Immigration Pro Bono Coordinating Attorney

Legal Services NYC (LSNYC) fights poverty and seeks racial, social and economic justice for low-income New Yorkers. For over 50 years, we have challenged systemic injustices that trap people in poverty and provided legal services that help our clients meet basic needs for housing, income and economic security, family and immigration stability, education, and health care. LSNYC is the largest civil legal services provider in the country; our staff of more than 600 people in neighborhood-based offices and outreach sites across all five boroughs helps hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers annually. We partner with scores of community-based and client-run organizations, elected officials, public agencies, pro bono lawyers, and the courts to maximize our effectiveness. Our work fights discrimination and helps to achieve equity for all low-income New Yorkers.

LSNYC employees have numerous opportunities for growth and professional development, including access to our internal Justice Learning Center, which provides opportunities to earn free CLEs and gain experience as a trainer. 

LSNYC’s Pro Bono Program 

LSNYC’s pro bono program engages a range of private partners on behalf of thousands of low-income New Yorkers across multiple practice areas. Managed by a director and staffed by this position, two deputy directors, three other immigration attorneys, a bankruptcy attorney, three housing and public benefits attorneys, and five paralegals, the Pro Bono Services Department (“Department”) works with LSNYC staff and pro bono partners to create and manage pro bono projects, place cases, run clinics, train and mentor volunteers, access in-kind resources, and match individual volunteers with appropriate LSNYC offices. LSNYC’s private partners include nearly 100 law firms and corporations, along with law schools, bar associations, and individual volunteers.

Immigration makes up about half of our pro bono work, with a focus on LGBTQ+ asylum, VAWA self-petitions, battered spouse waivers, U visas, youth removal, naturalizations, adjustment of status, and more. We conduct more than 50 pro bono immigration clinics each year. Collectively, our pro bono immigration initiatives serve more than one thousand low-income New Yorkers. This work compliments a dozen other non-immigration pro bono initiatives focused on housing, public benefits, transgender name changes, and more. We operate a high-volume practice, with more than 4,000 pro bono cases annually at law firms, impacting thousands of New Yorkers each year.

Opportunity 

The Immigration Pro Bono Coordinating Attorney will work with the Pro Bono Director, Pro Bono Deputy Directors, and other Immigration Pro Bono Coordinating Attorneys and Paralegals to expand and operate pro bono immigration clinics, trainings, and case placements. Pro bono immigration work includes LGBTQ+ asylum, removal defense, VAWA Self-Petition & Battered Spouse Waiver, U visas, T visas, TPS, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, adjustment of status, and naturalization initiatives. While the majority of LSNYC’s immigration work secures full representation for clients, the organization also holds pro se plus clinics for defensive asylum, EADs, and TPS. The Immigration Pro Bono Coordinating Attorney will regularly train volunteers, support pro bono teams, develop and improve training materials, develop systems to ensure high quality legal support by pro bono volunteers, and work with the rest of the Pro Bono Department to develop relationships with law firms and corporations.

We are searching for an applicant who is innovative, highly organized, responsive, skilled at public speaking and leading teams, experienced with managing a high volume of pro bono teams, and a problem-solver with strong interpersonal skills.

Under the supervision of the Deputy Director of Pro Bono, the Immigration Pro Bono Coordinating Attorney’s duties will include:

• Provide expert legal support for pro bono attorneys
• Set up and administer frequent (primarily virtual) pro bono clinics with law firms
• Conduct regular trainings for pro bono attorneys and other volunteers
• Develop and improve training materials for pro bono attorneys
• Coordinate first and second-level screening on prospective clients
• Draft case descriptions to pitch to pro bono attorneys
• Coordinate with volunteers to place and follow up on cases
• Research and assist with outreach to law firms and corporations
• Assist with evaluation of the program
• Assist with development of new immigration pro bono programs to expand services
• Participate in and assist with pro bono events
• Maintain databases and case tracking, with support from other members of the pro bono team
• Oversee regular reporting to the key funder for this position

Applicants must have the following qualifications: 

• At least 5 years of experience as an immigration attorney
• Experience and expertise in LGBTQ asylum, removal defense, VAWA Self-Petitions, Battered Spouse Waivers, U-visas, T-visas, SIJS, TPS, adjustment of status, naturalizations, and more
• Track record of coordinating a high volume of clients and/or volunteers
• Demonstrated communication habits that are consistently prompt and highly responsive
• Collaborative orientation, and capacity to work in a team
• Highly self-motivated
• Strong writing and analytical skills
• Demonstrated excellent organizational skills
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Demonstrated consistent ability to pay close attention to details
• Ability to work with people from a range of backgrounds – including low-income clients, other LSNYC staff, and private attorneys from law firms and corporations
• Skilled presenter, with experience training attorneys on substantive legal issues
• Applicants must have a J.D. from an accredited law school and be admitted to the New York Bar

Preferred qualifications:

• Experience doing pro bono as an attorney at a large law firm or corporation
• Experience working with a pro bono program at a nonprofit
• Experience working with survivors of intimate partner violence and/or sexual assault
• Experience working with trans and gender nonconforming clients
• Experience implementing and operationalizing new initiatives/programs

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and we hope to fill this position as soon as possible. Qualified candidates are encouraged to apply quickly. 

Salary and benefits determined by the LSNYC Collective Bargaining Agreement.

LSNYC is an equal opportunity employer. People of color, women, people with disabilities, people over 40 and gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people are welcome and encouraged to apply.

All employees are strongly encouraged to continue to receive and maintain up-to-date COVID vaccinations unless they are unable to for medical or religious reasons.

Legal Services NYC is an equal opportunity employer. People of color, women, people with disabilities, people over 40, and gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people are strongly encouraged to apply.