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Legal Director

Employer
Sur Legal Collaborative
Location
Metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia / Remote position
Salary
The Legal Director is full time, salaried, non-exempt, management position at the rate of $100,000 p
Closing date
Oct 17, 2022

View more

Focus Areas
Civil Rights / Advocacy, Employment
Job Function
Legal
Position Type
Full Time
Degree Level
JD
Willingness to Travel
up to 25%
Experience Level
Professional

Job Details

Sur Legal Collaborative has an opening for a Legal Director. As a member of our Leadership Team, the Legal Director will manage the day-to-day operations of Sur Legal’s legal work, including supervising members of the legal team, developing legal education materials, and maintaining a docket of all cases to further the organization’s mission. Duties and assignments will include, but not be limited to, the following:

Duties

  • Supervise and mentor legal team members (includes lawyers, legal fellows, legal advocates, paralegals, DOJ accredited representatives, law students, and/or volunteers). Currently the legal team consists of one full-time Legal Fellow, three part-time Legal Advocates, and approximately two externs/interns per semester/over the summer. Through a team approach and consensus decision making model, develop a case review process and acceptance criteria, as well as strategic priorities for legal work, which includes Strategic partnerships with organizations, community groups, law school clinics, etc. Legal education materials and trainings, including posts on social media Legal case and project priorities.
  • Manage overall caseload of Sur Legal and our legal docket, based on formal case review and acceptance criteria.
  • Supervise and provide limited direct representation to immigrants and workers in the following types of cases: Applications for immigration relief including deferred action, U visas, T visas, employment authorization applications before USCIS;
  • Mass decarceration cases seeking parole and/or habeas corpus petitions on behalf of immigrants detained at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) prisons in the Deep South; and Labor complaints before labor agencies like the Wage and Hour Division, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and the National Labor Relations Board, among others.
  • In partnership, investigate, file, and litigate immigrant rights and labor rights cases in both federal and state courts. This includes legal research, investigative work, identifying plaintiffs, developing claims, writing pleadings and briefs, discovery and motions practice, and handling trials and appeals.
  • File and litigate FOIA requests in federal court. Engage with grassroots and community partners to identify emerging issues for litigation and advocacy.
  • Provide legal technical assistance and strategic collaboration to grassroots and community partners as needed.
  • Represent Sur publicly in meetings, media, panels, state and/or federal level hearings or briefings, and other settings.
  • Travel as needed for community/partner meetings, client meetings, litigation, conferences, and retreats. We anticipate the position will require traveling to see clients in rural parts of Georgia 3-4 times per year and travel out of state to other parts of the Deep South 1-2 times per year.
  • Participate in internal organizational development efforts.

     Required Qualifications

  • J.D. degree, and admission in good standing to the bar of any U.S. state or D.C. (admission to the Georgia bar or a Southeastern state bar preferred).
  • 7-10 years of litigation experience in immigration law, including submitting applications for immigration relief to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), representing clients before Immigration Judges with the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR), and on appeal before the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) and the federal court of appeals.
  • Experience supervising and mentoring a small legal team of junior attorneys, DOJ accredited representatives, paralegals, and law students.
  • Familiar with and open to deepening knowledge of conflict resolution principles rooted in transformative justice and/or a liberation framework.
  • Experience or desire to engage in movement lawyering. Demonstrated ability to represent individuals in complex cases and to develop and implement sophisticated legal strategies.
  • Experience performing administrative advocacy such as writing and publishing articles for bar journals, opinion editorials, and open letters.
  • Ability to file and litigate cases independently and collaboratively; excellent problem-solving skills; ability to juggle multiple on-going projects and exercise good judgment under stressful situations. 
  • Initiative, vision, and ambition to help grow a vibrant, movement-oriented litigation program.
  • Strong verbal skills in both presenting to lawyers and building strategic alliances.
  • Demonstrated ability to conduct legal public education to community groups, partners, and the general public.
  • Fluent in Spanish.

Desired Qualifications

  • Expertise in immigration law and labor law, or an interest in learning labor law.
  • Leadership and organizational skills to encourage legal workers, including attorneys, to work cooperatively in coalitions on complicated cases; the ability to take initiative, think strategically, and share responsibility and credit.
  • Experience working in communities of color, immigrant communities, and/or in the worker justice framework, particularly in the South.
  • Demonstrated experience building trust and relationships with grassroots and community-based organizations and directly impacted people.
  • Effective project management skills and ability to coordinate with internal and external partners.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

  • A commitment to racial justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as a personal approach that values the individual and respects differences.
  • Self-starter, diligent, and able to meet strict deadlines while under pressure.
  • A passion for social justice, racial justice, and immigrants’ rights work.
  • Excellent research, writing, and analytical skills.

Compensation & Benefit Package

The Legal Director is full time, salaried, non-exempt, management position at the rate of $100,000 per year. This position is remote/WFH.

Sur Legal Collaborative offers a competitive benefit package including medical insurance (paid 50% by the employer with dependents eligible for coverage), fully paid vision and dental insurance, self-managed Paid Time Off (PTO), 10 paid holidays, an end of the year 2-week office shutdown (between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day), as well as an annual wellness stipend.

Application Process & Hiring Timeline

To apply, please submit your resume, a cover letter, writing sample of no more than 5 pages (this can be a letter, redacted motion, opinion editorial, or an open letter), and a list of three professional references to info@surlegal[dot]org.  Applications open beginning September 1, 2022, and close no later than October 15, 2022. We anticipate extending a job offer by December 1, 2022, with a start date of January 2, 2023.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Sur Legal Collaborative is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.

We strongly encourage and welcome applications from persons who identify as Black/African American, Latinx, Indigenous, people of color, immigrant, LGBTQAI, and first-generation lawyers.

Don’t meet every single qualification listed? Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Sur Legal we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyways. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Company

Our Mission

Sur seeks to democratize legal knowledge so that immigrant and working-class communities are empowered with the resources necessary to advocate for their rights and continue to lead us in the struggle for a more just society.

Company info
Website
Location
PO Box 1606
Decatur
GA
30031
US

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