Immigration Staff Attorney

Her Justice is a nonprofit legal services organization that advocates for and with women and gender-diverse people living in poverty in New York City. We recruit, train, and mentor volunteer lawyers from premier law firms and corporate legal departments to provide high-quality, free legal help in the areas of immigration, family, and matrimonial law to address individual, structural, and systemic legal barriers.

• 100% of our clients live at or below the poverty line across all five boroughs of New York City.
• In FY2025 , 93% of our clients were women of color, 87% were survivors of intimate partner violence or domestic abuse, 70% were mothers, and 50% spoke a primary language other than English.
• Since our founding in 1993 , we have provided life-changing free legal assistance to over 45,000 women and children and have actively pursued policy and court reforms that have bettered the experiences and legal outcomes for hundreds of thousands more.

DETAILED RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Client Representation & Services

• Intake & Assessment: Conduct comprehensive legal intake consultations and evaluate complex legal issues for prospective clients to determine appropriate pathways for brief services, direct representation, or pro bono firm placement.
• Direct Representation: Maintain a direct representation caseload of immigration clients, independently analyzing legal options, identifying available forms of humanitarian relief, developing litigation and filing strategies, drafting pleadings, and representing clients before federal and local agencies.
• Brief Services & Advice: Provide actionable legal advice and brief legal services to women and gender-diverse individuals seeking assistance with complex immigration matters.
• Trauma-Informed Service Delivery: Deliver empathetic, client-centered, and trauma-informed legal services, maintaining sensitivity to the unique experiences of survivors of intimate partner violence, sexual assault, labor/sex trafficking, and other severe traumas.
• Pro Bono Preparation: For cases selected for pro bono placement, conduct in-person client interviews, gather supporting evidentiary documents, prepare case summaries, draft legal memos, and match cases with partner law firms.

2. Pro Bono Mentorship & Law Firm Relationships

• Volunteer Mentorship: Provide ongoing, substantive legal mentorship and technical assistance to volunteer attorneys handling pro bono immigration cases, including guiding case strategy, reviewing legal filings and affidavits, and preparing attorneys and clients for interviews with USCIS or proceedings in Immigration Court.
• Firm & Corporate Partnerships: Serve as an active liaison to participating law firms and corporate legal departments, cultivating relationships with pro bono coordinators and partners to drive case placement and expansion.
• Quality Assurance & Case Tracking: Monitor the progress, quality, and timelines of pro bono matters to ensure rigorous legal standards, maintaining accurate records in the case management system.
• Training & Resource Creation: Organize and present substantive legal trainings (including CLE-accredited courses), authoring and updating legal practice manuals, template libraries, step-by-step guides, and training presentations.
• Clinic Operations: Manage, coordinate, and execute specialized legal clinics in partnership with law firms and community organizations.

3. Immigration Practice Development & Systemic Advocacy

• Practice Innovation: Collaborate with the Immigration Practice team to assess, refine, and modernize departmental workflows, referral systems, and legal service strategies.
• Legal Research & Policy Monitoring: Track real-time changes in immigration statutes, regulations, Executive Orders, USCIS Policy Manual updates, and court precedents, translating those developments into practice advisories and client strategies.
• Community Education & Outreach: Conduct community outreach workshops, Know Your Rights events, legal walk-in clinics, public education panels, and media engagements to empower immigrant communities.
• Internal Subject Matter Expertise: Serve as an internal substantive legal resource across Her Justice divisions, providing technical insight on immigration law to family law staff, social workers, and administrative leadership.
• Data Management & Reporting: Maintain meticulous, complete, and timely client and case records, tracking outcomes and grant deliverables to support internal evaluation and fundraising reporting requirements.
• Intern & Fellow Supervision: Recruit, train, mentor, and supervise law student interns, clinical students, legal fellows, and non-attorney volunteers.
• Coalition Building & Systemic Reform: Participate in regional and national coalitions, working groups, task forces, and advocacy campaigns focused on improving systemic outcomes for immigrant survivors.

COMPETENCIES & PROFESSIONAL QUALITIES

• Client-Centered & Trauma-Informed Approach: Deep empathy, patience, cultural humility, and commitment to upholding client dignity and autonomy. Strong ability to build trust with survivors of severe trauma while maintaining professional boundaries.
• Legal Judgment & Analytical Mastery: Sound legal reasoning and ability to evaluate complex immigration histories, spot intricate legal issues, assess risks, and formulate creative strategies under dynamic federal policies.
• Organized & Goal-Oriented Case Management: Outstanding organizational skills with a proven track record of managing competing priorities, strict administrative deadlines, court dates, and voluminous filings with meticulous attention to detail.
• Communicator & Educator: Superior verbal and written communication skills with the ability to explain technical legal concepts clearly to clients, corporate pro bono attorneys, and non-legal partners.
• Collaborative & Adaptable Partner: Energetic team player who builds relationships across multidisciplinary teams, adapts to organizational and legal changes, and takes ownership of deliverables.
• Mission Alignment: Dedication to social justice, racial equity, and gender equity, with a passion for dismantling systemic barriers that affect low-income immigrant communities.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required Qualifications

• Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from an ABA-accredited law school and active admission to practice law in New York State (in good standing), or eligibility for prompt admission.
• Minimum of 4 years of dedicated experience practicing immigration law, including substantial experience providing direct representation to low-income immigrant clients before USCIS, Immigration Court (EOIR), or other government entities.
• Extensive substantive knowledge of humanitarian immigration relief, including VAWA Self-Petitions, U Visas, T Visas, I-751 Abuse Waivers, Adjustment of Status , and related fee waiver and work authorization applications.
• Proven track record of delivering legal services using a client-centered, trauma-informed framework with survivors of intimate partner violence or gender-based violence.
• Professional fluency or high proficiency in Spanish (or another non-English language commonly spoken by Her Justice clients) is strongly preferred/required for direct client engagement and document translation review.
• Demonstrated experience mentoring, training, or advising volunteer attorneys, pro bono lawyers, law students, or junior legal staff.
• Exceptional legal research, writing, editing, and oral advocacy skills.
• Strong technological proficiency, including experience with cloud-based office tools, secure file-sharing systems, and legal case management software (e.g., LegalServer).
• Ability and willingness to work in person at the NYC office as required for client meetings, court/agency appearances, legal clinics, trainings, and departmental collaboration.

Preferred Qualifications

• 5+ years of specialized experience in humanitarian immigration law within a legal services, public defender, or civil legal aid organization.
• Direct experience working within a pro bono law firm model , managing legal clinics, or partnering with corporate legal departments.
• Prior experience designing and delivering Continuing Legal Education (CLE) programs and authoring detailed legal manuals or practice advisories.
• Experience engaging in policy reform, coalition leadership, or administrative advocacy on behalf of immigrant survivors.