Supervising Attorney - YAD Springfield

Committee for Public Counsel•Springfield, MA

4d•$100,091 - $146,988

About The Position

The Youth Advocacy Division (YAD), the juvenile defender division of CPCS, is seeking a Supervising Staff Attorney for its Springfield office. The Supervising Staff Attorney will provide zealous legal representation on delinquency and youthful offender cases using the Positive Youth Development Approach and under the direction of the office’s Attorney in Charge, will assist in the supervision of staff Trial Attorneys and help set a positive and supportive office culture. 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 Youth Advocacy Division (YAD), the juvenile defender division of CPCS, is committed to ensuring that every indigent child in Massachusetts has access to zealous legal representation in delinquency, GCL Revocation, juvenile murder, juvenile appeals, and youthful offender cases from a diverse and ever improving community of juvenile defenders consisting of both private assigned counsel and staff public defenders. YAD provides leadership, training, support, and oversight to the indigent juvenile defense bar in Massachusetts. As youth in Massachusetts have a right to jury trials, the Attorney in Charge (AIC) oversees a trial office which integrates the work of attorneys, social service advocates (SSA), investigators, and administrative assistants (AA) to fully address the legal and developmental needs of our clients. The Springfield office is comprised of one AIC, two Supervising Attorneys, seven staff attorneys, two SSAs, an investigator, and two full time AAs and a part time AA. The Springfield office covers the four western counties of Massachusetts: Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, and Hampshire. YAD is seeking a Supervising Staff Attorney with a minimum of five years of experience providing representation in delinquency and youthful offender cases for its Springfield office. Under the direction of the office’s Attorney in Charge, the Supervising Staff Attorney will assist in the supervision of staff Trial Attorneys and their coverage of outlying Juvenile Courts. The Supervising Staff Attorney will also have their own reduced caseload. The Supervising Attorney will report to the Attorney in Charge.

Requirements

Eligible to practice law in Massachusetts, either as a member of the Massachusetts bar in good standing, as a law graduate under Supreme Judicial Court Rule 3:03, or as the member of the bar of another jurisdiction eligible to engage in limited Massachusetts practice under Supreme Judicial Court Rule 3:04
A minimum of five years’ experience and a demonstrated commitment to the principle of zealous advocacy in the representation of youth in delinquency and youthful offender cases
Access to an automobile in order to travel to courts, clients, and investigation locations that are not easily accessible by public transportation
Access to home internet access sufficient to work remotely

Nice To Haves

Lawyers with seven or more years of experience are preferred and encouraged to apply
Experience with criminal, especially juvenile defense
Experience with a community-oriented defender practice
Ability to provide trauma informed and culturally competent representation
Knowledge of adolescent development
A demonstrated commitment to social justice issues and experience working with individuals of diverse backgrounds
Knowledge of positive youth development
The knowledge, skills, and ability to, in both an office and remote settings, effectively supervise staff and represent clients
Strong interpersonal skills, analytical ability, and legal skills
The ability and commitment to complete annual performance evaluations in a timely and comprehensive manner
Understanding of juvenile legal practice and policy issues
Experience with educational system advocacy
Experience working with children and youth
Ability to set a positive and supportive culture for all Springfield office staff
Fluency in Spanish is strongly preferred

Responsibilities

Provide zealous legal representation on delinquency and youthful offender cases using the Positive Youth Development Approach.
Assist in the supervision of staff Trial Attorneys.
Help set a positive and supportive office culture.
Provide both supervision of staff attorneys as well as zealous legal representation in a reduced caseload of delinquency and youthful offender matters using the Positive Youth Development Approach and all the same criminal defense skills needed to practice in district and superior courts.
Provide post dispositional advocacy and support to DYS committed youth, as well as school-based advocacy.
In conjunction with the AIC and the other Supervising Attorney, be responsible for setting a supportive and positive culture for the office.
Supervise the coverage of two or three Western Massachusetts Juvenile Courts and the staff attorneys who rotate through these courts.
Work on discrete projects related to improving legal representation and outcomes for court involved youth.
Play a leadership role in working towards reducing the racial and ethnic disparities in the juvenile legal system.
Client interviews
Arraignment and bail advocacy
Legal research and writing
Pretrial investigation including visiting crime scenes, locating and interviewing witnesses, collecting and reviewing documentary evidence
Preparing and arguing pretrial motions, affidavits and legal memoranda
Dispositional investigations and advocacy
Jury and bench trials of criminal cases
Representation of clients in interlocutory proceedings
Other duties as assigned.
Regular one-on-one meetings with individual supervisees to review case files, as well as group meetings, to review case preparation and performance
In-court supervision, including second-seating of trials and significant pretrial hearings
Preparation of annual performance evaluations
Presentation of in-office training sessions
Supervision of other staff, such as student interns, as delegated by the office’s Attorney in Charge
Other duties as assigned.