Hybrid Senior Attorney

at Social Justice Legal Foundation

• Job title: Senior Attorney
• Job type: Full Time
• Experience level: Senior
• Salary: $130,000 - $155,000 per year
• Degree requirement: Professional Certificate
• Location requirements: Hybrid, Los Angeles, United States

About the role

• Senior Attorney at Social Justice Legal Foundation driving impact litigation for public interest cases. Seeking candidates with extensive legal experience focused on civil rights and justice.

Responsibilities

• Identify topics for investigation through relationship networks and by maintaining subject matter expertise
• Participate in coalition or community spaces, seek to understand their issues and needs, and consider the possible role of litigation in advancing those issues and needs
• Develop litigation strategy and expertise in emerging areas of threat, including new attacks on civil rights and civil liberties and constitutional violations
• Manage investigations or supervise more junior attorneys in developing investigations, including by interviewing plaintiffs, conducting legal claims research, and seeking and analyzing public records
• Handle all phases of litigation, including drafting and editing complaints and briefs, managing discovery, taking and defending depositions, arguing motions, managing settlement and mediation efforts, preparing witnesses for trial, and serving as trial counsel
• Identify appropriate assignments for fellows, review fellow work product, provide meaningful feedback and iterative review, and coordinate fellow workload with Fellowship Director
• Move cases forward proactively, including by managing pro bono and co-counsel relationships and teams
• Ensure that SJLF's position and approach in cases is consistent with broader organizational goals and values
• Maintain full accountability for timely, excellent work on cases for which you are the lead

Requirements

• J.D. from an ABA-accredited law school
• Active membership in good standing with the California State Bar or, if located in another state, membership in good standing of that state’s bar with the ability to become admitted in California as soon as possible
• 6+ years of experience conducting all aspects of civil trial litigation in state and federal courts
• Experience with civil discovery, including written discovery, depositions, and non-party discovery
• Excellent writing and editing ability with a strong voice and eye for persuasive analysis
• Experience developing affirmative litigation in state and/or federal courts, including researching potential theories, developing potential clients, and building factual records (preferred)
• Familiarity with legal doctrines of civil rights or civil liberties litigation (preferred)
• Experience supervising, mentoring, or providing developmental feedback to attorneys at various stages of their careers (preferred)
• Experience successfully managing multiple projects and cases simultaneously and prioritizing competing deadlines under pressure (preferred)
• Strong interpersonal skills, collaboration, initiative, and organizational abilities (preferred)
• Comfort with litigation deadlines, including the ability to work some long hours and occasionally travel for cases as needed (preferred)
• Track record of building strong, trust-based relationships with clients, particularly individuals and communities impacted by systemic injustice (preferred)
• Proficiency in Spanish, Mandarin, Tagalog, Vietnamese, or other languages spoken by constituencies (preferred)

Benefits

• 100% employer-covered health insurance
• 99% covered dental and vision insurance
• 50% dependent healthcare coverage
• Paid sabbatical at years 5 and 10
• 16 weeks of paid parental leave after the first year
• 403(b) plan with 5% employer contribution
• Health and dependent-care FSAs
• Generous vacation and sick leave
• 12 paid holidays and a year-end flexible closure between December 25 and January 1
• Long-term disability insurance
• A commuter benefit
• Coverage of bar dues
• A professional development budget
• Eligible for a language bonus of $3,000 per year if using non-English language skills