Senior Civil Litigation Attorney

Job Description

Job Description

Full-Time, Exempt,  Hybrid

(3 days/week in office minimum)

About Us

"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.

Overview of Position

We're hiring a Senior Civil Litigation Attorney who will lead our Civil Litigation Team. They will ensure our mission of universal access by ensuring legal services in a wide range of subject areas, including torts, consumer, bankruptcy, homeownership, contracts, civil harassment restraining orders, personal injury, and special education. The United States is the only developed country in the world that doesn't guarantee civil legal representation, and as a direct result, tens of billions of dollars in assets are expropriated from communities of color each year. We believe that individual representation can change lives and, at scale, be an extremely effective lever for social change, and this is intended to be a role for attorneys interested in solving challenges, learning new things, and making a huge difference in the lives of our neighbors.

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 our Managing Litigation and Economic Justice Attorney.

Responsibilities

• Embody our mission of universal access to civil legal aid and work with the team to make sure that the civil litigation needs of all clients in our service area are met by ourselves or others and Open Door Legal gets good legal outcomes and maintains high client satisfaction.  
• Ensure you have mastery in legal advocacy and the relevant practice areas to oversee the legal advice and representation provided by your team to our guests and clients.
• Hire, train, support, mentor, and manage all civil litigation and 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.
• Develop and maintain public relations with government agencies, decision-makers, other legal aid organizations, and the community.
• 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 for Open Door Legal. 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.
• Drive the creation of uniform systems, checklists, solutions, best practice protocols, and templates to increase the capacity of all team members to deliver consistently high-quality work products with minimal supervision.
• 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 civil litigation department's client feedback rating continues to be positive. 
• Embrace and embody our values of teamwork, grit, caring, passion, and dynamism. 

Requirements

• Membership in good standing with the California State Bar. Applicants without an active California bar membership will not 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 civil litigation 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 comfort 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.

Bonus Points

• 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 appearing in San Francisco Superior Civil 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 (annually) is $89,500-$111,500 based on experience.

Benefits

• 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: November 2026

Applications submitted prior to October 16, 2026 will receive priority consideration.

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.