Community Legal Services Staff Attorney

THE ORGANIZATION

Legal Aid at Work (LAAW) partners with people to help them understand and assert their workplace rights, and advocates for employment laws and systems that empower low-paid workers and marginalized communities.

LAAW has seven core program areas: (1) Community Legal Services; (2) Disability and Health Justice; (3) Gender Equity & LGBTQ Rights; (4) National Origin and Immigrants’ Rights; (5) Racial Economic Justice; (6) Wage Protection; and (7) Work & Family. Through these programs, LAAW:

• Provides free, individualized legal advice and counsel throughout California to thousands of low-income workers;
• Pursues targeted enforcement and impact litigation to strengthen and clarify the law;
• Conducts community outreach and education for workers, their advocates, their families, and their health and social service providers; and
• Advocates for laws, regulations, and policies at the local, state, and national levels to strengthen civil and workplace rights.

As a social justice organization, Legal Aid at Work’s mission is rooted in the firm belief that all people deserve respect, dignity, and self-determination at work, at school, and in their communities. Structural and systemic racism—with the oppression of Black and Indigenous people at its core—and other forms of injustice shape the society and the civic, political, and legal systems in which we work and live. Legal Aid at Work is committed to developing and nurturing an organizational culture that will dismantle systems of oppression, uplift people from underrepresented communities, and create a workplace that is truly equitable and inclusive. As such, we strongly encourage BIPOC candidates and those with lived experiences and low-income workers to apply.

SUMMARY

The Community Legal Services (CLS) Program operates 15 Workers’ Rights Clinics across the state of California. Through the clinics, they provide free comprehensive legal advice to approximately 2,000 low-income Californians each year about their workplace rights.

The Clinic’s goal is to empower workers by helping them understand their rights, obtain their wages, keep their jobs, and otherwise assert their workplace rights. The Clinic model gives LAAW a unique perspective on what workers are experiencing “on the ground,” which helps to inform LAAW’s overall efforts to create systemic change in response to the most pressing needs of low-wage workers, communities of color, and other historically marginalized groups of workers.

The Workers’ Rights Clinic also strengthens the legal system by training the next generation of lawyers on the importance of workplace rights. Each year, they mentor approximately 100 law students from law schools and pre-law undergraduate programs around the state, who act as legal counselors in many of our Clinic locations.

Legal Aid at Work seeks a Staff Attorney in the CLS program, who will join a team of attorneys and legal advocates in supporting the overall work of the Workers’ Rights Clinics and language access phonelines. The Staff Attorney will play a pivotal role in CLS’ service delivery by providing advice, information, and referrals to monolingual Chinese speaking clients and conducting critical outreach to Chinese communities and supports the organization’s translation and interpretation needs. The Staff Attorney will also oversee CLS’ language access operations, which includes operating the Chinese Language Line, supervising the work of the CLS personnel who staff the Spanish Language Line, and providing legal advice and direct services for matters requiring extensive interpretation.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Direct Client Services

• Manage the Chinese Language Line and provide counsel, advice, referrals, and other legal services to Chinese speaking clients;
• Develop and carry out legal clinics, outreach, and education efforts, working closely with Chinese speaking community;
• Support and mentor law clerks and fellows, including law and pre-law students who participate in our legal clinics throughout the year;
• Provide, directly or through volunteers, translation or interpretation services LAAW-wide, including litigation needs, workshops, training, and outreach as requested;
• Build and maintain relationships with pro-bono attorneys who volunteer at our legal clinics;
• Assist the Program Director and other team members with developing strategy for the program;
• Support the Program Director and team with other programmatic needs.

Outreach

• Organize or attend community meetings, trainings, and events to provide information on LAAW services to Chinese communities;
• Use social media platforms (e.g., WeChat and RedNote) to conduct outreach;
• Coordinate Chinese language outreach and education, including via various media platforms and outlets, community events, and coalitions;
• Manage and continuously build relationships with multi-lingual attorneys, advocates, interpreters and organizations that can represent Chinese speaking clients in employment related cases;
• Identify and establish new potential partner organizations, referral sources, and other opportunities to expand LAAW’s Chinese language outreach and know-your-rights efforts across California.

REQUIREMENTS

The following list of core competencies and experiences is provided to share insight into the requirements of the role and the general level of experience we seek in candidates. We encourage all qualified candidates and those with relevant or transferable experience to apply, even if you do not bring experience in all of the areas noted below.

Candidates must be active members of the California State Bar or be willing to take the next California Bar Examination if currently a member of another state bar. Candidates may be located anywhere in the state of California. Legal Aid at Work offers employees the flexibility to work primarily from home, contingent on business needs and professional responsibilities.

• Demonstrated commitment to social justice and civil rights work; a passion for Legal Aid at Work’s mission of seeking justice for low-wage workers.
• Full professional fluency (written and oral) in Mandarin and Cantonese with preference for those with experience living in Mandarin or Cantonese speaking communities;
• Experience working with translation services is strongly preferred;
• Strong community outreach and education experience; ability to build sustainable community partnerships to support the work;
• Experience managing multiple projects simultaneously, and prioritizing competing deadlines;
• Comfort and aptitude for public speaking and providing trainings and presentations;
• Strong organizational skills and ability to coordinate across numerous internal and external stakeholders;
• Proactive communication style and ability to work well independently and as part of a small team;
• Ability to use tact and diplomacy when dealing with sensitive issues and to maintain confidentiality;
• Strong interpersonal skills, initiative, leadership, and organizational abilities;
• Willingness to supervise and mentor students;
• A commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and the ability to hold and foster difficult and necessary conversations about sex, race, color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, and other protected categories.

COMPENSATION

Legal Aid at Work offers salaries that are competitive in the public interest law community. Benefits include health plans, long-term disability and life insurance, 403(b) retirement plan, and generous paid vacation and holidays. As a unionized organization, Legal Aid at Work believes in the importance of employees organizing to improve their working conditions. This position is included in the bargaining unit represented by ESC Local 20. Salary placement at hire and salary advancement will be in accordance with the negotiated salary scale in the union contract for this position. Attorney salaries are paid depending on years out of law school and range from $93,600 to $179,868.

TO APPLY

Please email your resume, a cover letter detailing your interest in the position, a legal writing sample, and three references to:

CLS Staff Attorney Search Committee Email: jobs@legalaidatwork.org

Legal Aid at Work is committed to a diverse, multicultural work environment. LAAW is an equal opportunity, fair chance, and affirmative action employer. Our complete EEO and DEI statements as well as further information concerning the organization and its programs can be found at www.legalaidatwork.org. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, Legal Aid at Work will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records for employment.