Job description
Position Title: Legal Hotline Staff Attorney
Reports To: Legal Hotline, Director
FLSA Status: Exempt
Legal Hotline Staff Attorney – Part Time, Bilingual, Fully Remote
The City Bar Justice Center (CBJC) seeks a bilingual attorney committed to expanding access to justice to join us as a fully remote, part-time (approximately 20 hours per week) Legal Hotline Staff Attorney. CBJC provides high-quality, free civil legal services benefiting over 27,000 New Yorkers each year who lack the resources to hire private counsel. With a staff of just under 50, CBJC also relies on expansive partnerships with law firms, corporate legal departments, the courts, the City Bar, and other stakeholders who support and work with CBJC’s dozen civil legal services projects.
Areas of responsibility include, but are not limited to:
- Serve as part of a team of staff attorneys who answer questions and provide legal assistance on CBJC’s high-volume Legal Hotline, which typically responds to approximately 1,000 calls and online inquiries per month.
- Provide callers/online applicants with legal information, advice, and referrals on a range of civil legal issues.
- Occasionally conduct follow-up brief services, such as reviewing legal documents and helping callers draft simple court pleadings.
- Enter clean data and succinct notes into our case management system for each caller/online applicant.
- Stay abreast of changes and updates to the law.
EXPERIENCE, SKILLS & REQUIREMENTS:
- Candidates must be New York bar members in good standing with at least three years of relevant practice experience, preferably in nonprofit legal services and/or with a focus on landlord/tenant, family/matrimonial, and/or consumer law.
- Professional fluency in a language in addition to English is required.
- We seek a detail-oriented self-starter with superb legal judgment and a capacity to multi-task who is creative, thoughtful, tech savvy, and has high standards in work quality, and who can demonstrate a commitment to racial and economic justice and to serving those who struggle with a lack of resources.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills and an ability to work both independently and with a team.
- Excellent people and client counseling skills, including effectively interacting with members of the public in a respectful and sensitive way, many of whom suspect institutions and the legal profession, and some of whom struggle with mental illness.
- Collegiality and being able to communicate and work collaboratively with other staff attorneys via online platforms such as Slack and Teams.
- Proficient with Microsoft Office 365 and ability to effectively learn and use legal database and other platforms.
This is a fully remote work position. Our Legal Hotline staff will be expected to physically come to our offices in midtown Manhattan approximately four to six times annually for team-building, training, or other specific business activities.
Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States. We are not able to sponsor visas for this position.
Salary for this position is $40,000-$50,000 (annualized) based on experience and a 20 hours/week schedule. The New York City Bar Association’s benefits package for part-time employees working 20 hours/week includes paid time off, 401K, Employee Assistance Program, complimentary New York City Bar Association membership, many free City Bar CLEs and employee discounts, among others.
To apply: please submit a cover letter detailing your interest in the position together with your resume. Candidates invited to interview will additionally be asked for three professional business references.
The City Bar Justice Center is a proud equal opportunity employer, and we particularly encourage applications from candidates belonging to communities historically under-represented in the legal profession. We actively seek a diverse applicant pool and encourage candidates of all backgrounds and unique experiences to apply. We welcome diversity of all kinds. It is our policy to ensure equal employment opportunity without discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, creed, age, national origin, alienage or citizenship status, gender (including gender identity), sexual orientation, disability, arrest or conviction record, pregnancy, credit history, salary history, caregiver status, marital status, partnership status, or status as a victim of domestic violence, stalking and sex offenses, religion, sex, genetic information, military status, unemployment status or any other characteristic as protected by law. With regard to the Americans with Disabilities Act and other related laws, the organization will endeavor to make reasonable accommodations for persons due to their religious beliefs, disability, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical condition or because the individual was a victim of domestic violence, sexual violence or stalking.
