Senior Eviction Defense (UD) Housing Attorney

Job Description

Job Description

Full time, Exempt

Hybrid (3 days/week in office minimum)

"It always seems impossible until it's done." - Nelson Mandela

We believe that even the biggest problems can be broken down into small, achievable steps. Poverty and access to justice are part of the same problem. And we're solving this problem together. At Open Door Legal (ODL), we're pioneering the country's first system of universal access to civil legal representation to dramatically reduce poverty and prove that the law really can belong to all of us. We've grown 150x in 10 years, and in the next 2 years, we hope to finish scaling across San Francisco. To achieve this goal, we've created an award-winning and best-in-class legal aid organization full of passionate, motivated, gritty, thoughtful, and team-oriented people. We believe that injustice is the heart of poverty, and we're looking for someone to join us in ensuring justice for all.

Housing has the attention of everyone in the country and especially the SF Bay Area. A safe and healthy home is a universal human need, yet it is consistently unrealized or threatened for those experiencing poverty or those overlooked by our country's racist systems. Open Door Legal provides holistic, trauma-informed housing services, helping people access everything they need to feel safe and secure in their homes.

We are hiring a Senior Eviction Defense (UD) Housing Attorney to strengthen Open Door Legal's capacity to represent and assist low-income persons, especially  BIPOC populations, and individuals in jeopardy of losing their housing. The attorney in this position will assist predominantly marginalized communities, including those previously specified, as well as those living with mental illness and/or disabilities. You will do that by working with and in San Francisco communities that are hit the hardest. This involves utilizing local and national tenant protections; navigating state, local, and federal aid; and working with other local organizations to assist our clients. In this position, you will be defending clients in Unlawful Detainer proceedings. The work is fast-paced and will require you to think critically and demonstrate humility and awareness in understanding the needs of our community. 

Overall, this position is intended to be a challenging and rewarding experience for someone looking to grow in their substantive and strategic leadership and help us dramatically reduce poverty. You should approach problems with curiosity and enthusiasm. Your leadership is demonstrated in the quality of the people you've led AND the work you've produced together. Cultural humility is not just conceptual to you, you embody it and commit to growth. Success in this role requires grit, dynamism, teamwork, care, and passion (also our team's five values). You will report directly to the Managing Housing Attorney and directly supervise members of the Eviction Defense (UD) Housing Team.

• Embody our mission of universal access to civil legal aid and lead your team to ensure that the housing needs of all clients in our service area are met by ourselves or others.
• Directly represent Unlawful Detainer (UD) clients and take on the more complex cases. Personally own as many UD cases as per team needs. Conduct/facilitate intakes in-person and virtually across multiple physical Open Door Legal locations.
• Balance individual casework with your increasing management and leadership responsibilities.
• Ensure you have mastery in legal advocacy and the relevant practice areas to mentor your team and oversee the legal advice and representation provided by your team to our guests and clients.
• Hire, train, support, mentor, and manage eviction defense housing staff, interns, fellows, and volunteers in collaboration with the Director of Talent and Culture. This includes performance management, professional development, and building a cohesive team culture.
• Appear in San Francisco Superior Court representing clients for any litigation matters, as needed. Gain familiarity and build relationships with the court players.
• Develop and maintain public relations with legal service organizations, social service organizations, and private attorneys and firms serving UD clients' needs as referral resources.
• Obtain and maintain expertise (via casework, trainings and mentorships) in areas relating to Unlawful Detainers and in areas relating to direct services high-volume legal work, including client/guest management skills (gaining trust with empathy, having difficult conversations, setting boundaries, and setting expectations), time management/triaging, and self-care.
• Use creative strategies and data to ensure that your team is working smarter, not harder, in order to increase the capacity of the department and reach the collective strategic vision for your department.
• Lead the knowledge management of all areas of civil law and civil procedure that your team handles. This includes knowledge and tips around client management and familiarity with any diminished capacity issues (substance use, mental health or mental impairment, physical disability).
• Drive the creation of uniform systems, checklists, and templates to increase the capacity of all team members to deliver consistently high-quality work products with minimal supervision, and ensure you and your team are following best practices.
• Along with team members, bring and develop innovative solutions to tricky issues around case capacity concerns, intake distribution, case opening standards, department success criteria, verification of quality control, and onboarding new attorneys.
• Provide and ensure your team is providing services and support to our low-income clients with sensitivity and awareness to cultural, socio-economic, and disability barriers to service and can skillfully navigate difficult or tense situations. Ensure that the Eviction Defense Housing department's client feedback rating continues to be positive. 
• Embrace and embody our values of teamwork, grit, caring, passion, and dynamism. 

Applicants who are members in good standing with the State Bar of California, or licensed in good standing with another state bar, may be considered. However, those without a license are encouraged to apply to volunteer with us at opendoorlegal.org/volunteer.

• At least six (6) years of relevant professional experience.
• At least two (2) years of Eviction Defense (UD) Housing law experience.
• Experience directly supervising paid staff attorneys. Must be able to provide references from attorneys supervised.
• California civil law and superior court civil procedure knowledge.
• Must genuinely enjoy and be motivated by working with low-income clients, many of whom are people of color, and be able to work effectively with clients impacted by trauma (emotional, mental, and physical). 
• Strong time management skills to effectively supervise and perform legal work in a fast-paced environment and high-volume practice. 
• Show an enthusiasm for and commitment to self-learning and professional development.
• Excellent writing, editing, and proofreading skills, with the ability to be detail-oriented. 
• Excellent interpersonal and diplomacy skills to excel in providing constructive feedback to people you supervise and in building relationships with other organizations and agencies as ODL's ambassador.
• Must be able and willing to work out of one or more of our office locations at least three (3) days/week.
• High level of comfortability learning and using technology and case management systems. We use Salesforce, Dropbox, and the Google Suite.  
• Active demonstration of cultural humility and sensitivity to barriers low-income San Franciscans face when attempting to access the justice system.
• Demonstrated understanding of how to effectively provide trauma-informed advocacy for clients in crisis.
• Must be legally authorized to work in the U.S without sponsorship.

• Comfort translating and interpreting from English to Spanish or Cantonese and vice versa legal information without assistance (this comes with a slight compensation increase).
• Experience practicing in San Francisco Superior Court
• Experience working with low-income and vulnerable populations.
• Experience working in a high-volume direct services legal aid or similar environment.
• Having lived a significant period of your life in San Francisco proper, specifically, a connection to the Bayview/Hunters Point, Excelsior, Sunset, Western Addition, Tenderloin, or Mission neighborhoods. 

Starting compensation is $89,500-$111,500 annually, based on experience.

• Loan Repayment Assistance - for staff pursuing 10-year public interest debt forgiveness, we will pay the minimum payment on all qualifying loans so that you don't need to worry about student loan debt (this is a conditional benefit).
• Medical/Dental/Vision Plan offerings at 100% coverage
• Generous paid time off (four weeks vacation and two weeks sick/care)
• Flexible work hours
• Generous paid parental leave
• 401K/Retirement Account
• We believe everyone is always learning. We financially invest in individual professional development for each staff member, which can include mentorships, coaching, and learning opportunities (conferences, workshops, etc.).
• We are a fun and hard-working office with best-in-class technology solutions for anyone who's passionate about making a meaningful and measurable difference.

Ideal Start Date: December 2026

Open Door Legal is proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, sexual stereotypes, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or any other applicable legally protected characteristics. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state, and local law, including the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities in our recruiting process. If you need any assistance or accommodations due to a disability, please let us know at whitney[at]opendoorlegal[dot]org.