Disability & Health Justice Program 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 & 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

Legal Aid at Work seeks a Staff Attorney for our Disability & Health Justice Program (DHJP). We seek candidates with a deep commitment to advancing disability justice and/or workers’ rights. The Program is currently rebuilding its docket after being unstaffed for several years, with a focus on advocacy with and for disabled workers experiencing discrimination, as well as low wage workers experiencing disabling work conditions. The Staff Attorney will assume significant responsibility in initiating and advancing impact and enforcement litigation and other advocacy efforts on behalf of low-wage workers.

DHJP works with and for low-paid and marginalized workers to combat ableism and unsafe working conditions. The Program’s work is guided by the movement lawyering principle that centering the experiences of workers who face multiple forms of oppression is the way to establish accessible, inclusive, safe, and just workplaces, and advance broader worker and disability justice goals. Our priorities include intersectional advocacy on behalf of immigrant workers, workers with disabilities, incarcerated workers, and workers experiencing adverse health impacts from climate change. Our work spans multiple modes of advocacy, including direct services, litigation, policy work, and community education.

Responsibilities

The Staff Attorney will work within and across teams to further the goals of the Program. The Staff Attorney will assist with all of the team’s advocacy efforts, with a particular emphasis on systemic litigation. The Staff Attorney is responsible for:

• Working closely with the Program Director to develop strategy for the Program going forward;
• Helping to build and staff the Program’s case docket by investigating, developing, initiating and litigating enforcement and impact cases, including class actions, representative actions, individual actions, and amicus work, leading litigation at times;
• Assisting with the Program’s direct services work, including responding to calls and representing clients in limited and full legal representation with administrative agencies;
• Using legal and policy advocacy strategies to support worker centers and other community partners;
• Conducting community outreach and education in conjunction with community partners; and
• Participating in coalition meetings and other activities to advance coalition building.

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. Strong preference will be given to applicants with personal or professional experience working with impacted communities.

• 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.
• Demonstrate a client-centered approach to setting strategy, priorities, and delivering services;
• Experience working with low-wage workers and/or the disability community, including in direct services;
• 3 to 6 years of litigation experience;
• Experience with investigation, case development, and litigation including discovery, motion practice, hearings, trials and/or appeals in California and/or federal courts;
• The ability to work collaboratively on a small team of attorneys and paralegals;
• Experience managing multiple projects simultaneously, and prioritizing competing deadlines;
• Willingness to develop projects on their own initiative;
• Strong legal research, writing, and analytical skills;
• The ability to think creatively about the law as a dynamic tool of social change, and to identify opportunities for law reform;
• The ability to think strategically about the role of a legal nonprofit in supporting worker organizing efforts and improving the overall legal ecosystem for wage and hour enforcement and workers’ rights more broadly;
• A commitment to racial equity work and incorporating racial equity principles into legal advocacy;
• 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 coach and mentor law students, fellows, and junior attorneys;
• 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; and
• The ability to travel as necessary within California and to other parts of the country for litigation, speaking events, meetings, and conferences.

Additional Preferred Qualifications

• Knowledge of California and federal disability law, employment law, and court and/or administrative procedures;
• Fluency in Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, or other languages commonly spoken by low-wage workers in California.

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. The salary range for this position ranges 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:

DHJP Staff Attorney Search Committee, Legal Aid at Work
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.