Senior Staff Attorney

Job Description

Job Description

The Immigrant Legal Resource Center is Hiring! 

Senior Staff Attorney - San Francisco, CA 

The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) is seeking up to three full-time Senior Staff Attorneys based in our San Francisco, CA office. This is an exempt position and a bargaining unit position represented by the National Legal Services Workers (NOLSW), Local 2320.  

The ILRC currently has a hybrid work model that requires two in-office days per week.  

Who We Are:  
The ILRC is a leading immigrant rights organization headquartered in San Francisco with staff in Washington, D.C.; Texas; Southern California; the Central Valley of California; and Washington state. Since 1979, our mission has been to educate, support, and empower immigrants, community organizations, and legal practitioners to build a more just, inclusive, and democratic society. Our team is passionate, collaborative, and committed to equity and innovation in all we do. Additional information about our organizational values is available here.   

 
The Opportunity:  

This position will focus on strengthening the legal capacity of legal service providers in California by furthering the ILRC’s technical support, capacity building, and policy work on behalf of immigrants and the practitioners who defend their rights. This position requires advanced expertise in removal defense, know-your-rights, or immigration options for children and youth.   

Job Responsibilities:  

The Senior Staff Attorney will be responsible for contributing to several programs including:  

• Serving as a legal expert to provide information and guidance on complex immigration legal scenarios through trainings, case rounds, technical assistance requests and materials.  
• Responding to requests for technical legal assistance from attorneys and nonprofit agency staff who work with low-income immigrants on issues relating to family-based immigration, removal and deportation defense, release from detention, VAWA, U visa, asylum, SIJS, naturalization and citizenship, immigration enforcement, know your rights information, and other immigration-related issues.  
• Writing manuals, practice advisories, and outreach and educational materials for attorneys, paralegals, community organizers, members of the immigrant community, and other sectors.  
• Analyzing emergent legal and policy changes impacting immigrant communities and disseminating rapid alerts to partners. 
• Preparing and leading webinars and in-person seminars on a variety of topics in immigration law.  
• Working with networks of other immigrant rights organizations, attending coalition meetings, and presenting to groups on immigration law, policy, and immigrant rights issues.  
• Coordinating and tracking project deliverables to ensure the ILRC’s materials and trainings are responsive to the needs of project partners and practitioners.  
• Writing reports to foundations and representing the ILRC in meetings with funders and supporters.  
• Cultivating relationships with potential and current funders.  
• Traveling for trainings, funder visits, and other events throughout California and occasionally other states. 

Required Qualifications:  

The successful applicant is required to have: 

• A minimum of 7 years of experience representing clients in the practice of general immigration law including representation in immigration court and appeals. 
• Broad knowledge of immigration law, including the grounds of inadmissibility and deportability and eligibility for relief. Experience or interest in developing knowledge of know your rights information.  
• Strong foundation in removal defense practice, federal court litigation, and/or legal responses to immigration enforcement.  
• Excellent writing, editing, and legal analysis skills;  
• Excellent training and presentation skills;  
• Ability to lead meetings and communicate with a range of people, including attorneys, community members, advocates, policy-makers, funders, and others;  
• Strong time management skills and the ability to meet deadlines;  
• Willingness to work closely with and learn from colleagues, including being willing to take direction and editing from others and to incorporate feedback;   
• A strong work ethic, including the following qualities: organized, flexible, reliable, and dependable, able to work independently, and able to handle several projects simultaneously;  
• Willing to participate in team-based efforts and a collaborative decision-making environment;  
• A willingness to travel approximately 10-15% of their time across California and at times, nationally; and  
• A current California Bar membership in good standing.  

In addition, successful applicants must have experience and strong knowledge in one or more of the following practice areas: 

• Removal defense (including appeals) 
• Know-your-rights and community education, including tracking immigration enforcement trends 
• Representing children and youth, particularly youth clients in removal proceedings 

Preferred Additional Qualifications: 

• Deeper experience in one or more of the practice areas listed above. 
• Experience with federal court practice, including appeals, habeas corpus, and/or mandamus litigation.  
• Engagement with rapid response networks and urgent legal response strategies. 
• Writing and securing grants from foundations and corporations. 
• Technical writing for immigration or other purposes. 
• Training, teaching, or other public speaking experience. 
• Working in, leading, or forming coalitions. 
• Collaborating with organizers, advocates, and immigrant communities. 
• Second language proficiency, within the range of conversational to fluent.  

Compensation/Benefits:

Pay is extremely competitive for the field and commensurate with experience according to the ILRC salary scale for attorneys.  The starting pay for this position is $112,492.23 for those who are 7 years out of law school. An attorney hired for this position who has been out of law school for more than 7 years will have a higher salary based on their law school graduation year. For instance, an attorney who has been out of law school for 10 years would have a salary of $126,008.70. The ILRC offers excellent benefits, medical/dental/vision insurance, Employee Assistance Program (EAP) sessions, a flexible spending account for medical and dependent care, vacation, and sick leave. The ILRC also sponsors a retirement plan contribution upon fulfillment of eligibility. Additionally, we offer an annual professional development stipend of $2,500 and, from 2025 – 2027, an annual wellness stipend of $2,500. ILRC also offers a sabbatical program: employees are eligible to apply for an 8-week sabbatical after five years of service and a 12-week sabbatical after ten years of service.   

Applications:  
This position will remain open until it is filled and is currently available. We will consider applications on an ongoing basis beginning immediately.  To ensure consideration of your application, please submit a cover letter explaining your qualifications for the position, your salary requirements, a current resume, a writing sample that demonstrates immigration law knowledge, and the contact information for three professional references, one of which must be a supervisor.   

The ILRC is an equal opportunity employer and does not make hiring or employment decisions on the basis of race, color, religion or religious beliefs, ethnic or national origin, nationality, sex, gender, gender-identity, sexual orientation, disability age, military or veteran status, or any other basis protected by applicable local, state or federal laws. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance and other similar state laws and local ordinances, ILRC will also consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records.