Staff Attorney-Probono Coordinator, Chief Legal Office/General Counsel's Office

Job Description

Job Description

Since 1968, Build Up Justice NYC has provided free legal services for low-income residents of Brooklyn, pursuing neighborhood-based mission of justice, empowerment, and community development. For over half a century, we have utilized an array of legal and advocacy strategies—community organizing, affirmative civil rights litigation, and eviction defense to defend the rights of individuals and families. Collaboration with the city, state, and federal officials to enforce housing laws and develop legislative solutions is also an integral part of our strategy.   Build Up Justice NYC has three core programs—Preserving Affordable Housing (PAH) Program, Consumer & Economic Advocacy (CEA) Program, and Community & Economic Development (CED) Program—each of which has unique initiatives and plays a vital community role to ensure basic needs are met and fundamental rights affirmed.

Position Overview:

The Staff Attorney, Pro bono Coordinator will be responsible for managing the organization’s pro bono and internship program in addition to managing the organization’s training and continuing education (CLE) program. They will collaborate with across all programs to draft, interpret, and provide guidance and counsel as needed.

Essential Job Functions:

Pro Bono Referral Program

• Oversee and manage the organization’s pro bono program, including program strategy, operations, partnerships, and coordination with pro bono partners on clinic scheduling and case placement;
• Identify, cultivate, and maintain relationships with law firms and other potential volunteers and partners to identify collaborative opportunities and to grow and diversify the referral pipeline;
• Collaborate with, and where appropriate supervise, pro bono law firms and volunteer attorneys, providing substantive legal support, case guidance, and coordination as needed;
• Manage referrals and monitor progress on matters placed with pro bono partners, ensuring timely status updates and case closures;
• Represent organization within the pro bono community by attending PIPBA meetings and other events, building relationships and identifying partnership opportunities;
• Collaborate with the Development team, as needed, to support pro bono-related events, fundraising materials, donor communications, and reports;

Internship Program

• Manage the intern program to include attending internship career fairs, reviewing resumes, coordinating candidate interviews, monitoring the selection process and ensuring required documentation is provided in coordination with HR and program directors;
• Develop and maintain relationships with law schools, colleges, universities, and other academic institutions to support ongoing recruitment and internship opportunities;
• Coordinate with program directors, unit supervisors, and HR to identify internship needs across the organization, including the number of interns requested, anticipated assignments, qualifications required, placement availability, and applicable recruitment timelines;
• Develop and maintain a centralized system for tracking interns across all organizational units, including recruitment status, assigned unit, supervising attorney or staff member, internship start and end dates, schedules, academic requirements, and completion status;
• Maintain regular communication with program participants to provide opportunities for continued recruitment and engagement;
• Coordinate with HR, COO, and program directors to facilitate intern onboarding, orientation, training opportunities, and other substantive programming to support a meaningful and productive internship experience;
• Coordinate completion of required internship documentation, including MOUs, funding agreements, academic credit forms, and other institutional requirements, and route materials to the CLO or other appropriate signatory for timely review and signature;
• Monitor and report to the CLO on internship recruitment, placements, participation, and program outcomes, including identifying opportunities to strengthen relationships with academic institutions and expand organization's internship program.

Legal Practice Support

• Provide additional support on continued legal education trainings and scheduling as needed;
• Provide general administrative duties to include scheduling, filing, drafting correspondence to external stakeholders and follow up from meetings and requests for the team;
  
• Provide research on legal topics, case law and other information as requested; and
• Other related duties as needed.

Education, Experience and Skills:

• Admission to the bar of the State of New York;
• Experience providing pro-bono legal services or program/project manager, preferred; 
• Minimum 3 years’ experience working relevant public interest litigation; transactional and/or housing law preferable;
• Excellent interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to effectively communicate with individuals from diverse backgrounds, local organizations with a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion;
• Ability to read, analyze and interpret legal documents, technical procedures, rules or regulations and statues and case law;
• Excellent advocacy skills in English, bi-lingual Spanish preferred;
• Collaborative approach to work and a demonstrated capacity to lead and reach consensus with colleagues throughout the organization;
• Familiarity with the requirements of a multi-focus legal practice, and experience overseeing compliance with legal and ethical obligations;
• Exceptional written and oral advocacy skills, including the ability to address legal and other complex issues in clear, persuasive terms for a wide variety of audiences;
• Successful supervision of case management system to ensure accurate data collection and statistical tracking;
• Comfort working under tight timelines and navigating a variety of stakeholders and competing priorities and interests with grace and good humor, while ensuring quality and accountability; and
• Thorough commitment to BUJ NYC’s mission.

How to apply:

If you are interested in this position, you must submit your resume and a cover letter telling us why your experiences would make you a good fit for this role. This is a hybrid in-office/remote position based in Brooklyn, NY.

Compensation & Benefits

Annual salary $81,600 - $110,000 dependent on years of experience. Benefits highlights - 27 days vacation; employer paid health, dental and vision insurance; employer contribution to 401(k); and paid parental leave. 

Build Up Justice NYC is a diverse team that is committed to recruiting, supporting, retaining, and promoting a talented staff with diverse backgrounds and experiences that share the organization's commitment to racial, economic and social justice. At Build Up Justice NYC, diversity encompasses a variety of characteristics, lifestyles, and perspectives, including race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, education, disability, socio-economic status, and family status. We firmly believe that a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment is essential to both the quality of our client services and the personal satisfaction of our staff.

We encourage applicants of diverse backgrounds to apply, including women, people of color, immigrants, people with disabilities, LGBTQ people, people from low-income backgrounds, and with lived experiences in the communities we serve.  All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, age, physical disability, or length of time spent unemployed.