Supervising Staff Attorney, Consumer Rights

Empire Justice Center•Rochester, NY

6d•Hybrid

About The Position

Empire Justice Center is a statewide legal services organization dedicated to fighting for marginalized low-income individuals and families across New York. They achieve this through direct legal representation, high-impact litigation, legislative advocacy, and training. This specific role leads the Education Debt Consumer Assistance Program (EDCAP), focusing on student loan and education debt borrowers. The position involves advising, representing, and advocating for these borrowers, providing legal advice and representation, and supervising a Student Loan Paralegal. The role offers a 35-hour full-time work week with a focus on work-life balance.

Requirements

Juris Doctorate Degree from an accredited US law school or international equivalent.
Admission to the New York State Bar and in good standing as a member of the NYS bar.
Minimum of 3 to 8 years of experience as an attorney.
Supervisory or management experience is required.
Excellent advocacy, written, and verbal communication skills.
Ability and willingness to mentor, supervise, and train legal staff in all Empire Justice Offices through video conferencing/communication and travel when necessary.
Strong leadership skills.
Litigation experience and/or experience in litigating in administrative hearings.
Knowledge of student loan work.
The ability to provide legal advice to clients who do not speak English via an interpreter.
Demonstrated proficiency in Microsoft 365 (Outlook, Word, Excel, SharePoint, PowerPoint), with the ability to learn and adapt to other applications quickly, including but not limited to file management applications, calendar applications, and virtual meeting applications.
Must demonstrate strong analytical skills.
Ability to shift priorities while working in a fast-paced environment with multiple competing objectives.
Effective decision-making skills that balance overall organizational and leadership objectives with employee needs.
Effective interpersonal skills and the ability to cultivate partnerships.
Experience in working with diverse clientele, including those who have experienced poverty.
Commitment to improving the lives and circumstances of those who have experienced poverty and discrimination.
Proficiency utilizing Adobe and other document management systems, with the ability to schedule appointments, manage calendars, documents, and collaborative workflows.

Nice To Haves

Travel to and work in the Albany or Rochester Telesca Center office is required as needed to meet client and organizational needs.

Responsibilities

Oversee and manage the student loan and education debt assistance program, ensuring compliance with program policies, procedures, and grant requirements (including grant reporting and meeting deliverables).
Serve as student loan and education debt subject matter expert, developing an in-depth knowledge of the law.
Provide advice and counsel to student loan borrowers.
Help student loan borrowers apply for relief through cancellation, forgiveness, or discharge programs.
Represent student debt borrowers in court and administrative proceedings at all stages of litigation, including but not limited to excellent research and written advocacy, discovery, witness preparation, representation in hearings and at trial, and settlement negotiations.
Lead and participate in student loan and education debt coalitions.
Provide legal education and substantive law training on education debt/student loan-related legal issues to the New York State legal community through CLEs, presentations, and other methods.
Provide comprehensive technical assistance to other attorneys, advocates, and grantees on complex cases and questions.
Undertake legislative and policy advocacy aimed at improving access to justice for those with student loans/education debt under the supervision of the Director of Policy and Communications.
Conduct outreach and engage in publicity to increase awareness of the EDCAP program.
Identify systemic issues for advocacy and opportunities for pursuing impact litigation.
Supervise the Student Loan Paralegal, any future student loan/education debt program employees, and other practice group members as needed.
Participate in the leadership of Empire Justice Center as a member of the management team.
Demonstrate a high level of comfort and commitment to working with people from marginalized communities.
Work closely with your assigned supervisor and participate in regular supervision meetings, including work plan development and grant deliverable management.
Supervise other practice group members if needed.
Perform administrative and other support-related duties to serve clients and fulfill the mission as a non-profit legal services organization.
Other duties as assigned by your supervisor and/or to meet the organization’s needs.