decent housing, maintaining income support, redressing abusive lending and consumer practices, promoting family stability and mitigating the effects of domestic violence, and advocating for other vulnerable and marginalized populations including low-income immigrants, older adults, veterans, and people with disabilities.
As a community-centered, social justice organization, we are committed to fostering an inclusive and equitable workplace where staff and clients feel welcome. Through our various affinity groups and committees, we actively work to foster collegial relationships among staff and allow staff to explore, grow in our understanding of and challenge barriers to opportunity within our organization and through our legal work. All employees are expected to learn about and seek to understand, identify and overcome barriers to justice, from individual preconceptions to structural obstacles, and work to realize our organizational goals and mission.
Project Description
BLS is the Brooklyn branch of LSNYC. BLS’ nationally prominent homeowner rights and student loan programs provide full representation to low-income New Yorkers who have defaulted on or are having trouble repaying their mortgage or student loans. Both programs use complex federal and state litigation, policy advocacy, and community education to assist low-income borrowers. Our program litigates cases defending against foreclosure and loan collection, fighting deed theft, and challenging discriminatory and abusive lending, unfair and deceptive collection practices, and violations of due process by the nation’s largest banks and loan servicers. We have successfully sued government agencies for due process violations and deceptive practices, obtaining injunctive relief that has impacted hundreds of thousands of borrowers.
We use anti-discrimination enforcement and policy advocacy to educate elected officials, leaders, government agencies, and the public at large about the issues facing vulnerable homeowners, including fair and responsible lending, access to a just and unbiased court system, the pressures of gentrification, the annual property tax lien sale, real estate scams, and alternatives to traditional ownership such as community land trusts. We also contribute our expertise to federal negotiated rulemaking to create lasting regulatory relief for student loan borrowers.

Requirements

• Admission to the New York State Bar;
• A demonstrated passion for social justice and commitment to working with low-income communities and communities of color to advance racial and economic equity;
• Demonstrated commitment to homeowner and student loan issues;
• Strong interest in client work and litigation;
• Excellent organizational, analytical, writing, communication, and advocacy skills; and
• Strong interpersonal skills, empathy, and sense of teamwork.

Nice To Haves

• 3+ years of litigation experience involving economic justice;
• Experience with policy and legislative advocacy;
• Proficiency in a language spoken in the communities we serve; and
• Strong ties to Brooklyn’s low-income communities.

Responsibilities

• Represent homeowner clients in state and federal court litigation, including foreclosure, civil rights, consumer protection, estates administration, quiet title, and partition actions;
• Represent student loan clients in court and administrative proceedings;
• Represent clients in out-of-court advocacy to redress and resolve their cases, including loss mitigation, forgiveness and discharge applications, selecting an appropriate repayment plan, and avoiding or getting out of default;
• Contribute to our civil rights work, which includes fair housing litigation, enforcement complaints, and matched-pair testing; and
• Engage in community education and outreach, legal trainings, and policy advocacy.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree
• Number of Employees: 501-1,000 employees