Unaccompanied Children Project - Immigration Attorney

Florida Legal Services is a statewide non-profit legal aid program providing free civil legal assistance to clients across Florida. FLS is a leader in advancing economic, social, and racial justice. We advocate for poor, vulnerable, and hard to reach people through impact litigation, legislative and administrative advocacy, education, and strategic partnerships.

Status: Exempt, full-time staff member

Location: Flexible; Sarasota area, remote with occasional work in Orlando Immigration Court.

Supervisors: Executive Director, and Managing Attorney of the Unaccompanied Children Project

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Working in a team to provide Know Your Rights presentations for children detained in Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) contract facilities in the Tampa and Sarasota areas.
• The attorney will conduct legal screenings of unaccompanied minors to determine eligibility for legal relief and representation by Florida Legal Services, provide advice and counsel to unaccompanied minors, and comply with program reporting requirements.
• The attorney will provide legal representation in immigration proceedings before the Immigration Court; appellate proceedings before the Board of Immigration Appeals; proceedings before the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and proceedings in state family and juvenile courts within the Orlando Immigration Court jurisdiction.
• The attorney will represent clients seeking immigration benefits, including asylum, Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) status, and/or T or U nonimmigrant status, and state court orders necessary to support SIJ applications.
• The attorney will work with and supervise paralegals, outreach staff, and data clerks.
• The attorney will help recruit and act as a resource to pro bono volunteers and nonprofit organizations.
• Travel as needed for meetings, trainings, and other FLS-approved activities.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Excellent research and writing skills.
• Admission to The Florida Bar.
• Preference for experience in immigration law, including experience with Special Immigrant Juvenile, asylum, VAWA, T and/or U visa cases.
• Bilingual with fluency in Spanish, both oral and written. Speakers of Mayan languages strongly encouraged to apply.
• Consistent, high-quality attention to detail and the ability to prioritize and meet deadlines.
• Familiarity with, or commitment to develop, a trauma-informed approach to legal advocacy and an understanding of race and gender equity issues in representing victims.
• Strong written and verbal communication, organizational skills, and time management abilities.
• Initiative to work independently and ability to collaborate as part of a team.
• Valid driver’s license.
• Ability to travel, including overnight travel.
• Demonstrated commitment to social, racial, and economic justice.
• Experience using LegalServer (or similar computer-based case management system) and Google Suite software platform is a plus.
• Commitment to work and learn in a technology-based distributed office environment.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS:

• Salary will be set depending on experience, very competitive with public interest opportunities.
• Opportunities for seniority and leadership are commensurate with experience and more experienced applicants are encouraged to apply.
• FLS offers an excellent benefits package including 17 paid holidays a year, generous paid time off and family leave policies, and fully-paid medical, dental, life, and vision insurance for employees.

Job Type: Full-time

Base Pay: From $74,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Dental insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Flexible spending account
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Parental leave
• Professional development assistance
• Retirement plan
• Vision insurance

Work Location: On the road